Is there ever a perfect time to ditch the payslip and dive headfirst into freelancing? Spoiler: absolutely not.
But Adam Portsmouth did it anyway. In this refreshingly honest article, Adam spills the beans on how (and why) he swapped employed security for self-employment.
My freelance journey starts in August 2024 with a choice. Do I put off going freelance for yet another year? Or do I make the leap and give it a try?
I had wanted to try my hand at freelancing for about 5 years at this point, but every year there was a valid reason not to. Mortgage to pay, wedding and honeymoon on the way, enticing job offers that you’d be silly to turn down, perhaps some insecurity in my capability to make it work. There was always a reason to stay employed.
This time was no different, and perhaps I had even more reason to choose the security a salaried role would give me, as I now had a new-born, more financial pressure on me due to my wife’s maternity leave, coupled with a job offer that far exceeded any pay I had to that point in my career.
The tipping point came from the trust and support of my wife with the words “It would be better to give it a try when we have one child rather than when we have two or three”. Essentially to say “There is never a right time to make the leap”.
So I made the decision and committed.
For anybody else in a similar position wondering whether they should make the leap, let me note that I didn’t go into this decision rashly, and I don’t think anybody else should too. With advice from people who already had success freelancing, I had enough of a security fund that I didn’t need immediate money coming in, and I had a couple of months before my FTC ended to prepare for going freelance.
I believe that this time to prepare was instrumental in my success so far. In my decade of being in L&D, I have never really needed to network. Obviously this is something I would have to work on pretty quickly. So I started spending between one and three hours a day on LinkedIn. I would find people in L&D that had interesting profiles, send a connection request, and if they accepted I’d have a conversation with them. Sometimes on a Zoom call, sometimes in chat, but I tried to have a conversation with everybody I connected with.
I ended up having conversations with people in dozens of Countries over 4 different Continents in the two months before officially starting freelancing. And I can say that every one of my contracts since starting, has come directly from this time building my network.
So, what was my plan?
I decided that I wanted to niche down and target a very specific type of business. Independent Veterinary Practices. It is an industry that I had created learning for in the past, the number of independent Practices is growing all over the UK, and there was a lot of room to improve the quality and standards of training for non-clinical staff.
I started reaching out to Practice Managers daily, and even got a partnership with the British Veterinary Receptionist Association. Unfortunately, progress on this has halted for now as my time is taken up with other contracts that I have won.
Setting my sights on a specific goal or plan was great for me as it gave my initial weeks and months direction and clarity. Even though it hasn’t worked out how I had planned, that is okay as I have found success in other ways through constant networking.
It’s now been 6 months since starting freelancing. And so far it has been a huge success. A mixture of finding the right people to get advice and guidance from, many hours connecting with people and building my network, and probably a bit of luck on the side.
How has my work-life balance changed since going freelance?
My working hours at times have definitely been longer than when I was employed, and my mind is ‘on work’ more than before as well. The flexibility has been a huge pay-off for me even taking into account these periods of longer hours.
There have been times when I have been able to take whole days or weeks off if I am secure with where my work currently is. I am able to work the hours that suit my family life as I’m sure many can attest that having a small baby requires a huge amount of juggling and flexibility. I have been able to spend more time with my son while he has been in his early development stage. Seeing his first crawl, first time standing up, etc.
All things that weren’t available to me when I was employed.
So, what advice would I give to somebody considering making the leap to freelancing?
- Network like crazy. It pays itself off massively.
- Seek advice from people already doing it.
- Make sure you are financially secure enough if it doesn’t work out straight away.
- Have the support of the people around you.
- Make a plan to give you direction, but be flexible if new opportunities open up to you.
