What is the problem in your business? 

If you’re sure freelancing is definitely for you or that returning to employment is not an option, that’s great. But there’s a reason you’re here and that means something needs to change. 

So what exactly is going wrong and how can you fix the problems you’re experiencing? 

I’m going to guess that you’re either struggling to get clients or the clients you do get aren’t great. Maybe the work isn’t quite what you want or doesn’t pay well. Maybe your clients are too demanding on your time or they drag their heels when it comes to paying you.  

Whatever the problem, it’s up to you to fix it. The first thing you need to understand is that you are in charge of your business. It is you who gets to decide what you agree to. You can say no to low-paid work. You can say no to client demands. And if you are letting other people dictate how you run your business, that’s on you. 

It might be hard to hear, but it’s true. And I know it’s true because I was once letting my business run me. Then I took back control and now I don’t put up with any of the crap I used to. So before you read any further, you have to be prepared to take responsibility for the way your business is heading and you have to be prepared to do something to change things if you aren’t happy. 

Get clear on what you want

Why do you feel like a failure? 

To answer that, you need to decide what success looks like.

Maybe you’re not earning enough money. But how much money is enough?

Maybe you’re not getting the kind of work you want? What does that work look like?

Perhaps you’re not attracting the right clients? What kind of clients do you want to attract?

If you don’t know what you want from your business, it’s very hard to achieve it. 

Take some time to figure out what success looks like. 

Personally, I’m happy just being a one-person business. I have no plans to grow a business empire. I just want to earn enough money to live comfortably, do all the things I want to do, and save a bit for retirement. And I want to earn it doing work I enjoy for clients who respect and value me. 

You need to figure out what you want because once you do, it makes life a whole lot easier. 

Stop looking for reassurance and start looking for solutions

Every week I see posts from freelancers with a problem.

They keep getting ghosted. 

They are sick of having to chase payment. 

They are struggling to attract new clients. 

They are barely making enough money to survive. 

And the comments on those posts are usually from other freelancers who share the same problem. 

So what happens? 

The problem doesn’t get solved. All that happens is the poster (and all the commenters) feel better because they can tell themselves:

“It’s not just me”

“It’s something all freelancers struggle with”

“The market is tough for everyone right now”

“It’s not my fault”

They feel better about the problem, but they still have the problem. 

Sound familiar?

It’s too easy to find echo chambers that will let you off the hook. You can tell yourself you aren’t getting work because the market is tough, or because of AI, or because of some other reason. It gives you an excuse. 

And having an excuse means you don’t have to take responsibility for the problems in your business. You can just stick your head in the sand and hope they go away. 

This is a crap business strategy. 

If there are other people in your industry that are getting good results, then you can too.

Stop focusing on people with the same problems as you and start seeking out people who don’t have those problems. What are they doing that you aren’t? 

Be honest about your marketing and sales efforts

Be honest – are you really doing everything possible to get those clients you want? Or are you sticking with the easy stuff hoping it will eventually generate a return? 

Back in 2020 and 2021, it was easy to get work on LinkedIn. We were in and out of lockdown so people were just hanging out there. Posting every day and commenting on a handful of posts was pretty much a good enough strategy to get enquiries. Plus people had money – nobody was going out anywhere. 

I was seeing new freelancers pop up almost daily, boasting about how they were already earning more from freelancing than they ever had in employment. It was easy. 

But I knew it wouldn’t last. I knew the bubble would burst. 

And I knew those freelancers would struggle when it did because they weren’t investing in their marketing and sales skills while the going was good. Instead, they were happily riding the wave. 

Guess what happened? Their strategy stopped working and they didn’t have a plan B. 

Can you relate? Has the stuff you were doing stopped working? And have you tried doing anything different? Or have you just doubled down on what you were already doing in the hope that it’ll start working again eventually? 

It might be time to admit that the easy stuff isn’t enough anymore. That doesn’t mean you’re going to have to start cold-calling every business in your area, but it might be time to try some more direct strategies. 

And there is good news. There are literally hundreds of marketing activities you can try – networking, emailing, direct mail, press ads, online ads, blogging, video, podcasts, guest posting, influencer marketing, events, exhibitions, door drops, radio, speaker events, SEO and so on. 

So be honest with yourself about your marketing strategy. Do you actually have one or have you just been winging it? Maybe it’s time you got a proper plan in place. 

Review your pricing

If you’re working endless hours but still struggling to make ends meet, you have a pricing problem. And you’ll never get the higher-priced work unless you ask for it. 

Let’s say you want to earn £100,000 a year. We’ll ignore expenses and tax for now and just say the target turnover is £100k.

But your average hourly rate only works out around £50.

That means you have to work an average of 38 hours per week, every week, all year.

And that’s 38 hours a week doing billable work. You’ll also have to make time for marketing and admin and all the other non-billable work that comes with running a business.

It’s just not sustainable. You haven’t created a business that allows you to achieve your goal.

Filling your time with low-paying work will limit your ability to grow your business (if that’s what you want) or create a well-balanced lifestyle. Being busy is not the same as being profitable.

I might not be earning six figures but I’ve structured my business so that I could.

My 12-week programme is £3000. So if I filled all three places every month, that would be £108,000 a year.

Even if clients were in the programme for an average of 16 weeks (taking into account holidays etc.), the most I’d be working with at once is probably 15. That’s 15 hours a week on calls and let’s say another 15 hours spent supporting my mentees between calls.

That’s still only 30 hours a week.

Plus, my 12-week programme is only one income source. There’s income from book sales, course sales, training and consulting work too.

So I have the capacity to earn six figures if I want to.

And, being completely honest, if I was consistently filling all three spaces every month and had a waiting list, I’d increase the price and take on fewer clients.

The point is I can earn six figures without having to work ridiculous hours. Six figures is not out of reach for me. If I upped my marketing game a bit, I’m pretty confident, I’d be easily filling those spaces every month.

But I don’t need to. I’m not chasing six figures. I actually quite like the balance I have right now. Some months I fill all three spaces, some months, I don’t.

Either way, my business is structured to allow me to earn enough to live comfortably, but I still have the capacity to earn more if I want to.

The mistake a lot of freelancers and small business owners make is not structuring their pricing correctly. They set a target but make it impossible to meet. 

So take some time to review your pricing. How much do you need or want to earn? How can you price your services to make that figure achievable? 

(For more help on pricing, check out my article on how to price your services as a freelancer.)

Invest in your business

This might make you wince because the thought of spending money when you are barely earning enough to get by is scary. 

But when I talk about investing, it doesn’t have to be huge amounts. And if you’re honest with yourself there are probably a few areas where you could cut back so you have the money to invest in the right places. 

You can’t expect other people to take your business seriously and have confidence in you if you aren’t treating it seriously. If you’re using an old Hotmail email address, haven’t even got a basic website, and you’re doing everything on the cheap, it doesn’t give the impression that you have faith in your business. 

And if you don’t act like a proper business then why would people treat you like a proper business?

Stop trying to do everything yourself. Get the tools you need. Invest in the help you need. Get support from people who can help you move forward. 

You expect people to buy from you because you offer something that will benefit them. Why wouldn’t you buy from people who have something that could benefit you?

Need some help getting your freelance business on track?

If you are struggling to consistently attract and convert the clients you want or you are working long hours for not enough money, let me help you. 

My 90-minute consultations are designed to help you figure out what actions you can take right now to play to your strengths and make the biggest impact on your results. Book your session here.