10 years ago when I was just starting my financial planning practice, we were in debt up to our eyeballs.
We had:
- 2 vehicle loans
- 2 student loans
- 2 mortgages
- $10k+ in credit card debt (from our recent wedding)
- And a financed ring
I didn’t even own my wedding ring y’all. Plus, we were still spending outside our means.
Great way to start off a) a marriage and b) a new career as a financial advisor who’s job was to get clients and then teach them how to manage money, right?
As a country we had a negative 2% savings rate, so maybe you can relate.
I was 21, used to paying (or financing) my way through life (I come from a single mom household), but knew I was willing to work hard if nothing else. This is just one way I think our education system fails us in the US…
This was also just two short years prior to The Great Recession. More fun times were to come! 😉
Why do I share all of this?
I’ve been where some of you are.
And while it was (is?) embarrassing, it’s also part of my overall journey, which has led me (in part) to where I am today. So I’ll own it.
The overall experience also taught me how to bootstrap my current business. And that’s priceless, really.
Luckily, we were already well on our way to becoming debt-free prior to me starting my freelance business in 2014. If we hadn’t been, Wade wouldn’t have been able to quit his job the year before.
And I don’t know that changing careers would have even entered my mind as a possibility. I might have resigned myself to accepting my fate as a 9-5’er for the rest of my life.
Boy would that have been sad.
During the rest of this post, I want to explore the relationship between debt and freelancing, why it matters and how you can use each to leverage the other.
The Chicken and the Egg of Debt and Freelancing
Debt and freelancing are a bit like the chicken and the egg.
Being debt-free enables you to confidently make the jump from employment to self-employment (or full-time freelancing). But freelancing on the side of a full-time job (or while raising a family) can also help you to become debt-free.
Regardless, if you have debt (and an inclination to be debt-free) and want to build a successful freelance career, you can use the income from freelancing as a means to accomplishing both goals. In other words, starting a freelancing side hustle NOW can help you to accomplish becoming debt-free and changing careers or building a new business.
If you’re not overly familiar with freelancing, online business or side hustling, you might be wondering how. Check out this five step process to get going.
Step 1: Start a freelance side hustle
If you want to payoff debt, bring extra money into your household and/or change careers, starting a new freelance business can help you accomplish just that.
Not sure what type of freelancing business is right for you?
Consider these free resources:
- Become a virtual assistant.
- Start freelance writing.
- Break into proofreading. <–affiliate link
But virtual assistance work, freelance writing and proofreading are just three of the ways to offer freelance services. Don’t worry if none of these fit the bill for you, as there are many other side hustle options for you to choose from depending on your skills and interests.
What do you enjoy doing that you could trade for pay? My friend Shannon knits baby hats. My friend Katie teaches sleep training. My friend Leah created a really cool physical product. My friend Diana became an assistant to a really successful realtor in her area.
Still at a loss? This $4 book from my friend Nick Loper <–affiliate link has A TON of ideas to get you started. Odds are there will be at least one that peeks your interest.
2. Find clients (or customers)
Starting a new business is great, but if you don’t have any clients, do you really have a business?
I get asked every day how to find clients. That’s why both of my premium courses are centered around it. The interesting thing is that prospecting methods are pretty agnostic. Yes, they need to be tweaked depending on your unique business, but a writer can use similar methods to a VA or a proofreader or a realtor or a financial advisor.
And there aren’t any secret methods (that I know of). Instead, there’s just a lot of perseverance, patience and hard work. Oh, and you kinda have to put yourself out there too!
3. Save or pay down debt with your earnings
The key here is that you don’t use your newfound income to increase your standard of living.
If making more means you spend more (on nonessential things), then this plan won’t work for you. Instead, you need to keep your expenses minimal and use what you earn to pay down debt or build up a little nest egg to give you a runway if you plan to leave your current day job behind.
4. Raise your rates
Over time, you need to raise your rates.
It’s okay to get start writing for less in order to gain experience, samples and testimonials. I did and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. But you can’t stay there. It’s not sustainable.
So once you hit your minimum rate goal, increase your pricing for new clients. And continue to do so until you’re hearing more no’s than yeses. It may seem scary or a bit uncomfortable at first, but it’s necessary to your long-term success.
Side note: This works for physical products, as well as services!
5. Diversify or scale your business
By this point, you should be well on your way to a full client load that pays you a decent rate and making serious headway towards your debt repayment or nest egg savings goals.
Now it’s time to take your business to the next level by either diversifying it or scaling it. But how?
- You can add additional service offerings.
- You can start affiliate marketing.
- You can hire subcontractors.
If I were starting a freelance business today…
Basically, if I were starting a freelance business today, I’d start by figuring out my goals.
Do I want to leave work behind and change careers? Do I just want to start a side hustle to pay down debt or do something special like take a trip? Or all of the above?
Then I would take stock of my current situation. What’s keeping me from realizing my ultimate goals? Is it debt? Not having a runway? Or something else?
If debt is a part of your equation, consider how the relationship between debt and freelancing affects your unique situation. And then put a plan in place to get rid of it. Because it’s really just weighing you down and getting in your way, right?
Lastly, I would use the five steps outlined above (figuring out which type of freelancing biz to start, find clients, use my newfound earnings to attack debt or save, raise my rates and diversify or scale my business) to realize my ultimate goal of leaving work behind.