This week marks the 12-month anniversary of the day I left my safe cubicle in corporate America for the more adventurous world of freelance web design. I’ve already posted some of the things I’ve learned at the 2 month and 8 month marks. Here’s a look back at what I’ve learned with the wise and venerable eyes of someone who’s been at this for a full year.

• Working from home is hard. It is so easy to get distracted by household chores that need doing, pets that need petting, comfy sofas in need of a sleeping inhabitant, and my personal bugaboo: video games that suck time into a black hole.
• Relationship are a big key to getting work. For most people starting out as a freelancer there isn’t much room in the budget for advertising, and I’m no exception. That’s why it’s critical that you develop ongoing relationships with folks who can send you work, for example small marketing firms.
• Being in control is great motivation. I used to drag my feet getting out of bed in the morning, but this past year I’ve started facing the day with a little more spring in my step. I’m eager to go to work in part because I know as soon as I get my work done I can go home. There’s no need to stick around until 5pm if I’ve done everything that needed doing.
• Freelancing is not for the lonely. Some days I don’t see or talk to another person until my wife comes home from work in the evening. For someone with my particular personality that isn’t really a problem as long as I get social interaction on the weekends, but for other people it could be misery.
• Personal projects are important. You need to be working on sites that you care about. If those happen to be the sites that you are doing for paying clients, so much the better, but you need to have at least one project on your plate that makes you happy even if it’s just a site that you create for yourself. (see Single Sentence Movie Review.)

filed under: Running a Business