We all experience setbacks from time to time, whether personal or in our careers, and the world of freelancing is no different. But the good news is that there are many ways to bounce back from freelance setbacks and turn lemons into lemonade.
Here are some common scenarios and what you can do to help mitigate them and even turn them into positive growth opportunities.
1. You’re not getting paid enough
Pricing is probably one of the most common challenges new freelancers struggle with. Not setting your rates correctly, charging inadequately for the value you provide, or offering discounts just to attract new business can have a detrimental impact on your freelance cash flow.
On top of that, when you are working hard for little reward it can also affect your output, mood and motivation.
While it can be challenging to increase your prices for clients once you have set them, you should review your rates regularly to take into account increases in the cost of living (and, therefore, any materials you might need to perform your work and other overheads) and the added value you provide as your skills and services grow.
One way to earn more as you gain more experience and fine-tune your skills (and therefore increase your value to clients) is to raise your prices for new clients. It doesn’t have to be by a huge amount to make a difference, either.
So take this opportunity to review your prices and get paid the amount you deserve.
Lemon – You’re not getting paid enough.
Lemonade – An opportunity to review and increase your prices.
2. You’re working too much
If you find yourself strapped for time as you try to do everything in your business, now is the time to stop and take stock. Working too much can also manifest as poor-quality sleep, fatigue, and lack of focus.
Now is the time to review your business processes and identify anything you can outsource, automate, or even hire a VA to do instead—all those things that take up your valuable time.
Not being productive with your time can lead to freelancer burnout, so if you are feeling the stress, nip it in the bud before it takes a serious hold on your business and your health.
Counter-intuitively, now might be the time to take a well-earned break. Either way, you need to prioritize self-care.
Again, you could be working too much because you haven’t set your prices correctly, and therefore, you are doing too much work for the amount you are invoicing. You need to recognize when you are overextending yourself—it’s perfectly okay to turn work down.
Lemon – You’re working too much.
Lemonade – An opportunity to outsource, automate, or take a well-earned break.
3. You didn’t get the gig you wanted
It can be disappointing when your pitch is rejected, and there may be a myriad of reasons why it wasn’t successful, but the key is not to take it personally. It may be that the gig wasn’t the right fit for you, or it may even be a blessing in disguise, opening the way for a better opportunity.
In any event, you can use this time to improve your pitch or client acquisition skills. Perhaps improve your cold-calling strategy or refine your written client proposals. View the time you’ve gained as an excellent opportunity to work on your business rather than in it. Whether this is by focusing on your marketing efforts or improving internal business processes, use the time wisely to turn the perceived loss into a positive win.
Lemon – You didn’t get the gig.
Lemonade – An opportunity to work on your own business and skill sets.
4. You didn’t get paid on time
There are many reasons why you might not get paid on time, from not agreeing on payment terms in advance to not sending off invoices on time or even errors and inaccuracies in the invoice itself.
One way to help mitigate these scenarios, as well as having a written agreement in place that sets out your payment terms and conditions, is by making use of invoicing software.
Invoicing software with multiple payment options enables faster payment. Clients get their invoices on time and can pay at the click of a button. Good invoicing software providers also include email reminders and auto-payment options to reduce the risk of being paid late.
Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software for small business invoicing, online payments, tracking expenses and billable tasks. It also includes attractive, professional invoice template designs you can customize with your logo and brand colors.
Try it for free here.
Lemon – You didn’t get paid on time.
Lemonade – An opportunity to streamline your payment processes and take advantage of Invoice Ninja.
5. You got ghosted
Ghosting is when a prospective (or current) client ignores all your correspondence and doesn’t respond to messages, calls or reminders – hence the term!
Being ghosted is no fun, especially when it involves not getting paid for work you’ve already performed.
That said, there are things you can do to lessen the chance of being ghosted, and one of them is recognizing client red flags. These can range from being asked for low-priced or unpaid work in exchange for more work down the line to vagueness and flippancy in your initial dealings with them. If you feel that something isn’t quite right, trust your intuition.
Other ways to mitigate ghosting include asking for a deposit upfront and/or adding an expiry date to your quotations. Adding an expiration date to your quotations means that even if they ghost you, the quotation has expired in any event.
It’s also advisable to have an invoice reminder system in place.
The Invoice Ninja Pro Plan allows you to create custom email reminders based on the invoice date or due date. Define date parameters to remind your clients before or after invoices are due to ensure you get paid!
Putting anti-ghosting ‘checks and balances’ in place will undoubtedly improve your business processes and help make your freelance business more streamlined and efficient.
Lemon – You got ghosted.
Lemonade – An opportunity to improve your processes to prevent it from happening again.
6. You received negative client feedback
Negative client feedback can impact self-confidence and, if not dealt with effectively, can even lead to a bout of impostor syndrome.
However, whether perceived as good or bad, feedback presents excellent learning and growth opportunities.
When you receive unfavorable feedback, it’s important to try not to take it personally and look at it objectively. It’s also probably best not to react straight away when emotions might be high. Instead, go through each of the points and, if you can, review them with the client. View this as an opportunity to get some deep insight into what your client wants and what you can deliver. It could be a misunderstanding that can easily be rectified.
Feedback is part of the learning journey and can be an excellent personal and business growth tool.
You’ll also be in a better position to implement processes to mitigate the possibility of it happening again.
Lemon – You received negative client feedback.
Lemonade – An opportunity to learn, improve and grow.
