There is hardly an industry or a world country that hasn’t been hit by the coronavirus pandemic. What started as a medical crisis soon turned into an economic disaster. As people were instructed to stay at home and distance socially, workers lost their jobs, so now there are millions of people on the brink of survival.
Freelancers were hit especially hard because they didn’t have a huge corporation to stand behind them. In order to stay in business, us freelancer have to stay positive and come up with innovative ways to revive our business when the COVID-19 outbreak subsides.
It’s OK to accept help
Humans tend to be overly proud sometimes, refusing to accept help from anyone. However, the situation of the global economy is such that you cannot stay afloat financially unless you accept and even seek out a helping hand. If your friends, family, and business partners are offering short-term loans, don’t hesitate to take them.
Furthermore, explore what banks have to offer and find out if the national or regional government is offering subsidies for people who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. The interest rates of coronavirus-related grants and loans are symbolic, so they’ll help you stay liquid without incurring too much debt.
Staying positive all the way
The less work you have on your hands because of the coronavirus crisis, the more free time you have. In fact, you might have the most free time you have had in years. Don’t let this time go to waste, as you need to stay productive, even if you’re not profitable.
The worst thing you can do is lament over your faith, as billions of people are affected by the pandemic. On the contrary, take up guitar lessons, practice your driving skill, or attend an online seminar; whatever will make you a better person and a professional when the outbreak is over. Staying positive all the way is among the top priorities for every employed person, not only freelancers.
Staying in touch
Although it is true that social distancing can significantly reduce the spread of the virus, this doesn’t mean that you should withdraw from social life altogether. It is not necessary for two people to physically meet o stay in touch, especially now when there is a myriad of online communication channels. In fact, you can conduct business operations through video conferencing without the need for any downloads or plugins for all users.
When it comes to your personal life, now that everyone is staying at home is the right time to send them a message or pick up the phone and call them. As people across the globe are learning to take things slowly, you can use this opportunity for networking and getting ready for post-pandemic life.
The time to revise your contracts
If you’ve had a lot of clients and sent and received a lot of payments during the previous years, then you probably haven’t had the time to revise your contract policies. Taking the time to amend them now will help you stay (financially) safe in the future.
The biggest alteration you need to make is the stage of the project you get paid, i.e. when do you receive the money. Ideally, you should receive the payment before the project start but getting the payment half-way through is still a good option.
The worst-case scenario is that you get paid after the job is done, which puts you at great risk. Freelancers don’t have tons of cash to go about, so you need a constant influx of dollar bills.
Now is the time to be innovative
It might not seem like a good idea at first but now that’s you have fewer clients and less work at hand is the ideal time to innovate. A good industrial mechanic will tell you that they overhaul machinery when it stops working, so the same principle can easily be applied to your freelancing career.
The lockdown is the best time to test an app or extend the array of services or goods you offer. Like we’ve stated earlier, you can use this time to educate yourself as well through learning new skills online. This of this effort as a spiteful personal countermeasure against the havoc the coronavirus has wreaked in the global economy.
Don’t cancel everything; put in on hold
The reason why people lose their jobs is that clients have ceased all work. The same thing is happening to freelancers worldwide but instead of indolently accepting cancellations from clients, try to place them on hold.
If you “park,” a project, it will be easier to restart it once the outbreak loses momentum. A cancelled job means that you have to start the whole process all over again and that’s only if the client doesn’t hire a different freelancer.
Remodel your offer
Finally, you should rethink your offer and try to stay in the business despite the lockdown and cancelled deals. Yes, we are referring to going online. If you’re a schoolteacher, then you can offer online classes to your students, both group and individual ones.
Remodelling your offer involves additional market research to estimate what has changed. We guarantee you that the need for your goods and services is still there but the format has changed completely. Brick and mortar stores going online is the best example of businesses adjusting to the new reality.
Times are hard for freelancers but staying positive about future prospects is the only guarantee you will stay afloat. From accepting help to rethinking your business model there are numerous ways to proactively approach the coronavirus crisis and its consequences.
