Giving yourself some financial stability before freelancing

[Toon]

SEO is a good way, start local, people need to be able to type in google "illustrator"+"toronto" and you appear on the first page at least. That's the best on-line start.

[PolarBear]

Toon, yeah how can you optimize so you can get your site the first site on a search engine like google ? I know of services where you can pay to find out what people search for but you know any other methods?

[Cwilk]

We've been in leased office space for about 3.5 years now. Before that we worked out of our home office and did fairly well. In May of 2008 we're moving our offices back into our house once again. There's a few good reasons for our move back:

1. We own a house again, so no one can tell us to move out
2. The garage connected to our house is insulated and about the size of the office space we use for our regular work area right now (not the gallery space)
3. People will quit just coming into our office to visit and bugging us. We can get more work done that way.
4. We'll save $17,000 a year by moving our company back into our house

Also by reading some of these posts, I find it interesting how us "freelancers" do things so differently. Our company does not advertise and we do not welcome new clients off the street. We have been by referral only for many years. Our clients from word-of-mouth have been very loyal which is why we actually overquote some new jobs to not get certain types of clients.

I do agree about the headaches, but that's why I hired an accountant/office manager. I pay her about $1200.00 per month to work part-time. She works the hours that are necessary to complete her work, so sometimes I'm not sure when she'll be in or not. But I know she gets her work done.

Now medical is another story. Here in the U.S. we pay roughly $400.00 per month to maintain coverage for major medical (AETNA). That way we don't lose our company or our home if something big happens. This covers me, my husband and our daughter.

Taxes are definitely a pain, but we pay our taxes loyally and keep good records for filing our taxes. This ensures our company stands solid. We try and keep about $3000.00 for printing needs in our account and more for emergencies.

As for credit, we started using our company for credit when we both worked full-time. We got the necessary business license(s) and filed business taxes quarterly to prove we were a real company. Since then we have been able to get credit in our company or personal names. The credit companies see that we have continued to work as graphic designers, so we're not a risk to them. We also bought our house recently with a stated income loan because we were able to put down a large amount of money and our credit is great.

So basically, keep these things in mind when you decide to go out on your own. I don't think I could go back to working for someone else. I'm comfortable knowing when and where my money is coming from.

Sorry to be so long-winded.