There are a lot of great reasons to choose freelancing and contracting over other forms of employment: offering more flexibility, control over your own working life and the opportunity to build strong relationships with your clients.

Of course, the dream for many is to also add profitability to this list of benefits and, while freelancing can certainly provide a substantial income, it’s no secret that it can also be hard work ensuring that this is stable.

That’s why articles such as this recent news piece from Bloomberg  are so encouraging, since they show just how well freelancers can do for themselves with enough drive and passion for what they do. The story follows James Knight, a coder who decided to leave his job with Google in order to go it alone, taking on independent contracts from big name companies, who often look for freelancers to work with when they have important but short-term projects which doesn’t necessitate hiring a full time employee.

Reaping the Rewards

The move worked out well for Knight, who now earns almost twice as much as he was when still at Google – while also enjoying many of the other benefits that we discussed above.

Working within coding certainly helps make his freelance career so profitable, as there is an enormous demand for talented individuals in the field right now, so it’s important to avoid assuming that this will be the same for everybody. That said, our round up of predictions for 2016 suggested that contractors across the board should find companies are eager to secure their skills this year!

Seize the Day

Getting the most profitable contracts certainly isn’t down to luck, and reading about Knight’s experiences has given us a few ideas to help you put your name at the top of the list:

• Find a Niche

It can be great to offer a variety of different services, but it’s even better to fill a gap within your industry if you can find one, whether that means pitching your services to a specific type of company or offering some new and unusual.

• Master your Craft

As more and more people decide to become freelancers, supply is rising almost as quickly as demand. There’s always something new to learn, and in a conventional workplace you would receive training and feedback to ensure that you keep improving – make sure that you find a way to provide this for yourself.

• Have Confidence in your Skills

If you’re great at what you do then you should act accordingly: you don’t want to appear arrogant, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make sure your clients are paying you what you’re worth!

While you’re working to secure those important contracts, we can provide an IR35 contract review to ensure that you’re working within the legal guidelines. To find out more please get in touch with us today, online or at 0800 195 3750 – we look forward to hearing from you.