I want to quit the 9 to 5 life & do freelance

[Cee]

I am struggling with the decision to get out of the 9 to 5 life and become a grant writing consultant. If I hustle and get enough clients, I can probably make as much if not more than I am making now.

 

Here are the Pros:

-Set my own hours

-More variety in my work

-Become more advanced in my skill area

-Meet new people/networking

-Work from home or a coffee shop

-Not have my supervisor treat me like his lap dog

 

Here are the Cons:

-Hustle for clients

-Pay all of my health insurance (expensive)

-Have ups and downs in my income

-Less access to expensive technology (or have to buy it myself)

 

One side of me is saying I should be sensible and stick with decent job with okay pay and good benefits. But the idea of working for myself sounds so exciting. I have done a little bit of freelance and I have enjoyed it. But it was extra money, not my every day income.

 

The bottom line is that I really want to do this. Maybe I have already made my decision. So can anybody give me advice about making the jump.

 

Thanks!

[Art_Critic]

The side work you did.. where did you hustle the clients from ? have you tried online at places like elance or your industry appropriate freelance webpages..

 

Freelance is tough.. don't underestimate the amount of time it requires to get and hustle for those clients.. but then again if you can do it then it is well worth it...

 

I would try side work to start just to see if you can do it and to build up a client base.... unless of course your employment contact won't allow it... and then go from there..

Edited December 17, 2011 by Art_Critic

[jerbear]

I think you might be able to pull it off.

 

In your line of business, the highest dollar amount of grants received and total amount of grants are factors. BTW many grant writers do freelance while having a FT job; it is rough because of competing deadlines. It also depends on your employer.

 

The other thing is, you can't really work 9 to 5 or 40 hours a week. It is networking and 20% of your time is generating new business to fill your pipeline. Also remember taxes, it can easily double for instance you are responsible for the employer half of FICA.

[Cee]

I appreciate the feedback.

 

The tax and health care costs gives me pause.

 

I got a freelance gig on Elance that just ended and it was a lot of fun. I can't believe how much I made doing that. After doing that job, I guess I was hooked. But it's hard finding paying clients. So many people want me to work for free.

 

What Martinman said really struck a chord with me. In my office job, I am sitting at a computer all day. I only write about one subject area and 90% of the time I am resubmitting a proposal that got funded the year before.

 

I guess Monday will give me some answers. A consulting firm in another part of the country is calling about me sub-contracting with them on a project. I hope it works out.

[betterdeal]

Do it do it do it!

[Els]

My experience in dabbling with freelance work is that it's really only 'fun-and-easy' if you're just doing it as a side thing. Then there is no pressure from the fact that you must get a job by x date or you'll be in serious financial trouble. This cuts down a lot of the overhead (a large % of time is spent marketing and finding clients, I think, which is the opposite of doing something you're passionate for), and you get to retain the good part of it.

 

Then again, I don't know about your field, and I have extremely limited experience freelancing in mine.

[smokey bear]

I quit my job last year, i was just really unhappy with the 9-5 same old same old, i didnt have anything set up to jump to, i just quit.

 

I was unemployed for about a month, i had no idea what i was going to do, no savings to fall back on, nothing.

 

It was a huge step, very scary, but i found my feet, dabbled in different things and have survived to now. I make good money and dont worry about cash or anything and know that no matter what i will always have it in me to survive.

 

Going self employed worked for me but doesnt always work for everyone, my father tried it last year and failed, he went back to the 9-5 .

[KathyM]

My husband and I have been self employed with our own company for several years. I enjoy the freedom, being able to set my own hours, not having to answer to anyone, not having to sit at a desk for a designated eight hours or more a day. There's a lot to be said for that. On the other hand, the drawbacks are the big fluctuations in income, having to drum up business ourselves instead of working for others, having to pay our own health insurance, which is a huge chunk of money per month, and never knowing how much you'll make per month, and hoping the market will allow us to pay our bills. I do miss the steady pay check of working for someone else, but enjoy not having to answer to someone else. If you do decide to go into business yourself, make sure you have saved enough from your current job to pay for 6 months of living expenses so that when that regular paycheck stops, you won't be at a loss for paying the bills.

[crosswordfiend]

I've been freelance for 6 years. Best decision I ever made. Now you couldn't pay me to go back into the 9-to-5 grind.

 

One word of caution is that you don't get to set your own hours. When you have multiple clients and all the projects are active at the same time, you can't play one off against the other.

[betterdeal]

I have one long term client, who I work an agreed amount of hours for each month. I am as close to being employed as it gets, but in my mind there's a step change. I have a brand, reputation and business to nurture - Me Plc.

 

That client can drop me at a week's notice, so I have pimps recruitment agents lined up ready to sell my services to the next best bidder. Holidays and ill health mean no income, so the incentive to put money aside / have credit lines is all the more apparent.

 

It's a form of freedom and that comes at the price of security, as freedom does. In the current economic climate, freelancers and new businesses who are agile and effective are all the more attractive as inefficient, bloated, leaky businesses that grew fat in the good times are starting to take a shake down and can't afford the comforts they were used to.

 

During the last recession in the early 90s, I started my working life working in a small business that had the edge in a fledging new sector and it made millions. Hugely successful for 4-5 years until eventually the behemoths started to step in, as they do. Being flexible and having a good work ethic, recessions can be great times for those who leave the dysfunctional safety of the day job and wing it.

 

And if it doesn't work this time, you can get back on the treadmill get a regular job and try again later when you feel ready to give it another go.

[Standard-Fare]

Question to OP: Is there an option where you could scale back your hours at your normal job, to maybe 20 hours a week, and pursue freelancing for the rest of your time? That way you could have that consistent paycheck if you're having some "off" weeks freelancing... and also some access to the structured environment you might find yourself missing a little.

 

A lot of companies seem open to this option these days because it saves them money yet they can still retain SOME work hours from you, so it's not the impact of a full-time departure.

 

I'm a writer/editor who has considered making the leap into freelancing... but I don't think I have sturdy enough connections yet to be able to rely on it. Also, I talked recently with a freelance editor who told me she actually has more stress and less time to herself as a freelancer -- she feels she's constantly on the hustle, can't turn down anything that comes her way. She said, for example, that it's really hard for her to plan vacations because she has no idea what responsibilities she'll have for any given week in the future.

Edited December 18, 2011 by Standard-Fare

[startrekfan]

The bottom line is that I really want to do this. Maybe I have already made my decision. So can anybody give me advice about making the jump.

 

Thanks!

 

be very realistic about finances. you'll need lots saved to totally quit your job. you'll also need insurance and you'll still need recreation to de-stress.

 

you also don't have to succeed right away so keep trying if it's something you really want to do. also, based on your pros list,

 

Here are the Pros:

-Set my own hours

-More variety in my work

-Become more advanced in my skill area

-Meet new people/networking

-Work from home or a coffee shop

-Not have my supervisor treat me like his lap dog

 

you might not need to work for yourself to have most of those things.

[Eve]

I go with the reducing hours spent in FT work idea, in the first instance. It may be that you need a different sort of balance right now.

 

Take care,

Eve x

[Jynxx]

If in doubt, it's probably a bad idea.

 

You shouldn't do freelance hoping for less work or flexible hours, you should do it because you know you're way more efficient than most people in your position, because your employer has ridiculous margins and you can undercut them and make a ton more than you do now, because the people in key positions are incompetent and you can outmanoeuvre them or something along these lines.

 

That said, I wouldn't ever go back to working for someone else, but I wouldn't ever call it an easy living or much of a lifestyle advantage.

[Els]

If in doubt, it's probably a bad idea.

 

You shouldn't do freelance hoping for less work or flexible hours

 

Why not?

 

I agree that it will likely not be less work, but flexible hours is still a HUGE deal for some people, myself included, and most freelance positions do offer that advantage, that I know of. Sure, you might still need to put in 60 hours this week to complete the project, but your employer does not care whether you do 8-5, 5-2, 2-7, or what-have-you. I am the sort of person who skips lectures in college not to goof off, but because I watch the recordings at home, because I know I perform much more efficiently under my own time and conditions. So that would make a huge difference to me.

[zengirl]

Why not?

 

I agree that it will likely not be less work, but flexible hours is still a HUGE deal for some people, myself included, and most freelance positions do offer that advantage, that I know of. Sure, you might still need to put in 60 hours this week to complete the project, but your employer does not care whether you do 8-5, 5-2, 2-7, or what-have-you. I am the sort of person who skips lectures in college not to goof off, but because I watch the recordings at home, because I know I perform much more efficiently under my own time and conditions. So that would make a huge difference to me.

 

Flexible hours are a huge deal, but the work may be so much more that the 'flexibility' isn't really there because it's working just constantly.

 

Cee, how much do you work now? If it's a basic 40 hour workweek and you make a decent living, it may probably take 2x that in the first few years to break even and make the same money (considering taxes/healthcare/etc). And even then you might not.

 

Of course, that's a hugely random estimate there since I have no idea how much the average project in your field pays except for what Google just told me. I do the grant writing for the foundation I work for currently. I do a whole heck of a lot of other things, and I don't know anyone who just writes grants for a living. The fact is, most directors of foundations I know of are their own grant-writers. I'm guessing the work is outside of charitable or educational nonprofits, though. We have like no money. Maybe fancy scientists or something.

 

As to how to make it happen, slowing and on the side first, I'd imagine. That way you're used to working crazy long workweeks anyway AND you can build a little bit (and some extra cash) before you take the big leap.

 

Maybe this is a silly question, but the "lap dog" comment made me think that maybe your current job was just not a good one. Anyway, it seems like grant-writing is potentially a field where it is possible to find flexible jobs working for a company with some benefits and security. Have you thought about just seeing if there might be something where you get all of what you want?

[carhill]

So can anybody give me advice about making the jump.

When you do your taxes for this year, take a hard look at your expenses. Figure on capitalizing at least one year of expenses, factoring inflation, prior to making the 'jump'. Inadequate capitalization can kill a new self-employed person as quickly as a poor business plan.

 

As an example, a lifetime ago, I worked a regular job while acquiring equipment and clients after hours, essentially working 16-18 hours a day for about four years. At the point I 'jumped', I owned all my equipment outright, had a small but steady client base, owned some real estate and had a year's savings in liquid cash. In your case, hard assets aren't as important but the other aspects can be.

 

I haven't worked for someone as an employee since my mid-20's. Can't imagine it. Of course, I work for a lot of people; they're customers. Each job is a choice. Good luck with your choices.

[Jynxx]

Why not?

 

I agree that it will likely not be less work, but flexible hours is still a HUGE deal for some people, myself included, and most freelance positions do offer that advantage, that I know of. Sure, you might still need to put in 60 hours this week to complete the project, but your employer does not care whether you do 8-5, 5-2, 2-7, or what-have-you. I am the sort of person who skips lectures in college not to goof off, but because I watch the recordings at home, because I know I perform much more efficiently under my own time and conditions. So that would make a huge difference to me.

 

I've never worked a day in my life for someone else, but I'm convinced the own hours/freedom gains on life quality are crushed by the constant stress running your own business brings with it; the stress that comes from having an uncertain and sometimes negative income is way higher than op realizes. If she counts on working on her own only for lifestyle improvement purposes, she'll realize it's a bad deal very soon.

 

Also, from meeting my competition I can say there's a very strong negative correlation between seeing working for yourself as the easy life and being around 2 years later.

[Els]

I've never worked a day in my life for someone else, but I'm convinced the own hours/freedom gains on life quality are crushed by the constant stress running your own business brings with it; the stress that comes from having an uncertain and sometimes negative income is way higher than op realizes. If she counts on working on her own only for lifestyle improvement purposes, she'll realize it's a bad deal very soon.

 

Also, from meeting my competition I can say there's a very strong negative correlation between seeing working for yourself as the easy life and being around 2 years later.

 

But freelancing is not the same thing as running your own business.. is it? You're not employing anyone else, there's very minimal overhead, you don't lose all your modal if you fail because you didn't need much of a modal to begin with.

 

I do know a couple of people who work as freelance writers/coders (not many, but a couple), and they say they would not trade their lifestyle for anyone else's. Certainly I think one should only do it when one has a sufficient savings buffer that the stress of going without income for a while would be dampened. Say, enough for 2 unemployed years with frugal spending, or so. Also probably not a good idea to go into it if you have debts/loans/payments pending or other people dependent on your income.