To be your own boss, calculate your income differently, set
your price, and prepare your work environment
São Paulo - Being your own boss has its challenges, but just
organizing the money and routine makes it easier. The goal of having more
freedom will only come to fruition if you plan so that the financial
instability, typical of a freelance career, does not negatively impact your
life.
“There is no profile of people who cannot work as a
freelancer. It's all about organization and discipline, ”says a business coach
Renato Pradillas of the Brazilian Coaching Society.
In a recently published story, EXAME.com listened to
accountants to clarify the costs involved in being self-employed, individual
microentrepreneur or entrepreneur. Now we explain in six simple steps how to
plan your freelance routine, where work and personal life easily blend
together.
1. Prepare for life
change
Make the transition from salaried to freelance life in the
least radical way possible, because you don't know exactly what your income
will be. Prepare a “financial cushion”
in the words of coach Roberto Navarro, founder of the Financial Coaching
Institute. “It's natural to take a while to make money in the beginning, to
network and build a customer base,” he says.
The ideal financial reserve must have a sufficient amount to
pay a year of its expenses, according to Navarro. To accumulate this money with
interest, let it go to a liquid investment such as a CDB or government bond so
you can withdraw any amount you need at any time.
For the financial educator Eduardo Coelho, an amount
equivalent to three months of expenses is enough. He also suggests doing work
outside the company so that you are more certain that this choice will work.
“Were people looking for their jobs regularly or was it just a specific
project?” He asks.
2. Calculate Your
Income in a New Way
Freelance life can be a seesaw. In some months you can
accumulate several projects and earn a lot, but in others, you may risk having
fewer jobs than you would like. It is, therefore, safer to set a goal of how much
you need to earn per year, not per month, as Navarro recommends.
Remember, too, that you will no longer have benefits such as
the company's health plan and pension fund, or paid leave. Add these items to
the expense list.
Another tip is to set three different income goals: the
minimum you need to earn to survive, the ideal average and the maximum if you
can exceed expectations far. They are used to calculate if you need to look for
more jobs, as Navarro points out.
Even after the freelance routine gets into gear, Coelho
suggests keeping the habit of investing 30% of income in a short-term
application instead of 10%, as usually recommended for salaried employees.
“Saving 30% is plenty, but remember there is no medical certificate for
freelancers,” he says, to say that unforeseen events can happen and you will
not have a guaranteed income.
For Padilla, always having a reserve of at least six
months of expenses is ideal. Every two months, he suggests that the investor
present himself with something he wants to be motivated to keep the reserve.
3. Know how Much your
work time costs
Pricing your time is indispensable. To find out how much
your work time costs, look at your competitors and your audience. “Feel how
much your customer is willing to pay,” suggests Navarro. If time is short or
delivery time is too tight, increase the price.
The financial coach also advises working with different
price goals: the basic value of how much your service costs, the minimum price
you accept to work for, and the standard discount if the client asks to negotiate.
Padilla's suggests another way of calculating the price of
your working hours: dividing how much you intend to earn in the year by 2,000,
an approximate universal formula that usually works.
“This is important to understand where you should put your workforce
and what you will outsource,” he explains. For example, if one hour of work
costs more than moto boy charges to mail an envelope, it is more worthwhile to
hire this service.
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