6 Insider Tips to Succeed as a Freelancer

Two years ago, Darja Gutnick started her own company, grew it internationally and invested all her effort into it before she chose to shut it down. After an experience that had brought her so much responsibility and knowledge in a short time span, she didn’t want to return to a different company as an employee. Instead, she became a freelancer. With a Masters Degree under her belt and a PhD in Organizational Behavior underway, Gutnick now offers services in founder consulting, management diagnostics and business development. 
In the following post, Gutnick gives valuable tips based on her freelancing experience for anyone who is currently self-employed or considering it. 

Although not all of us are aware of it, we’re in the middle of a dramatic change towards a “naked economy”. Life-long employment is an artifact of the old (but not necessarily better!) days. In the EU, 14.5% of the workforce fell into the category “self-employed” in 2010. In the US, every 3rd person was self-employed in 2006, and forecasts predict this will increase to 40% by the year 2020. Tuning into this trend, my experience as an entrepreneur pushed me to become a freelance business consultant. In the following, I summarize the most important takeaways I gathered as a freelancer. I hope they’ll give you a good idea of what to expect when you “run wild”.