From Nation1099, Emma Gallimore shares advice from independent contractors to those just starting out. Emma writes:
TAKE BIG RISKS
Rick Penn-Kraus, owner of the creative consultancy RPKdesigns had been freelancing on the side for most of his professional life before he made the plunge to full-time consultant.
“I went out on my own by necessity,” Penn-Kraus says. “I chose to leave a full-time job that was not the right fit for me, even though I had no other job lined up. I had resisted acting on such an urge a number of times in my career. This time I made the leap.”
The recession started soon after and finding a job became much more difficult. But Penn-Kraus reached out to his network and made himself available, taking work where he could find it.
“I said yes to almost every client request, including tasks I did not necessarily know how to do.” Penn-Kraus says. “And I figured out how to accomplish them, learning new software in the process and adding to my skill set.”
He started projects that even he thought were crazy, like teaching a comic book cartooning class out of his home.
The risk paid off. The class sold out for almost every season over the last few years.
Read the full story at What Independent Contractors Wish They’d Known Starting Out
