The Freelance Bookkeeper

When you have the skill of a professional bookkeeper and you are ready to take the leap into freelance work, there may be many reasons that motivate you. What are your reasons?

In a recent survey of 1,325 freelance bookkeepers, the top two motivators for choosing to go it on their own were:

1.  Independence

2.  Income

That’s a powerful combination! These are two factors that may be quite limited when you choose to work for someone else. Your time is not your own, and you can only make so much. But they won’t tie you down, if you’re serious about working freelance.

However, we each do have different tolerance levels as to how much security we need, versus how much control over our own professional destiny we can handle successfully. So do get clear on what you want most out of your business.

But if you’ve already taken the leap into entrepreneurship with your bookkeeping services, or you are seriously considering doing so, you know that there is also another not-so-sunny side to the story.

In that same survey of professional bookkeepers who have already been in business for several years, the participants were asked what their biggest problems were. (I prefer to call them “challenges,” but you get the idea.) Can you guess what they are?

1. Getting new clients

2. Raising rates

These can be formidable challenges, especially in the beginning.

Part of the reason many new freelancers struggle with getting clients is because they believe that there are only one or two ways to find new clients. Of course, that is simply not so. It really does not take much effort to get more clients than you can possibly handle. But to get you started, re-read the previous post on this blog for just five ways to get your marketing efforts rolling. There are, in fact, many more ways that you will learn about as we travel along together.

Raising rates, too, can be a sticky matter. But the toughest part of it, surprisingly enough, usually has little to do with your clients. I’ll expand on this issue in a future post as well. For now, suffice it to say that raising rates is much easier and rewarding than most of us imagine. That is, if we are willing to take a chance. But making the decision to go independent was a risk you have already decided to at least consider. And I’ll tell you this from experience, raising your rates is actually much less painful and far more gratifying than it seems, and well worth the effort.

In the weeks and months to come, I plan to break down into bite-size pieces ALL of the components of starting and running a freelance bookkeeping business to speed up your success, based on my own experience and what I’m still learning after 17 years (and counting).

But right now, I need your help! To give you the highest quality information in the most effective way possible, I need to hear from you.

The problem with years of experience is that it is easy for me to forget some of what it feels like when you are starting from zero. So please let me know your questions and concerns about starting and running your own bookkeeping service. This will help me make sure I address ALL of your questions and concerns. Please use the comments in this blog to let me know how I can give you what you need most.

I am extremely excited about the journey we will be traveling together. That’s because I find it so satisfying to share what tips and tools I’ve picked up and help others to succeed with them too. In turn, we all learn from one another and a real synergy emerges. Be a part of it! Think about the biggest reasons you want to be a freelance bookkeeper, and the challenges you are facing (or imagine you will) along the way. Then let’s all build the businesses that will give us each what we want most for ourselves, our families, and our clients.

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