BECOMING A FREELANCER
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR GETTING STARTED

Are you particularly good at what you do - but would like more flexibility and a higher income? At a time when more and more professionals are becoming self-employed, you may have also toyed with the idea of making a career change and becoming a freelancer. But with such a big change in life, there are always many things to consider. We have compiled the most important ones for you here.

Contents:

How you benefit from going freelance

Flexible working times, diverse projects, appreciation of your expertise: Working as a self-employed professional brings many advantages. Regardless of corporate structures and instructions from supervisors, you decide yourself the companies you want to work for, how much to work and the projects to work with. As a freelancer, you work on your own terms, at your own pace.

As an external specialist, you take on a role that you can shape freely - you yourself determine the direction. You become more in demand with every successfully completed assignment. Your growing experience is invaluable to your future clients. The demand for experienced specialists is very high across all sectors and will continue to increase due to the ongoing shortage of skilled workers.

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THE COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT BEING A FREELANCER
FROM CUSTOMER ACQUISITION TO CONTROLLING

If you want to work as a freelancer, you will have to do tasks that you would not have to do in a permanent position. These include, for example:

Customer acquisition
Calculating income and setting hourly rates
Writing invoices
Making a tax return for the company

You will see: You will master these tasks with ease and can fully concentrate on your core competencies most of the time. You can also consider gradually outsourcing individual tasks to partner companies. That sounds good? Then nothing stands in the way of a change in your professional situation.

However, you should also consider the disadvantages of freelancing: you have no fixed, regular income. The same applies to holidays, and if you are ill, you have to pay for the loss of earnings yourself. Whether you can live with these uncertainties is a matter of type. Our tip: Therefore, don't quit right away, but start with part-time self-employment.

Requirements for freelancing

Are you wondering how to become a freelancer? The most important basic requirement to become a freelancer is experience. After all, your clients rely on your expertise. During your time as a permanent employee of a company, you gain experience and expertise that you need to further deepen in your new role as a self-employed expert in order to use it successfully. Do not underestimate how valuable your professional experience makes you as a freelancer for new projects. In order to position yourself accordingly and gain access to attractive clients, the Hays project search offers you exciting opportunities.

If it is a subject area in which you have not been professionally active so far, you should be able to demonstrate experience in another way. This can be done through voluntary work or self-taught learning. Ask for a short written evaluation even for assignments that you have taken on free of charge. This should include a brief description of the service provided. References ensure that future clients have a comprehensive picture of your abilities.

In addition to experience and references, two other factors are among the most important prerequisites for becoming a freelancer: a suitable job and a high degree of independence. As long as you are still employed on the side, the following applies: Do not do freelancing jobs "quickly in between" at your workplace.

Step by step from employment to freelancing

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be your own boss? You can realise the dream of becoming a freelancer step by step - without any risk! Start with a part-time job that ideally complements your existing skills - be it in the IT sector or in another field. This will give you a taste of life as a freelancer without having to give up financial security.

In these cases, however, there are a few things to keep in mind: Take a look at your employment contract and clarify whether secondary employment is allowed. And remember to always be full of energy and motivation in your main job, because you want the best of both worlds! You have a duty of loyalty to your employer - this is even regulated by law.

If you find that your part-time job is bringing in more and more money, you should consider quitting your permanent job. Otherwise, the health insurance fund may order an examination of your main occupation. It should not come out that you earn more in your self-employment than in your main job - otherwise chaos is inevitable. It is better to leave your previous main job in a well-organised and planned manner. Alternatively, practise self-employment strictly as a sideline and maintain a clear financial difference from your employment. Enjoy the exciting journey ahead of you. Remember: As a freelancer, you shape your own career - and the possibilities are endless!

Avoiding bogus self-employment: an important aspect

Another important point for prospective freelancers is the danger of pseudo self-employment. A pseudo-self-employed person is someone who appears to be self-employed, but is in fact economically and organisationally dependent on a client. This can have considerable financial and legal consequences, especially with regard to social security contributions and taxes.

In order to avoid bogus self-employment, you should make sure that you do not work for only one client and that you retain a certain degree of entrepreneurial freedom in accepting and executing orders. You should also have your own business equipment and be able to hire employees yourself. It is also important to have a clear contractual arrangement that defines the nature of the cooperation. If you are unsure, we recommend that you seek legal advice.

Avoiding bogus self-employment: an important aspect

Another important point for prospective freelancers is the danger of pseudo self-employment. A pseudo-self-employed person is someone who appears to be self-employed, but is in fact economically and organisationally dependent on a client. This can have considerable financial and legal consequences, especially with regard to social security contributions and taxes.

In order to avoid bogus self-employment, you should make sure that you do not work for only one client and that you retain a certain degree of entrepreneurial freedom in accepting and executing orders. You should also have your own business equipment and be able to hire employees yourself. It is also important to have a clear contractual arrangement that defines the nature of the cooperation. If you are unsure, we recommend that you seek legal advice.

Full-time as a freelancer
How to master the tax office part

You have successfully implemented your first assignments and can imagine getting involved in further projects? Dare to take the step and pursue your freelancing activity full-time! Depending on your industry and profession, you can apply to the tax office or register a trade.

The tax office will send you a questionnaire for tax purposes, in which you enter your expected annual income. Unfortunately, you will not have much to go on at first, so plan for sufficient tax reserves. Calculate carefully, because the amount you enter will be used to calculate the amount of tax you will have to pay. For example, ask other freelancers in freelancing networks - the exchange can help you to calculate better and thus avoid paying tax arrears.

Which specialisms have a high demand for freelancers?

In these specialist areas, companies particularly often rely on experts who work as freelancers:

Construction & Property
Engineering
Finance
Human Ressources
IT
Life Sciences
Procurement
Sales & Marketing

One particular field stands out: IT. Whether it is business intelligence, cloud computing or SAP consultancy: IT professionals and/or IT freelancers are in urgent demand.

How to present yourself as an expert

If you are thinking of going freelance you should think about having your own website. In particular in areas such as web design, your own website is like a digital business card. But the same applies to all self-employed professionals: You need to be found easily, and you should provide as much information about yourself as possible. The easiest way to do this is via your own website because this is where you can describe in detail what you do, provide samples and references and give interested parties the opportunity to contact you.

Not everyone can create their own website or has the time to familiarise themselves with it. Of course you can ask a professional to create a website for you. However, many founders will want to avoid the cost involved in that, so professional communities such as LinkedIn or Xing are a good alternative to having your own website. These communities let you publish all the information you would normally present on a website to connect with interested parties. This enables you to be found by people who are looking for your services.

Ideally, you maintain both, your digital business card in the form of a website and a professional community.

Hays project search for successful acquisition

If you would like to find projects yourself, Hays is at your side as an experienced and well-connected partner.

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Our conclusion - a lot of freedom and a lot of responsibility

If you want to go freelance you open up a level of freedom for yourself which you would probably not get to experience as an employee. You can make your workdays more flexible, which will benefit both your job and your family. At the same time you are expanding your horizon and growing with your responsibilities and projects. You can decide yourself how to grow and who to work for. Working as an interim manager can also be exciting.

In the beginning in particular, Hays is an experienced partners. Our experts support you with important information beforehand so you can become part of the Hays talent pool. We broker interesting projects and offer you distinct value while working for your client.