Budgeting finances - how to increase profit in your freelance business

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Budgeting Finances - Things You Must Do To Increase Profit In Your Business

When you are self employed, budgeting finances is extremely important as it helps protect your bottom line.

You don’t have to spend a lot to become a freelance translator. But if you are serious about taking this career path, you’ll need to make investment, whether it’s your time or money.

On the other hand, all kinds of expenditures can add up very quickly eating away your small business profits if you don’t watch closely. Not to mention that many freelancers don’t get paid right away.

It’s not uncommon for translators to receive payments couple months after the project has been completed. To keep a healthy cash flow, you need strategies to save money.

Budgeting finances is not only about saving money. It is also about how you allocate your resources and get the most out of them. I see too often rookie translators getting so excited about their new venture of self-employment that they fail to plan.

Unfortunately business did not thrive like they had anticipated. Then they became discouraged and desperate. Eventually some had to give up. It’s sad that anyone has to give up his/her dream, but it’s also childish to think that your business can succeed with pure luck.

Let’s do some serious financial planning for your freelance business:

1- Have a profit plan before you strike on your own

Budgeting finances is not only about frugality. It’s more about seeing the bigger picture. There are 3 ways to increase profit in your business and luck is not one of them.

- raise your rates

If you simply offer your personal translation service to clients, then how much you charge per hour or per word ultimately determines how much you’ll be able to make. To be able to charge a higher rate, you’ll have to convince your target market that there’s real value behind your price tag.

That’s why a translator specialized in certain area is often able to charge more than a generalist does. The former provides a service with a perceived higher value.

On the other hand, when you raise your rates, you automatically eliminate certain types of clients who only want bargains. Trust me - they are the people who will never be happy no matter how low your rate already is, they’ll always complain. You’ll be better off without them.

- get more clients

Getting more clients is not as difficult as you may think. You can find many low cost but very effective marketing strategies to attract clients. But the most difficult part as I see is to actually do it. Many translators complain about not having enough clients, but when they are given some the tools, they either claim that they know that already or they don’t think it will work, or they are too busy… (excuses).

There’s no magic wand when it comes to getting clients. It won’t happen if you don’t take actions. You have to make things happen for your business.

- get clients to buy from you more often

Constantly looking for new clients can be very costly. Finding a way to sell to existing clients over and over again not only saves a lot of your time, but can increase your revenue significantly. Budgeting finances is not only about saving money, it’s also about creating more income.

2- Always think about ROI

Budgeting finances also means that you should always consider the Return of Investment (ROI) on everything you do in your business. While Do-It-Yourself may save you some money, it’s not always the best choice when it comes to your business essentials such as a website and your business cards.

As a matter of fact, an inexpensive website built with templates is almost always better than a fancy looking custom made one. Why? The former often has regular technical upgrading provided by the company. But you'll have to pay quite significantly with each individual upgrade afterwards.

As for business cards? I get mine done regularly at Vistaprint.ca. I pay about $5 for 250 cards with free shipping. Of course you can create free business cards yourself, but the time saved by placing an order is simply precious.

To make your business profitable, you have to focus on the right priorities.

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