Besides all tools Web 2.0 provide us with to collaborate, there are several tips and steps you might not forget if you are a freelance, self-employed or work-at-home. Allow me to point out the fact that many management strategies and guides always forget Freelances and Work-at-home Moms (or Dads) due to the small impact they have individually on the Macro-Economy, but let’s not forget they are on the rise according to Elance survey, and most of them, nearly 80%, are happier than being employees with even higher incomes. The profile of this heterogeneous workers is 25-54 y-o, educated (with a degree or diploma) and female. Whether you started as a freelance to be your own boss, because you had no other job, or work at home because you must take care of your kids, you will find yourself “alone” in setting up a new business and making it all by yourself. That is the moment to think of collaboration as a much better way to optimize your time and resources, otherwise, you will end up working almost 24 hours a day to meet yours and your client’s expectations, exhausted and lost by Internet searches, Social Media, Marketing, tips, advises, financial issues, plus learning about a whole lot of things you may or may not need.
Collaboration can make all these processes easier in the beginning and all along the way. Just take the following ten tips into account:
- communicate with others freelances, self-employed and work-at-home; community resources can save you a lot of time through questions and experiences
- get the most accurate tools and groupware for your daily tasks, they will help you organize and manage your contacts, calendar, agenda, tasks, emails, files and documents
- don’t get overwhelmed by gadgets: learn how to get the best out of them by useful applications and choose only those you really need
- be always reachable and in contact with all your shareholders and clients, if your clients can’t find you they will feel a gap that will make you lose credibility and trust.
- Separate your work and home space, don’t think because you work on your own you don’t need a space, a plan or a schedule. Be sure to create a working space with all the equipment you need, it will help you and your customers get a positive image of your business
- put all your thoughts and ideas in writing, that will help you and your customers understand the processes and avoid assumptions
- keep track of your work and tasks with timing, management, organization and business tools, and share the progress with your customers, it will empower your business.
- don’t be afraid to share with others your knowledge, you got your personal “mojo”
- be always updated, get the latest news and information on your sector
- cherish your free time, do not fall for all the things you must do and forget you need rest and relax
- understand that, being a freelance, a self-employed or work-at-home, doesn’t make you a “lone-worker”, you are not alone, and sharing and collaborating will prove to you how important it is to be a link in the chain
We all know how hard it is to start a new business, to work from home, but if we find a better way to share what we have learned, what we got to do, how to collaborate with clients and colleagues, we might find that effectiveness isn’t such a far target.
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