A common mistake that rookies make when they enter the world of freelancing and get on their feet, is that they find themselves unable to say “no” to any new client that approaches them. And sure, you don’t want to miss any good leads that can potentially develop into healthy long-term connections – but you have to develop the ability to know when you have enough on your plate. It’s not that you can’t add an extra project to your current workload – that’s the beauty of being a freelancer, if you want to, you totally can. You just have to sacrifice an hour or two of your sleep. And that’s exactly the kind of thinking that leads to a very quick downward spiral into being buried with work with no end in sight. You’ll probably be making quite a lot of money in those periods, but what good is that if you have literally no time to spend any of it? Think before you respond to new contacts (or even requests from old clients). If you turn down a job now, this doesn’t mean you’ve lost that client forever. From your client’s point of view, it’s always better that you’re upfront and honest with them about your current situation, instead of being misled about their deadlines. With time, you’ll develop the skill to think a few steps ahead and know when a new order might put you in a spot that’s just about too uncomfortable for you. But until you’ve reached that point, you have to be careful, and approach this in a systematic way. Time yourself during work, know how much you can complete in any given time period, and always be honest with your clients when it comes to setting deadlines. Greed will put you in a very bad place sooner or later. http://freelancenomads.com/dont-get-greedy/
Thank you for your tips. A lot of these definitely apply to me. I have a very difficult time saying no to new clients; I don't want to be greedy, plus I sometimes get desperate for money. There was actually a few days just last week where I said yes to so many clients, I sat from morning to night glued to my computer trying to get everything done. I need to learn what's worth it, and what's not.
I published a similarly geared article today, although mine focuses on getting clients, but point 5 on my list is related to this: 5. Engage with other Freelancers A great way to get some additional clients is actually to interact and engage with other freelancers, some freelancers actually got way too much to do and is willing to subcontract some of their work to other freelancers or just flat-out referring their clients to you, remember to return the favor though, nobody likes an ungrateful person. In fact while writing this post, A web developer added me on Skype and we started connecting on LinkedIn, he does web design and ASP.NET type development jobs, So being a person who does not know ASP.NET I said I'd refer or subcontract jobs like that to him instead of turning down clients. I don’t have to turn down clients, he gets extra business and the client gets a competent web developer, It’s a win-win-win.
Good post, but i feel like it is missing some depth. For example it forgets to dive deeper into the benefits of outsourcing which can often help distribute an overloaded schedule. Particularly if you develop exceptional outsourcing skills, you can spend more time signing clients and getting paid, while spending less time in front of the computer doing tedious tasks. Also I do think the common mistake that you point out above has it's place in the learning curve of any freelancer. As these times of overload help to educate any freelancer in effective time management. By overloading you begin to learn how to do things more efficiently (hopefully without cutting corners).