If the summer holidays have left you burning to throw in your job, setting up as a freelancer may be just the escape route you need.
Getting the ball rolling can be as simple as lining up a few regular gigs or a contract. Sign up for an Australian Business Number and possibly register for GST (if you are likely to earn more than $75,000 annually) and you're away.
![Jarrod Partridge and his wife relocated to Bali, where he works as a freelance writer.](/web/20170112001122im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/9/s/s/q/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gt9uzw.png/1483915533237.jpg)
Jarrod Partridge left his full-time job in superannuation administration in mid-2015 to start freelance writing. "I had been living fortnight to fortnight paying bills, so to leave employment and follow my freelancing dream I knew I would need some kind of security."
A long-service leave payout and one contracting client were all the confidence he needed to take the plunge. Now he has several contracts and does ad hoc work for small-business clients too.
![Jarrod Partridge says working for a pittance is not sustainable.](/web/20170112001122im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/9/s/s/r/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gt9uzw.png/1483915533237.jpg)
The 36-year-old has learned a few things along the way. "When I was starting out I would spend hours and hours trying to win contracts on Freelancer, only to be outbid by people who were willing to write a 1000 word article for $3."
Now he knows his worth when he sets his rates. "I know that if I take on work at prices that are unsustainable, I will get burnt out, resentful and be back in a corporate office in no time."
That's looking increasingly unlikely, however. In November last year Partridge and his wife relocated to Bali to live and work and he says they couldn't be happier.
Of course, the freelance lifestyle isn't always so dream-like. Clients can switch allegiances; contracts can dry up; invoices go unpaid.
If you have 12 months to prepare for taking the leap into freelancing there are things you can do to start on a steady footing.
Jennifer Forest, 43, is a freelance writer and curator based in Canberra. Her move into freelancing was almost accidental. She was on maternity leave in 2008 when a former colleague asked her to work on a curatorial project. One project led to another and eight years later she is still freelancing. "It was a weird way to get started," she says, adding: "I would definitely recommend that you build up projects, do some freelance on the side, before you make the leap."
About three years ago she began to approach her work as a business, focusing more on tenders and requests for quotes.
But along with larger projects came a need for professional indemnity insurance. "When you do small projects a lot of people don't ask for your insurance, but once you start doing tenders you need substantial professional indemnity insurance," she says.
Making sure you are adequately insured can mean taking out income protection insurance too.
Saving a solid financial buffer will make the financial side of freelancing run more smoothly. Forest recommends building about six to eight months' living expenses.
But there are some things that can be nice rather than necessary. When she was starting out her accountant advised her to keep things simple. So she has stuck with a sole-trader structure and uses a spreadsheet for record-keeping rather than MYOB. Some freelancers swear by Xero.
Freelancers do have to be good at negotiating rates, invoicing and chasing those that are unpaid. Partridge uses Online Invoices, an online program for tracking paid and unpaid invoices on a dashboard.
On the tricky issue of setting pay rates, Forest suggests talking to people who are doing it already to get an idea of pricing in your sector.
Keeping cashflow coming can mean negotiating the upfront payment of a project deposit, with the balance tied to particular project milestones.
It helps too, to set a financial goal for how much you would like to earn, suggests Partridge. "Get specific then work backwards. Set targets for each month and commit to achieving them."
Forest's final tips for people who have 12 months to prepare for a switch to freelancing: find a good accountant; build up your networks and your support structures. "Be strategic about finding work and say yes to opportunities because you never know where it might lead."
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