Some of my time each month is dedicated to enterprise education activities that encourage people to start and grow their own businesses. I’ve partnered with numerous universities and community organisations over the years.
As a freelancer, it can be helpful to have a sideline. As well as being enjoyable, it can provide a little extra income to pay for treats and help to iron out the inevitable peaks and troughs in your day-to-day work.
Last year, enterprise education actually became a big chunk of my work. There were too many exciting projects that I couldn’t say no to. It’s important, however, to strike the right balance between your core work and your sideline, and this year I’m getting that balance back to 80:20. The 20% of my time that I have dedicated to enterprise will be focused more on helping my fellow freelancers get started.
With that in mind, I was really pleased to launch a new Freelance Boot Camp at the wonderful Discovery Centre in Winchester this week. We looked at what being freelance really means, what qualities it takes to succeed and what practical steps you can take to actually get started.
I was joined by the talented Corrie Jones and Nisha Haq, who shared their own experiences and expertise.
We’ve got several more of these in the diary over the next six months. If you’re part of a university, college or community group and your students or members would like some help exploring routes into freelancing, please do get in touch.
Greg Sandford 