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A freelance career is just like running any other business in many ways. There will be high moments of success and euphoria and low moments of frustration and doubt.
If you ever find your freelance career stuck on a plateau, or seemingly going in circles making no progress, don’t worry. You can get through it. Sometimes all you need is a pivot.
Discover how a simple pivot can be powerful for your freelance career. Here are concrete examples and resources that will help you and your freelancer career.
Before we get into the “how,” let’s make sure we’re all on the same page when referring to a “pivot” in your business.
A pivot refers to a slight change in direction toward your goals in business. This could include a change in procedure, a change in overall business goals, or a change in what you offer to clients, among other things.
It’s important to note that this change does not mean you’re throwing away any progress you’ve made so far. Instead, you’re making small-to-medium-sized adjustments as a sort of course correction on your way toward success.
Here are a few simple signs you may want to consider a pivot in your freelance career:
There are lots of small, pivoting changes you can make to improve your trajectory and find more satisfaction in your freelance career.
If your revenue is stagnant, consider exploring your rates and possibly raising them. To start, you have to understand your worth which can lead to having more confidence in higher pricing.
If you’re tired of doing the same thing every day, try expanding your service offering. New services not only rejuvenates you as a freelancer but also gives you an excuse to reach out to your previous clients to pitch them new services.
You’d be amazed how much new work and increased revenue can come just from a simple upsell in your freelance sales process. Offer upsells at every stage of your client journey, and you’ll see a real impact.
Building a team of freelancers to work with you can offer two refreshing pivots: First, you’ll have the capacity to take on bigger, more exciting client projects. Second, you’ll get to focus on a new challenge: growing your business and managing people as an entrepreneur.
Finally, nothing can get you out of a rut quicker than growing from a freelancer to a full-fledged agency. Build processes and systems to automatically generate leads and onboard clients at a scale you’ve never experienced before. Here are more ways to scale your freelance business.
If you’re still unsure where to start with your freelance career pivot, we recommend identifying a few goals you want to achieve in the next 12 months.
For example, if you have the goal to build more free time into your schedule, perhaps shifting your freelance career into “scaling up” mode isn’t the best option right now.
If your goal is to bring in more revenue and build more stability, you may consider moving toward building an agency model instead of being a solo freelancer. The secret to a good pivot is knowing where you’re going currently and pivoting toward where you want to end up.
Finding the right way to pivot isn’t just a great way to increase your profit margins, it's also a great way to unlock new energy in your freelance career, making your work more enjoyable every day.
So whether this coming year has a big or a series of small pivots in store for your freelance business, remember to always examine yourself and your freelance career and strive to improve whenever possible.
