Great minds think alike, and great tools make that thinking all the easier. Braving it alone as a freelancer, without any support from those like you, is antithetical to modern professionalism. Put simply: you'll need help from other people, and they'll need you just as much.
Since freelancing is an ever more enticing route, we're putting the spotlight on what can be accomplished with a little help here and there…
Scaling your resources
No-one manages to gain trust amongst their clientele overnight. Marketing yourself is tricky, and it never really stops – any freelancers that manage to promote themselves well and meet expectations deserve all the success they get.
Eventually, your name might carry so much weight that you're incapable of taking on every assignment you're presented with. This is when you should reach out to others like you, bringing them under your fledgling brand. Task management tools like Task Board can help delineate your outsourced tasks, showing remote workers what they have to do and when it's due. Even for a one-off job, a simple kanban board can streamline your scalable assets.
A different perspective
Dealing with a busy schedule isn't the only reason to bring in outside help, though. It can be tempting for the self-employed to carry on, unheedingly, down a certain mindset. Their philosophy of working (they reason) has gotten them this far – why should they change it any time soon?
But it's invigorating to see what others can do with your business template, and your skillset could be enhanced by a new set of eyes, another angle on projects you've come to see as routine. A fellow freelancer could have a different approach you admire, meaning you can collaborate together when the opportunity arises. If both of you are in separate fields – photography and web design, for instance – then referrals can be traded for your mutual benefit.
Sweating the small stuff
The scope of a freelancer has no limits, really, unless you admit that the finer points of your business (such as accounting, networking and an organised setup) can always be improved.
Nowadays, there's an expert for anything, ready to hone elements of what makes you unique. Other professionals will have the time and expertise to manage your money and admin tasks to a better degree than you as a one-man army. None of us can do everything perfectly; don't be afraid of playing to the strengths of others when you're struggling.
Project managers know all too well the importance of tight, remote collaboration, and we'd like more freelancers to harness that same freedom with each other. We're stronger as a team, after all, and working together can make a decent venture an amazing one.
