How To Decide Which Freelancing or Service Based Business You Should Start
Starting a service-based or freelancing business is a great way to invest in your family. You can choose the number of hours you want to work and you control your schedule and your rates. It’s flexible and a great outlet for using the gifts you already have.
The question may be, which kind of freelance or service business should you start? To be honest, there are probably a bunch of things you are doing already that people will pay you to do for them.
In this post, I’m going to walk you through what questions to ask to yourself to help determine what type of freelance or service based business you should start.
What do you enjoy to do or do really well?
Think about the things you do well or enjoy. Do you enjoy taking pictures of your kids? You could be a photographeyr. Do you enjoy the satisfaction of going from a house that was in shambles to one that is clean and tidy? You could start a cleaning service Do you like to tell people when they are using the wrong there/their/they’re? You should be my best friend….and you should probably be a copy editor. See where I’m going here?
What things do your friends come to you for help?
This is actually a really good one, because it’s already been market tested. You know there are people out there who need your help with these. I’m not saying you should go charge your friends. Be cool, lady. But you could charge strangers for the same services. Things like, “Hey, Amanda, will you come over and take a look at my living room? I think it needs a refresh and I just don’t know what to do.” You could start an interior decorating or consulting business. Or, “Hey, Anna, will you go shopping with me? You always help me find the best clothes.” You could be a personal shopper.
If you can’t think of anything people come to you for help with, feel free to just ask them what you are good at. Friends and family have a better view of what you do well than you have of yourself. You take many of your skills for granted, but your friends and family see them clear as day! Plus people LOVE giving advice, so it will be fun for them!
What do you want to learn?
Did you know you could start a business doing something you have no idea how to do? Heck Yeah, you can! 11 years ago when I decided to start an auctioneering business, I had literally only attended one auction in my life. Now I consistently have 40 clients at a time and get compensated well to conduct their fundraisers for them. It just looked fun and I was willing to look silly for a while. I started by volunteering my services and raised my rates little by little as I gained new clients. Now I set my own rates which are higher than many of my competitors, but clients are happy to pay because I have become an expert in my industry and honed my craft.
Before my neighbor had kids, she worked in marketing and PR. After she had kids, she stayed home and started her own consulting business. She told me she wanted to offer graphic design services and always thought she’d be good at it. So she purchased classes online to learn to become a graphic designer. She started by billing her clients only half the time it took her to complete a project because she knew she was slow, but she was willing to take that cut because she knew she’d get better and be able to make it a bigger part of her business.
Do you feel me here? You could start a business based on something you just always thought you would be good and and are willing to learn! What a great time to start a new chapter of your life!
Write out a list of all of things that could answer these questions.
Get it all out on paper. Then I want you to think about each one. Try to picture what your life would look like if you pursued each of the ideas. Who do you know that could help you? How much time would you need to invest to learn something new? How much would it cost to get started? What types of tools or materials do you need to run this business? Consider all of these things to help you determine what kind of freelancing or service based business is right for you.
