Essential resources to start a business freelancing | Be Your Own Boss – 2/2

Essential resources to start a business

Essential resources to start a business freelancing | Be Your Own Boss – 2/2

Essential resources to start a business: so you are ready to start your own business and that’s great! But what resources do you need when you start? Let’s find out!

Hello, I’m your host Kaycinho, I’m a digital alchemist, and this episode is episode n°2 of a module dedicated to the preparation phase of starting your business. So if you haven’t seen the first video, I invite you to check this playlist.

And by the way, this module is the first module of a course taking you from the burning desire to become your own boss to actually launching your business. So if you want access to the full course (videos will be added until the course is complete) by clicking here.

Essential resources to start a business

Essential resources to start a business

What resources do you have, and what resources do you need to launch your business? Well it really depends what kind of business you’re after, but this channel being about being your own boss in the digital age, I assume you want to start an online business or at least a business related to the digital industry.

You know I love talking about freelancing, so let’s say you want to start a one-man-operation web studio, and that you already have the required skillset to create websites, as seen in episode 3 of the “decision phase” module.

So in our example, you’d be some kind of hybrid web designer / web developer, which is how I got started.

Here is what you’d need at a bare minimum:

Essential resources to start a business: the bare minimum

Essential resources to start a business: the bare minimum

  • a place dedicated to your business in your accommodation (whether a desk in your living room or even an entire room)
  • a decent computer (with enough ram, disk space and resolution)
  • graphic creation and development software (if money is an issue you can find a lot of free software like The Gimp for graphic creation or Sublime text for code development)
  • a decent webcam or smartphone for video-conferencing
  • a reliable internet connection (I insist on reliable, and in my case, the first 2 years I started freelancing, I was on a reliable but very slow connection and I actually had to move houses to get a good connection but the good side is that it really helped me optimize my work at the time for slower connections)
  • access to quality images (there are free stock photos databanks like Pixabay, Unsplash and Pexels for example
  • access to a CMS (in my case I specialized in WordPress)
  • a way to go meet your clients (in big cities, public transports is no problem, but you may need a car if you live in remote areas, and also it gives you more credibility)
  • a credit card and/or PayPal account (you will need to purchase domain names, web hosting, plugins, and so on, depending on the projects)
  • access to legal templates (quotes, invoices that were made for the country in which you intend to do business)
  • access to a quoting and invoicing solution (could be as simple as Google Docs, but I’d advise a dedicated solution)
  • time ! If you don’t have an advertising budget to start with, you will need to create a lot of content (blogs, videos, tutorials, and so on) and basically hustle your way up
  • 3 months to 6 months of self-sustainability (preferably 6 months) – because you will first need to find your first clients, do the work and get paid, then rinse, recycle and repeat until your cashflow allows you to live from it, and then rinse, recycle and repeat again, as long as you’re in this business
  • and finally, a legal form of business: at the bare minimum sole proprietorship status or equivalent in your country, as well as possibly the access to an accountant

Essential resources to start a business: invest in your business

Essential resources to start a business: invest in your business

Now if you have some money to start with, here is a step-up from the previous list:

  • a dedicated office
  • a powerful desktop + a companion laptop for when you visit clients or need to do remote work
  • access to premium software like the Adobe Creative suite, or Affinity applications if you don’t like the subscription-based model
  • an HD webcam (I’ve put links in the description below) for video conferencing when at your office
  • a recent smartphone for on the go video conferencing as well as to organize your business life
  • a fast and reliable internet connection
  • access to premium quality images (like Envato Elements, and you’ll find a direct link in the description of this video)
  • access to a CMS (I’d still bet on WordPress) but with Premium solutions like the Divi Theme (links are below)
  • an economical and decent looking car to go meet your clients and look credible
  • a business credit card and PayPal account
  • a lawyer to create bulletproof drafts for your quotes, invoices, and contracts for the country in which you intend to do business
  • access to a quoting and invoicing solution such as Xero, or similar
  • a dedicated online advertising budget (I’d say a minimum of 100$ monthly more if you can afford) to get the word out and start the lead-generation process
  • 6 months to 12 months or more of self-sustainability
  • and finally, the fees for a limited liability form of business entity as well as the budget for a certified public accountant.

Essential resources to start a business: start with what you have

Essential resources to start a business: start with what you have

As you can see from these two lists, it is totally possible to start with a minimum budget using the resources you already have as well as open source free software and work your way up.

Or if you have the budget, you can get yourself some tools and services that will speed up the process and help you be more efficient.

But in both case, other resources you need and that I did not yet mention are :

  • dedication
  • a lot of work
  • a strong mind

Because at the beginning there will be doubt, there will be rejection but once you’re on the other side of the hill, you will use that experience to make the rest of your journey a completely different story.

And that has nothing to do with the material resources you have to start with.

Essential resources to start a business: your turn

Essential resources to start a business

So, I hope that this episode gave you a preview of the resources you’s need to start a freelancing business. Let me know in the comments!

If you watched the companion video and if you like it, please give it a thumbs up, as it really helps growing the channel and if you know someone that could benefit from it, I’m going to ask you if you’d like to share it now.

Because let’s face it, there are so many things to do in a day that if you don’t do it now you’ll probably forget.

Now if you want to brand, market and grow your business it in the Digital Age make sure you subscribe to my email newsletter so that you never miss your share of digital alchemy and tips, tools, services and case studies that can help you grow your business online.

So, that’s it for this video, and in the next one we’ll discuss about “Doing things the right way” to maximize your chances of success.

And in the meantime, don’t forget to invest in YOUR success!

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