Encouragement required please

[freelancenewbie]

Really enjoying being freelance - professional services. Have a great client - pays on time, every time, no quibbles. I somehow manage to squeeze everything in - but work a lot a night & I'm always exhausted. My problem is - I don't get paid enough. My fault, went in too low - my 1st client, I was inexperienced re. my fee & was desperate to just get that first client. Doubt they'll up my pay now. My professional skills are being kept incredibly up-to-date & refreshed via this client so I'm focussing on this being an excellent way to keep my hand in whilst children so little. Do I just continue, on very little pay, for the greater good - i.e. hope of excellent clients (and more of them) once I can increase my hours? Just feel like I offer such a great service to my client (I've become so very effective with my time since having children) - and they really don't return on my fees. But, on positive note, I work exclusively from home, the work is very interesting/relevant to my field & my childminder lives next door so the set-up (other than my low pay) is perfect. I almost feel grateful to my client for giving me a chance - pathetic I know!

This sounds like a great client in every way but £. Truthfully to gain what you have via someone else what would you have to negotiate on? Some things are more useful than £.

I don't see why couldn't renegotiate £ at a later date. Most fees go up yearly. Why shouldn't yours?

How long have you been working for them? I think it would be very reasonable to renegotiate. The anniversary of your contract would seem like the best time.

I'm sure they're as happy to have you as your are to have them. How much would you cost to replace?

"I really enjoy working for you, but I calculated my rate rather low, and I'm losing out on more lucrative work. I add a, b and c to your business. To replace me would cost X, but because I'm so happy here I'll continue for Y" (where y

I'm not freelance, btw, but I do sometimes employ freelancers. It's a two way relationship and a reliable, easy to manage contractor is worth a lot! They won't want to lose you.

Thanks - yes true other than £, it's working well. Yes, will wait & then see if I can increase my fee - it's just I now realise I should have gone in much much higher (although I appreciate may not have then got rhe client in first place). I'll just try & get whatever increase I can.

Thanks Strong - useful points.

Hello freelance glad to see it is going ok with your client, albeit not well paid.

I think there are 2 things you want to change - a) the hours you are having to do and the b) pay you are receiving from this client. Is increasing the pay going to be enough to make working all hours seem worth it? ie is this just about the money...?

If yes, then I'd approach them at a sensible point (maybe not just before Xmas for your DC's present sake :) just in case it goes wrong) and do as strong suggests just be honest and outline what you are looking for. A copywriter I sometimes use put her prices up from £20 to £30 ph and I still paid as I needed her and valued her work. If they say no you are no worse off. If they are happy with you (and realise what a bargain you are!) I doubt it will make them dump you.

If no, then maybe you need to take a step back and think about the sort of "business" you want in 2014 if you haven't already. An approach could be (with made up figs):

• I want to bring home £20,000, so I need to earn £24,000 (assuming 20% aside for tax & NI)

• I have 20 hours a week to work (excluding evenings). So removing 5 hours for admin/business development I therefore have 15 hours to deliver work.

• For 46 weeks of the year (holiday/covering DC school hols too if needbe)

So therefore to earn £24,000 over 690 hours = £35 per hour.

So, can your current client help with this? If not, then maybe you need to be looking for new clients to replace them. There is something to be said about not just having the 1 client including IR35 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IR35 and spreading the risk.

I know you had a very unfortunate experience with that potential client messing you about but you don't know what other potential great clients are out there unless you look etc..

I have found there is always a bit of up and down on the hours with freelancing. However you shouldn't be working every evening...Are you able to "give yourself permission" not to work? I know I find that difficult.

Finally, you should be really proud of what you have achieved so far. It takes guts to start up alone and on many levels you are making it work.

Wow, MrsMargo, your reply is incredible. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply in such detail. I will consider all your points & think about my action plan! I think that potential client that totally messed me around has left me nervous to look again. I will explore that too - see if another client could be a potential. Thanks for everything you said - sometimes it's just nice for someone (even virtually) to acknowledge your achievements!! Note to self, must also work on not being needy (in addition to pathetic)! Since having my two children, my confidence just seems to have flown away - must work on that! Will be in touch...

Hi freelance, I have also just recently gone freelance after having my second dc and I completely appreciate where you are coming from. I absolutely love the work (also in professional services) keeps me up to date, nursery in walking distance and more importantly I am able to work from home and work condensed hours to suit me. I now have a work life balance which is something I only dreamed of for a long time.

I have been lucky so far and always had enough work to pay for childcare with a reasonable profit on top but I do worry when I get to the end of each project about whether I will have any work after that so I completely understand the fear. I would just say a few things that I have been thinking I must do/ have done for myself.

Firstly, find out what a reasonable/ going rate is for the work you do on a freelance basis and how many other freelancers there are like you in your area of work. You can do this by ringing around agencies or asking anyone else you know in your field from previous jobs etc or looking on linkedin. This will give you a good idea of demand and supply in your area and how your current rate compares against what others are charging. Do some research into other firms you could contact that might want to use your services or ring round some agencies and see if you can get an idea of what other opportunities there might be out there for you.

Armed with this information you can then make a decision about whether it is reasonable to ask for an increase in fees and how much and you can ask for. You can also use this info to quote to your firm to support your request. You will also be able to do a risk assessment of whether they are likely to accept the increase as it will still make you a good freelancer or how likely it might be for them to find someone else. You can also assess how likely it would be that you could find other work if you needed to.

As long as your requested increase still makes you a good prospect then you are in a strong position. You never know you could end up finding another firm who are happy to pay more and then have options.

Hi mylittlemonkey - thanks so much - great points made, will consider all. I think MrsMargo made such a valid point about my working hours. I really need to tackle it - working every night is exhausting me. Are you able to work purely within your childcare hours? That's my ideal - just doesn't seem to pan out with professional services clients! Feeling re-motivated again now - helped so much by this thread - was feeling a bit 'oh is it all worth it, this freelance thing'. But I think it is ...or certainly will be.

Another thought I've had - do you think I should ask my previous employer firm if they're interested in using me freelance in some way? Is that a good option - or will it make me look like my new venture has failed? I left on really good terms - I just couldn't do the full time they wanted from me after DC - but it was all v amicable.

You aren't pathetic or needy. Freelancing is lonely, reach out. I love anon boards, they are so more honest than any contact/network you have.

I would talk to your previous employer. You control what others know about your freelancing. Does it matter if it ex employers/new clients?

All you need to be able to say is "I am a freelancer and I have enough work". The when/how is nobodies business apart from yours.

You were really unlucky with that fuckwit potential client. Don't let it put you off from seeking "gold" elsewhere.

Good luck!