Praise for The Freelance Way

“If you want to succeed as an independent professional, it is essential that you educate yourself about running a personal business. You can either learn this the hard way through trial and error, or read this unique book instead. It covers virtually everything you need to know as a freelancer on how to start, manage and grow your business – be it a local or a global one, working remotely. Robert’s book is packed with proven advice, tools, stories and wisdom from people who have gone down this road before you. It will undoubtedly help you live and prosper, the freelance way.”

— Steven Pressfield, world-famous author of Gates of Fire, The War of Art, and The Legend of Bagger Vance

“As freelancers, we know why we should run our indie careers as a business, but how is often a challenge. This essential book delivers actionable advice and practical tips you can use to build a solid business foundation right now.”

— Melissa Joulwan, author of the best-selling Well Fed cookbook series

“Are you an experienced entrepreneur? Then this book will save your ass several times over. Are you a newbie freelancer starting out? It may even save your life! Most people think there are two groups of people out there: entrepreneurs and employees. They couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, there are those who are willing to learn and those who believe they know everything. This book is for the first group. The Freelance Way is one of the most useful books that I have read on my journey to a free(lance) life.”

— Michelle Losekoot, freelance writer and digital storyteller with major brands like Puma, T-Mobile, O_2, Skoda, and Prague City Tourism

“Just because you’re a freelancer, you don’t have to figure it all out on your own. There is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom out there from people who have succeeded on their own terms as independent professionals – and Robert Vlach puts it in your hands with The Freelance Way. The book is packed with practical advice on the challenges you will encounter, from the mundane to the artistic. And whatever your current level of freelancing experience, Robert reminds you and me that there is always more to aspire to.”

— Mark McGuinness, creative coach and host of The 21st Century Creative Podcast

“I had the privilege to work with Robert many years before he wrote this book. He is the best business advisor I’ve ever had and he played a significant role in my career move from the corporate world to freelancing. The Freelance Way is a must-read for anyone leaving the corporate bubble and taking back control of their professional identity and destiny.”

— Eva Skornickova, leading data privacy and GDPR advisor, former diplomat to Canada and top executive in Fortune 500 companies

“The Freelance Way is a book you will be returning to… for years, over and over again. It is written for both beginners and established professionals, so as you grow, it will give you new insights each time you read it. This book is a must for every freelancer, regardless of their profession.”

— Michael Petrus, illustrator and art director, founder of the comic book app Nanits

“Robert’s upbeat book about freelancing ends on a fascinating and unexpected twist. Even seasoned freelancers will find this work a great opportunity to go back to their roots and recalibrate their freelance business.”

— Jan de Graaf, senior business developer and expert on EU exports to China

“The Freelance Way is a comprehensive and well-structured masterpiece on freelancing, and rightfully the main go-to resource for independent professionals, entrepreneurs and creators alike. The book sums up years of experience and tons of advice and research, yet it is super pleasant to read. Robert presents a complete roadmap with hundreds of real-world examples on how to seriously upgrade your freelancing toolbox. Going freelance is a lot of fun, but it also brings a lot of challenges. Reading this book will surely allow you to enjoy more of the former and put you in control of the latter.”

— Petr Klymec, EMEA Expansion Manager at WeWork

“Robert Vlach is one in a million. Friendly, hard-working, fully engaged, but most of all a true professional, who walks the talk. His book is precisely like that. Before I opened it, I wasn’t really aware that I was half-freelance myself. I was awestruck by the sheer number of things I could improve on. Ever since, the book has been my go-to business guide. It has helped me a great deal and I am sure it will help anyone who reads it as well.”

— Daniel Gladis, investor and founder of the EU-based Vltava Fund, best-selling writer

“For Robert, freelancing is not a fancy hashtag. For Robert, freelance means business. His truly eye-opening book is here to help you in setting the right prices, keeping your inbox sane and preventing the most common deadly mistakes.”

— Michal Kasparek, writer and editor-in-chief at FINMAG.cz

“There’s an estimate that freelancers will make up the majority of the workforce by 2027. Do you want to succeed in this new economy? By buying this book, you can make Robert your personal advisor. I don’t know anyone who could be a better guide for you on this journey.”

— Peter Fabor, founder of Surf Office’s international network of company retreat venues

“A breathtaking business guide that will take your freelancing to the top. The Freelance Way leads you safely through valleys of failure, financial risks and tough business decisions. While climbing higher, Robert teaches you to avoid pitfalls and master the survivor’s toolkit to fix problems. Together you cross challenging spots like negotiations, pricing, and marketing to reach the peak of success, a good reputation and clients who appreciate you and your work. Standing there, up on the top, as an accomplished freelancer, you look back and know in your heart: It was worth it.”

— Imre Jernei, world-class brand designer, founder of the Ziijn studio

“The Freelance Way took my business to the moon and back. A very readable and enjoyable book that taught me how to professionalize my work.”

— Eliska Vyhnankova, senior social media consultant with major brands like Bayer and Johnson & Johnson

“I could have saved myself countless blind alleys and wasted hours; miscalculated budgets for my services; neglected self-presentation; trials of useless tools; accounting and tax-filing errors, if only Robert had written this book 10 years ago, when I left my corporate job and went freelance. The Freelance Way is a must-read for all of you, who are just starting to take their lives back.”

— Radek Hrachovec, a leading loyalty marketing expert, The Loyalty Magazine Awards judge

“Robert is passionate about creating and realising individual business stories, taking that inspirational spark and enthusiasm for an idea and making it real. To make it real you need to understand the details and dynamics of doing business. Robert’s book is a must read, full of practical and actionable advice, allowing you to discover the entrepreneur in you and to make that passionate idea come to life. I can’t recommend this book enough.”

— Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood, three-time UK barista champion and entrepreneur at Colonna Coffee, author of The Coffee Dictionary

Robert Vlach

THE FREELANCE WAY

Best Business Practices, Tools & Strategies for Freelancers

Copyright © 2017, 2019 by Robert Vlach

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. For permission requests, write to the publisher at rights@janmelvil.com.

Author: Robert Vlach

Translation: Erik Piper

Copy editing: Scott Hudson

Proofreading: Katie Perkins

Illustrations: Radek Petrik, Miroslav Szkandera

Design and composition: David Dvorak

Cover art: Pavel Junk

E-book: Roman Kriz

Printed in the European Union

Published by Jan Melvil Publishing

Roubalova 13

602 00 Brno

Czech Republic

European Union

www.janmelvil.com

Discuss the book online: #FreelanceWay

Follow updates, or buy the print book: www.freelanceway.eu

Report typos and other errors: erratum@janmelvil.com

Inquiries for translation rights or bulk orders: rights@janmelvil.com

Reviews, feedback and comments for the author: book@vla.ch

ISBN 978-80-7555-177-1

Disclaimer: The ideas and opinions expressed in this book are intended to be used for informational purposes only. The author and publisher of this book claim no responsibility to any person for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information within. Other works or their parts in the book are used either with permission of the rightholder, or fairly quoted according to copyright law.

I dedicate this book to my dearest Lenka and to our son Richard – not out of fatherly sentiment, but because if he too starts freelancing one day, the age-old principles for doing business successfully will still be unchanged.

Robert Vlach

A note from Jan Melvil Publishing

To buy other editions and translations (or if you want to have this book translated into your language) visit our website with all the updates:

www.freelanceway.eu

1 / Business

CAN BUSINESS BE LEARNED?

This is a great question! But it’s really three questions in one:

Can business be learned?

If so, then how?

And am I the one to teach you?

Let me answer these, starting from the core of the matter:

Business can be learned, and you can learn it too.

It’s not a matter of luck or talent, but a set of skills that lead to lasting prosperity and profit, when fully learned. And what is even better, the key principles of how to succeed as a freelancer are universal and therefore basically the same everywhere.

Yet when I say learn, I’m not just thinking of beginners. You can be a top expert but a merely average businessman, still making big mistakes after many years. Furthermore, it’s still good to learn new skills, even if you’ve been freelancing for 20 years – like me.

WORRIED YOU’RE NOT CUT OUT FOR BUSINESS?

I understand your worries better than you may think. I myself believed for years that I wasn’t made for business. I was 12 when my parents opened their bakery in 1991. Their business plan was simple and seemingly doomed to succeed: People will always buy and eat bread. And they were surely right, but they didn’t realize that this sector is capital-hungry while bringing little profit. They used all their assets to buy new equipment, so once they first fired up their oven, there was no going back.

Baking is hard work, as my parents would soon learn. My dad went to work at five so there would be fresh bread on the shelves each morning. My mom worked hard to keep those shelves stocked. As a result, my brother and I didn’t see them much at home for the first ten years. Such a large chunk of life sacrificed just to protect their investment.

When I saw how much time and care it took, and how many overnight and weekend shifts were involved in their business, I swore: I’ll never be an entrepreneur.

I was already studying business at school by that time, but it only strengthened my bias. It had a strict company focus, and as such it fit with the business style of my parents. Freelancing? Forget it! Family and school influences led me to an incomplete – and mistaken – view of business that turned into rejection. And that would have been it…but for a happy accident.

WHO AM I TO SAY HOW YOU SHOULD DO BUSINESS?

In 1999, I headed out to Spain to do some seasonal labor, but I ended up working there for several years as a web development contractor. These were pioneering times, before the dot-com bubble burst, and as a project’s lead developer, I had enormous freedom to work whenever and on whatever I wanted. I sometimes even worked seven days a week, my own boss urged me to take a break. I didn’t care. That was how much I loved my work.

But every project ends one day, and so a few years later I found myself faced with a decision: either enter into some kind of permanent employment, or put my skills on the open market for other clients. That idea both excited and frightened me, because after all, I had never wanted to be an entrepreneur. But at the same time I longed for the freedom to choose with whom, where, on what, and under what conditions to work. Suddenly I could imagine going freelance.

As I gained more experience as a freelancer, the focus of my interests shifted towards supporting my freelancing friends. I created a few websites that successfully promoted their services, which led me to another turning point: In 2005 I founded a Czech national community of independent professionals that is now among the most active in Europe and helps the 150,000 freelancers who follow it to do business better. Then in 2012, I founded Europe’s first think-tank for freelancers, which meets regularly in Prague and other cities.

I’ve been holding business courses for freelancers for more than a decade, putting me in contact with countless professionals from dozens of fields and providing me with a view of what parts of business worry and interest them the most. I’ve trained nuclear physicists, introverted IT developers, extravagant artists, and ordinary bar owners – and as much as their fields varied, as solo entrepreneurs they had surprisingly much in common.

I’ve worked an equally long time in business consulting. I have dozens of projects behind me, and over 300 consulting cases. As a consultant, I’ve gotten to know the businesses of individuals, startups, and companies from all sides, including the dark ones. So I won’t be telling you in this book that business is a rose garden.

The results of freelancing surveys, including our own, are another tool that has helped me to better understand this broad subject. I’ll be citing some of these, along with other resources and books that can help you in business.

BUSINESS MEANS SOLVING PROBLEMS

My experience has taught me not to think about business too theoretically and generally, because that often leads people astray. Instead I always ask the question:

What kind of business are we talking about?

Are we talking about a certain business approach? A certain profession? A certain person’s business? These questions are in order here as well, so let me give you a precise answer:

This book is about how freelancers do business, work on themselves and their name, and sell their expertise on the free market. So it’s about independent professionals with a publicly declared expertise, profession, or trade – and this is precisely why we as customers hire them.

But freelancing can also be defined in many other ways, and people commonly include into it side jobs that are done to make a little extra money, like tutoring and temporary work, along with gigs acquired through agencies or apps like Uber and Airbnb. This makes sense in some ways, but this book is mainly for freelancers who have a specific expertise and the ambition to do business on their own, or have already been doing so for a few years.

If you’ve already been freelancing for a while, or you often cooperate with freelancers, you can take this book as an informal audit – search for tips and new ideas, bridge your gaps, check off what you’re already doing, and fix mistakes. There are always some left.

If you’re still trying to figure out which direction to launch your career, I’ll offer you a realistic idea of what freelancing brings to your life, including practical recommendations on making that launch successful.

Learning to do business is similar to learning art, science, or a new language. There are no step-by-step guides, because no such thing exists in the ever-changing and complex world of business. It all starts with basic knowledge and approaches, which I’ll definitely describe, but the final goal is to gain the ability to solve new problems.

Business means solving problems. So I’ll describe not only the latest know-how and time-tested strategies, but also how experienced freelancers think, and what strategies they apply to stay successful even after ten or twenty years. And along the way, I’ll show you so many tempting traps and dead ends that by the end, you’ll be able to see them from a mile away. I’ll teach you how to track success, catch it, and then bring it home with a victory cry.

You’ll also learn how slow-success strategies work, and that being a reliable certainty for your colleagues and clients in our hurried age will clearly give you a strong edge. But as a business this will only work if you can make good use of your advantage.

FREELANCING WORKS ON THREE SEPARATE LEVELS

1. Expertise is the core element for doing business in a profession. It’s what your clients want.

2. Administrative obligations depends on your country and your type of business. It’s what your government wants.

3. Business includes everything else, and getting better at it is mainly what you want.

Expertise is of course up to you. We are all experts in our professions, and we have to know their specifics. Administrative obligations, especially in areas like taxes, accounting and various regulations, vary from country to country, and more and more freelancers are entrusting them to experts or special applications. Either one is correct. Your actual business is what I’m going to tackle head-on in this book. Together, we’ll build firm foundations, then place key business skills upon them – skills like personal productivity, pricing, marketing, negotiation, and financial self-management. And I’ll also add hundreds of smart tips.

Naturally no book can be a universal guide for every country, culture, profession, niche, or personal business approach (there are so many). I have dealt with this by taking into consideration the things that are more widespread and commonplace. But don’t worry; the main principles apply everywhere, and most of the know-how described here will apply for your specific career.

YOUR FREELANCE WAY MIGHT START RIGHT HERE

You never know when the moment will strike you. Nobody is born to do business and there are countless ways leading up to it – including your own. And then, suddenly, you can’t rest until you’ve started going that way.

Speaking of which, my parents literally couldn’t rest for a quarter-century, but their story has a happy ending. After 27 long years, they sold their well-established bakery with its own network of stores at a hefty profit, and now enjoy their retirement alongside their grandchildren. They chose their way freely, and even though it was immensely demanding, they walked it to the end. Freedom has its price.

So now you know my reasons for saying that business can be learned, that ways exist for mastering it, and that I just may have walked one of these ways long enough to be able to help you find your own. Are you ready to step forth?

YOUR NICHE IN THE MARKET UNIVERSE

Why is freelance business more than just the gig economy?

Who comes to mind when you hear the words independent professional? I know my answer. As a boy I loved two literary heroes: Sherlock Holmes and James Herriot, a veterinarian who visited his clients throughout the Yorkshire hills and had various adventures with them. Both were their own masters, and that impressed me immensely. I wanted to be just as free as they were.

It was only quite recently that I realized to my surprise that these dreams of mine had come true. After all, Sherlock was a self-styled consulting detective, and as for Herriot the veterinarian, a small part of my clientele takes me from the city into the mountains. Just like him, I too sometimes set out for house calls along some winding roads. However, instead of animals, I help small businesses and local companies.

But there is a catch. While my consulting business today may resemble my childhood dreams, in reality it’s completely different. And likewise your idea of working independently as a freelancer should be more than a beautiful dream that dissolves on first contact with market reality.

So I’ll start by describing independent professionals’ activities from ten different angles, to give you a precise idea that will then accompany you through the rest of the book. Take it as a crash course in the freelance economy.

EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE FREELANCE ECONOMY (BUT HAD NOBODY TO ASK)

Freelancing is a fascinating market and social phenomenon that I could easily discuss for dozens of pages…but I’ll spare you. I know from experience that this mainly interests journalists, economists, politicians, activists, and those of us whose work supports freelancers professionally. But this level can’t be skipped completely, as it’s the base for important strategies that we’ll discuss later.

So my solution for the following pages has been to list only the most important things that every independent professional should be aware of.

1. IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD: FREE-LANCER

It doesn’t matter if you say freelancer, independent professional, contractor or something else. These terms have minor nuances, but in everyday speech they’re interchangeable, just like freelancing, freelance, a personal or freelance business, and so on. It’s all about the same thing, and as we’ll see, no universally valid definition of freelancing even exists, and there are far more new terms surrounding freelancing beyond these.

So the term freelancer is an entirely customary one, just like the derived words freelance and freelancing. Its first use, still in the form “free-lancer,” is attributed to Sir Walter Scott, who used it in Ivanhoe (1820) to designate a medieval mercenary warrior.

2. FREELANCER ≠ SELF-EMPLOYED

One frequent mistake is treating freelancers as identical to sole proprietors or self-employed persons, i.e. as one of the legal forms that business can take on. Many self-employed people are not freelancers. Some of them receive their work from a single agency. Some do business under their own brand (as a company). Some employ other people. And some are really employees masked as the self-employed, which in many countries is an unlawful practice also known as misclassification. In this practice, an employer forces its workers to invoice their work as if they were self-employed, to save on taxes, any national health- or social-insurance payments, sick pay, and other costs.

But the equation is also broken in its other half. Some professionals who consider themselves freelancers aren’t officially self-employed. Some are employees and only make some extra income freelancing via side jobs or the gig economy. Or they have set up a company so that they can issue invoices for their services. Or they do contracted work that is taxed as occasional income. Or they have themselves hired out on projects as fixed-term employees. Or they combine multiple part-time jobs. Or they have only minor income that doesn’t need to be taxed under local laws. Or they bill through their parents, partner, or another person.

While many freelancers do have an official self-employed status, as you can see, these terms aren’t interchangeable. For independent professionals, the determining factor is their very independence and how they present themselves as experts on the free market. But they choose the legal form for their business depending on what is best in terms of taxes or other issues.

This is nicely illustrated in the 2016 British survey Exploring the UK Freelance Workforce by IPSE, which treats freelancers as a sub-section of the wider self-employed workforce and states openly that “there is no official, legal or commonly accepted definition of freelance status which exists in the UK.” It thus defines freelancers as “self-employed workers without employees working in a range of managerial, professional and technical occupations,” amounting to a total of two million such freelancers, or 42% of the entire British self-employed population and a mere 6% of the UK workforce.

3. DEFINITIONS AND STATISTICS VARY WIDELY; THE BEST TO DATE IS MCKINSEY’S

While Britain’s IPSE works with a conservative definition, the American Freelancers Union chooses the opposite approach, with the widest possible definition of freelancing. They count everyone with even a side income on the free market as a freelancer. Almost 57 million Americans – a third of the entire labor market – fit this generous definition in 2018, according to their Freelancing in America survey. This survey divided freelancers into five categories:

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Table of Contents

Reviews

Copyright

Dedication

1 / Business

Can Business Be Learned?

Your Niche in the Market Universe — Why is freelance business more than just the gig economy?

2 / The Professional

3 / Know-how