Do you feel stuck in a 9 to 5 job and long to work for yourself? Maybe you’ve thought about just walking out and starting your own freelance business. That would be great, assuming you have the funds, knowledge and experience to do it.
If you don’t, however, you might consider running a freelance business alongside a part-time job. As some of you might already know, this is exactly what I’ve been doing lately and before you rush off and tell your boss you want to cut your hours, there are a few things you should know.
First, a bit of background
For the past four years I’ve been working as a graphic designer for a multimedia company. I was a full-time employee and did some freelance work on the side. Then, in October 2011, I went from working there 5 days a week to 3 days and have been freelancing the other 4 days every week (who needs weekends, right?).
Best of both?
Running a business is equally challenging and rewarding. There’s always something new to learn or a new problem to solve, but it’s fantastic when a client gives positive feedback, and it’s a brilliant feeling when you’re able to mark invoices as ‘paid’!
There are also good aspects to being a part-time employee. For starters, there are your colleagues. Freelancing can get lonely, especially if you work from home, but working alongside other people for part of the week really helps with that.
Then, of course, there is financial security. Working a 9 to 5 job, you quickly get used to bringing home pretty much the same salary every month, with few surprises and little worry about whether or not you’ll be able to pay the mortgage. But freelancing isn’t like that; your earnings can fluctuate from month to month. With a part-time job you know you have at least some regular income and if you’re lucky it’ll cover a lot of the bills.
As great as all that sounds though, there are a few things you should be aware of before you tell your boss you want to go part-time!
Non-compete clause
If your current job is flipping burgers and you want to be a freelance designer, this won’t apply, but if you already work for a design agency and want to start your own design business, you need to check your contract for a non-compete clause. It’s likely that if there is one, it’ll stop you from going into direct competition with the company you currently work for.
This doesn’t have to be a problem though. You should be able to run your own business and keep within the terms of your existing contract as long as you don’t try to steal clients away from your employer. You should never try to gain work from any of your employer’s existing clients, and even if one of them approaches you, think hard before taking the work. Even if you didn’t make the first move, you might still get fired.
The best thing to do is talk through your plans with your boss and make sure you’re clear on what would constitute breaking the non-compete clause. Whatever you do, don’t try to hide the fact that you’re freelancing. If it’s against company policy and they find out, you’ll be out of a job entirely.
Get organised
It’s important to be organised when you’re running a business anyway, but when you’re doing it alongside another job, organisation is essential. You need to keep track of when you’ll be at your job and when you’re available for freelancing. You also need to keep track of meetings and appointments for both your job and your business, and all your personal appointments too – don’t get so confused that you miss your dental check-up! Then there are all the projects, tasks and to-do lists from the job and the freelancing. It’s easy to get overwhelmed keeping track of it all.
When I worked full-time everything – appointments, holidays, to-do lists etc – went in my Outlook calendar at work since I spent most of my time there. I tried to keep that going when I went part-time, but found myself having to record the same information in a second calendar at home as I had no remote access to my Outlook one.
This was far too time consuming though, and I quickly ditched both calendars and went old-school, writing everything in a paper diary that goes everywhere with me. No more confusion!
Tired, tired, tired
Lastly, you need to know that working a part-time job and freelancing will make you feel constantly tired. Running a business takes a lot of time and effort; it feels like a full-time job. Then you have your part-time job to go to, housework to do, friends and family to see, any other hobbies and commitments you have, plus at some point you’ll have to find time to eat and sleep. It’s a lot to fit in!
So, to start with at least, you’ll probably feel tired all the time. But it’s important for your health that you do make time to eat and sleep, and try to take some time off occasionally too, even if, like me, you only seem to manage one afternoon per week away from the computer.
It’s easy to feel guilty if you take some time off for a walk in the park, or to see your friends, but having a flexible schedule is one of the benefits of freelancing. If you want to finish early on a Friday afternoon and go to the cinema, you can always work extra another day if that’ll quieten your guilt. Relax a little if your schedule is slack to make up for the times when you’re working late at night to meet a deadline.
Now that you know what to expect from freelancing alongside a part-time job, I hope you won’t disregard the idea. Having a part-time job to give you some financial security while you build up your business is an ideal transitional phase before you make the change to full-time freelance.
Photo: biewoef on SXC
Get more tips like this
Add your email below to get weekly emails with quick, actionable tips to supercharge your branding. Plus, you'll get access to exclusive special offers, only for subscribers.