How to Grow a Small Business
For many, the new year is a time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. This is true for freelancers and independent professionals as well—taking the opportunity to think back on successes and failures of the past year and the past and set goals and a vision for the coming year…
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When you’re just starting out your independent career, there’s an initial push to land as many clients as you can to jump start your business. While it is of course important to make sure you can pay the bills, there comes a time when your strategy should shift to finding the clients who are truly…
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As an independent professional, keeping your skills and knowledge current is part of the job. But as a company of one, you may often feel isolated or out of the loop when it comes to larger business trends. Whether you are just starting out or are a well-established freelancer, furthering your knowledge can give you…
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Conducting an end-of-year review isn’t a practice that just applies to bigger businesses—it’s a process that is valuable to freelancers and independent professionals as well. A business review gives you a chance to look back at what you have achieved, revisit your goals, and consider how to best move forward for the coming year. In…
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When building an online job-seeking profile as an independent professional, you want to put your best foot forward and show prospective clients who you are and what you have to offer. While it’s important to fill out all of the information that’s typically required like your education and work history there are a few other…
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Networking is an incredibly important part of any independent professionals’ job. When you run your own business and are responsible for securing your own work, the more high-quality connections you can establish the better. When thinking about how to build out your network, your first inclination might be to reach out to people in your…
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One of the key roles for independent consultants is business development—and often the road to new business goes through the C-suite. Presenting business proposals to a new client or to an executive of a large company is unlike presenting to peers. Here are three tips to help you develop your content and approach and present…
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One of the challenges of being an independent contractor is that you don’t have an employer offering regular professional development opportunities. But that’s okay, because you can be proactive in building your own personal library of inspiring books that’ll help you take your career to the next level. Taking time to read business books allows…
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When requests for additions or changes to a project come up, saying ‘yes’ can be an automatic reaction. However, that extra work can quickly add up and lead your project into the dreaded area of scope creep. Scope creep occurs when a client adds new provisions, tasks, or deliverables to a project that are outside…
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One of the most common fears as an independent contractor is the constant uncertainty of industry competition and how you are faring compared to other businesses. This is a legitimate concern, as what your competitors are doing can dramatically impact your ability to earn or maintain current clients. The first step in staying on top…
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