Christmas can be a tough period for freelancers. You’ll have plenty of deadlines approaching before the big day but then are often faced with a number of weeks or little to no work until everyone gets going again mid-January
To help you get through the festive period, we’ve developed a quick guide…
Be prepared
Remember that you’ll not have any cash flow or incomings from December 24th to – possibly – January 3rd. This means you’ve got to make your money last.
Make a special Christmas budget looking at all your outgoings over the period to see if you’ve got enough to keep you going.
If you look like you might struggle now is the time to talk with banks or clients about extending overdrafts, getting payments in early or deferring your outgoings until later on.
Set dates
Part of being prepared is knowing when you’ll be away from the office – or home office. Have a look at your work schedule and upcoming deadlines and decide yourself how much time off you can afford to take.
If you’ve got some work to do, maybe working the days between Christmas and New Year’s might not be a bad idea.
And let your clients, suppliers and customers know when you’re going to be away. It doesn’t have to be a definitive in or out of the office situation. You could say that you’ll be unavailable over the bank holidays but will be working for a few days after, though you won’t be taking on any additional projects during this period.
Do a self-assessment
The last thing you want to be thinking about is tax at this time of year. But if you leave it until January you’re at risk of trying to do it while you’re getting back up to speed and with the deadline fast approaching.
Remember, the online deadline is midnight, January 31.
Get it out of the way now and feel smug over Christmas that you can focus on promoting your services when you return to work in the new year.
Take clients out
Christmas parties are great – but if you’re a freelancer you’ll miss out this annual treat.
So why not take out some of your clients. Not only is it good fun but you could also bend their ear to see if there is any extra work coming in next year.
Be ready to come back in January
Almost everyone takes a week or so to get up and running again in January. But not everyone. There will be people out there who are ready to go – and if you’re not you could miss out on work.
Create a marketing plan for early January, laying out who you’re going to target and why.
Also, get active online – whether it’s posting some blogs or just a few social media posts. These can all be pre-prepared in December and set to launch in the new year.
Posted by The Secret Businessman