Let’s Science the $??? Out of Unstable Freelance Income!

One of the toughest parts of running a freelance business is the lack of stability of income. Many find this a show-stopper during the first years. Some prevail for a decade without complaining about it. So what’s the secret sauce for long-term success, how to negate the effect of unstable income?

I’m the opposite of a numbers guy, but I find that sometimes it makes sense to trace back what you’ve done, analyze it, draw conclusions, and form new hypotheses to be tested in the near future. In other words, use the scientific method.

It’s very much like in The Martian, you know, the movie starring Matt Damon who at one point realizes: “So, in the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option: I’m going to have to science the shit out of this.”

That’s what we should do. We should science the shit out of unstable freelance income! “Let’s do the math.”

What you think you get

One would think, after years of history of having a cozy day job where someone else takes the business risk, that doing your freelance business is something that starts small but grows steadily as soon you just get started.

You must have seen those funny articles about what a freelancer should charge that allow you to factor in all the costs you have starting from electricity bills, website hosting fees, Dropbox subscriptions, personal holidays, and daily coffee shop visits summed up for an entire year and divided by actual working hours?

And you must have seen those funny calculator widgets on so many websites where you can just input your numbers and you get an hourly rate as the output. And that should be the price you ask from your client…

That’s all complete BS!!!

First of all, when working in the global (gig) economy where the client could be located anywhere in the world, your base costs have no meaning or relevance to the client. Absolutely none! This means your pricing should be... [Click to continue reading]