The whole category in one page.
YOU CANNOT COMPARE YOUR RATE TO A SALARY HOURLY RATE
A salary includes paid leave, sick pay, equipment, training and employer contributions, and it arrives every week. Calculate your annual requirement and divide by realistic billable days — which is far fewer than you assume, because finding work and administration are not billable.
TAKE A DEPOSIT, ALWAYS
Clients unwilling to pay anything in advance are the ones who do not pay at the end. Release final deliverables on final payment, since it is the only real leverage you have.
INVOICE IMMEDIATELY, BECAUSE DELAY IN INVOICING DELAYS PAYMENT BY THE SAME PERIOD AND SIGNALS YOU ARE NOT URGENT
SET ASIDE TAX FROM EVERY PAYMENT AS IT ARRIVES, INTO AN ACCOUNT YOU DO NOT TOUCH
Tax owed on income spent months earlier is the commonest financial failure in independent work.
SCOPE CREEP COMES FROM HELPFULNESS — SAYING YES TO SMALL THINGS IS EASIER THAN RAISING IT
Define the number of revisions at the outset, and price every change visibly as it arises rather than mentioning it at the end.
KEEP LOOKING FOR WORK WHILE YOU ARE BUSY, BECAUSE STOPPING PRODUCES THE GAP THAT FOLLOWS
WATCH YOUR LARGEST CLIENT'S SHARE OF YOUR INCOME, SINCE LOSING THEM HAPPENS WITHOUT WARNING
NEVER KEEP WORKING WHILE UNPAID — IT INCREASES THE LOSS AND SIGNALS THAT PAYMENT IS OPTIONAL
AND SCHEDULE TIME OFF AND BUILD RESERVES FOR IT, BECAUSE UNSCHEDULED TIME OFF IS NEVER TAKEN AND THERE IS NO SICK PAY
