Closing your first deal as a freelancer is a huge milestone. Take a moment to celebrate that win. But before you dive into the work, it's smart to pause and make sure your work environment is actually set up to help you succeed. This is a crucial step when from home.
To really get what freelancing is about, it helps to see how it stacks up against a traditional job. The single biggest difference? Accountability. As an employee, you answer to your boss. As a freelancer, you answer to yourself. It’s a simple distinction that changes everything about how you work, get paid, and plan your life.
It can all start with a simple conversation. I was walking to dinner with Josh Turner at an affiliate mastermind when he turned to me and said, “I’d like to buy your company.” He’d heard I was thinking about selling, and something about his directness felt right. Our companies were mirror images—his focused on LinkedIn, mine on Facebook. We shared the same values about taking care of our teams and clients, and our visions for a healthy work-life balance were perfectly aligned. He was ready to make a move, and frankly, so was I.