Fire The Boss is an online company founded by physician and entrepreneur Fraser Henderson in June 2018. The company doles out financial advice related to investing, personal finance, cryptocurrency and other financial tools via its financial independence blog.
With freelancing racing ahead as a career of choice in the remote-working era (an Upwork and Freelancers Union study pegged the number of U.S. freelancers at 57 million in 2019), Fire The Boss gives away three essential money tips to the freelancing community.
Hunt down clients who pay well for your efforts.
One of the essential rules of freelancing is never to undermine the value of your services. Defining this element of your work will help you determine the best clientele. Fire The Boss points out how people working on a company’s payroll rely on their peers and immediate superiors and company policies to determine their value within the company structure. A freelancer, on the other hand, seldom has this advantage. Freelancers rely on their capabilities of determining self-worth to decide what their payout should be or which clients they should be working with. Under these circumstances, freelancers should remember that timely and frequent evaluation of their financial growth is essential.
Plan your taxes well; hire a professional, if necessary.
Taxation remains a massive challenge in freelancing, and freelancers often make the mistake of not taking this aspect of their work seriously. This results in financial stress when deadlines loom at the end of the year, and errors in tax bills show up if one hasn’t kept track. Fire The Boss recommends quarterly tax payouts to relieve freelancers of both these problems. This also ensures that taxes don’t add up and make a huge dent in your earnings at the end of the year. Hiring a professional is another way to sort this out, at least until you learn how to tackle the tax monster. Choosing the services of a professional also helps you concentrate on your work rather than worrying about your tax schedule.
Prepare a budget; invest in an emergency fund.
Freelancers seldom have the luxury of continuous work. There are times when they’re unable to pick up a project because they’re already busy with another, and then there are times when no project comes their way for a while. Therefore, investing in an emergency fund is the first step a freelancer should take to gain some amount of financial stability. Preparing a monthly budget and setting aside at least 10 percent of your earnings for a rainy day is ideal. Fire The Boss reveals how there’s an added advantage to running these numbers each month. When you know you have to set aside 10 percent, you also learn to keep track of your income and expenses.
A freelancer’s life may seem perfect to the outsider, but even this seemingly ideal career comes with its share of challenges. However, with these three tips, Fire The Boss takes care of the biggest challenge of them all—money management!