Everyone makes mistakes, especially at the beginning of their career or when they’re starting out in a new industry. Freelancing mistakes are made glaringly obvious because we’re working for ourselves, alone, and it’s just us and the client to contend with.

It also doesn’t help that there’s not one true tried and tested way to break into the freelancing world. There’s no blueprint to follow. There’s usually no one there to guide you along the way; to show you that you’re doing the right thing or are epically failing.

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Most of the time, new freelancers don’t even realise they’re making mistakes until much, much later when they look back and cringe.

Believe me, we’ve all been there.

So today I’m pulling back the curtain on some of the biggest mistakes freelancers make and how you can avoid the inevitable.

The Biggest Freelancing Mistakes

1. Not preparing schedules and systems

Starting anything new is overwhelming, particularly when you quickly become every facet of your business – the admin assistant, the finance person, the dogsbody, everyone!

A lot of freelancers make the mistake of going into it by the seat of their pants. They “wing it”, because what’s the worst that could happen?

This ends up in freelancers feeling burnt out almost immediately because they’re flailing around in the dark trying to make headway of everything.

Most of the time, this happens because freelancers don’t know what to expect so they don’t prepare. They don’t set up a folder system on their computer, they don’t block out timeslots to work on different parts of their business, and they don’t have an in-built ethos to work from.

Which means everything becomes very up in the air very quickly.

How to prepare:

Set aside some time to create systems for your business. That includes a payment schedules, how you’ll get paid, what on-boarding process you’ll use, where you’ll find work, when you’ll work, who you’ll work with etc.

2. Changing the scope of a project

It’s exciting landing your first ever freelancing job. Even by the tenth one, the excitement is still there, bubbling away beneath the surface.

We want to do things right and we’re desperate to show our clients that they’ve made the right choice. That they won’t regret hiring us.

This often leads to scope creep in projects. Usually, this comes from the client’s side – they continue to want more and more added to the project. But in the case of new freelancers, it can often come from themselves instead.

You might be so eager to please that you do more and more work for the client a) without them asking, and b) without being paid for it.

How to avoid scope creep:

Set out clear guidelines for a client in your contract and stick to them. If they want more, or if you find yourself wanting to give more, go back and read it through, reference it, and, most importantly, communicate with your client.

3. Getting comfortable

All of a sudden you have three continuous clients and you’re living the high life. You’ve reached your monthly income goal and you’re loving the life of a freelancer.

But then one of those clients emails you out of the blue and says they’ve had their budget cut so can no longer hire your services. Cue gut-wrenching stomach-drop.

That’s all it takes: one simple email that might not seem like much to the client, but could be the different between you being able to pay your bills and not.

Getting comfortable is one of the biggest mistakes freelancers make, because it can be the most detrimental to your business and your income.

How to avoid getting comfortable:

We constantly need to be marketing ourselves as freelancers, networking with new potential clients, and getting our name out there. Even when you have a full diary, still set aside some time each week to reach out to new clients and make connections.

4. Thinking more is better

The vast majority of new freelancers take on the abundance mindset, where more automatically equals better. They try and take on as many clients as possible because that’s what we’re told to believe is a “successful” freelance business, but it instead ends up leaving us feeling overwhelmed and disillusioned.

More definitely always isn’t better, especially when you’re jeopardising the quality of your work in order to get the quantity up.

How to avoid thinking more is better:

If you find yourself getting out of your depth with the amount of work you have, take a step back and see where you can pare down. Can you raise your prices? Start advertising new prices to new clients? Cut out some of the lower paying projects?

5. Keeping bad clients

This kind of follows on from my last point. Breaking up with clients is never easy, because it’s a loss of work and income – especially for new freelancers who maybe don’t have their name out there as much as veterans of the industry.

But by continuing to work with clients that are a bad fit for you (maybe it’s a niche you don’t enjoy, they don’t pay you what you’re worth, or they’re a nightmare to get in touch with), you’re missing out on the chance to go out and find clients that you absolutely LOVE working with.

How to avoid working with bad clients:

Every 2-3 months, sit down and assess the clients you do have. Think about the ones you love working with and the ones that maybe aren’t such a good fit. Knowing the state of your business is so important, because it helps you see how far you’ve come and where you’re going next.

6. Letting clients set the price

Pricing is one of my biggest bugbears in the freelancing world. We are technically service-providers (as in, we provide a service that clients pay for). We’re no different in that way to plumbers, electricians, and hairdressers, but when it comes to pricing, so many freelance clients think they’re in control of the pricing.

Yes, they will probably have a budget, but no, you don’t have to bow down to it.

Can you imagine telling your plumber that their prices are too high and maybe they could do it for X (much lower) amount instead. You’d be laughed all the way to mars, right?!

How to avoid clients setting the price:

Remember you’re a service, which means you get to set the price. If clients need reminding about this, go ahead and do it. Often they don’t see the problem with bulldozing freelancers with their tiny, tiny budgets.

7. Not saying ‘No’

Everyone should be able to confidently say no in any industry without fearing repercussions. In freelancing this is especially important, because it’s essentially just you and the client.

There’s no buffer in the middle, no one to help you out.

At the start of their careers, so many freelancers make the mistake of saying “yes” to everything, because they think that’s how they grow their business. A successful business is a busy one, right?

But, in actual fact, saying yes to absolutely everything can lead to a muddled business that doesn’t quite know who it is or what its purpose is – you see the problem?

How to avoid saying yes to everything:

Practice saying no! It’s as simple as that. When you feel bad for turning down a project, think about the possibilities it has opened up for you to find a client that’s a better fit or a project that’s way more up your street.

8. Not investing in their business

To make money you need to spend money. How many times have you heard that little phrase? I’m guessing it’s many if you’re anything like me!

In the first year of business, a lot of new freelancers are scared to spend money on their business because they don’t know if it’ll pay off. But if you want your business to get bigger and better, you’re going to have to start investing in it.

After all, if you don’t invest in yourself, why should anyone else?

How to invest in your business:

Experiment with paid tools to help with invoicing and scheduling, join courses to better your craft but, most importantly, have a plan and consider why you’re spending money on your business. What do you want to achieve? How will you get there?

9. Over-promising

Finally, one mistake new freelancers make is over-promising to clients. When we’re in talks about a new project, it’s so easy to say we’ll do everything under the sun to make it run smoothly – or, at least, so the client chooses us over another candidate.

But soon we might realise that we don’t have the time to do all the extra work, that we just don’t have the skillset to do some of it, or that there’s no way the project can even be done in the way the client wants.

Then you run into the problem of disappointing clients which, in turn, leads to bad reviews and unhappy business – not what you want when you’re starting out!

How to avoid over-promising:

It’s always better to under-promise and over-deliver on anything. Again, lay out exactly what it is you’ll do for a client and, if you find yourself struggling to meet a deadline or can’t get your head around a brief, speak to your client – it’s much better to be honest.

Okay, I want to hear from you – are you guilty of making any of these freelancing mistakes? I’ve certainly been there and done that with several of them, but that’s all part of the fun.

When I look back on the start of my career now I often cringe at the things I agreed to and the projects I took on. But, if I didn’t do them, I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in now.