3 massive instructions to fail as a freelancer

September 22, 2021 0 Comments

1: never run out of cash

In the summer of 2016, most of my friends were into job hunting. On the other hand, I kept busy writing my thesis and finishing my postgraduate internship in Amsterdam. As an intern at a small environmental consultancy, I felt like I was juggling knives, while fate became uncertain. About a month before the internship ended, I offered my paintings to one of the employer’s clients. “Is that an offer?” I asked. “It sure is miles, if you need it.” “On the road!” I replied, and thus began the long and winding street of my freelance career.

During the following months I did things that I in no way thought I would do. I registered my own company with the chamber of commerce, created invoices, performed mission management, visited clients, toured manufacturing facilities, all even wearing pants and a sports jacket. I used to work passionately on the assignment, making sure my paintings were of value to the patron. For the first time in my life I had something that I used to be building myself and things were looking for that they could reach higher. I had a crazy experience of optimism and began to plan the initiatives of my destination.

The first problem I made with my consulting fee was hiring the top-tier Dutch instructor you might want to buy. I saw many foreign students struggling to get a process in my discipline due to the language barrier. I thought that if I used to be successful with jobs or social lifestyles in the United States of America, I needed to research the local language. However, that became easier said than completed, because the Dutch have an incredible amount of close accents given the scale of the United States of America. To make matters worse, in the west I lived in, they move to English forever in case they feel a hint of a foreign accent. But I would stay with my company as a rock floor. You may not switch back to English now, even assuming you intended to have 7-12 month conversations with human beings in your neighborhood for the next half year.

My main intention at that time was to land a project with the local municipality on sustainability. I discovered that the opportunities would be endless for the city, so I started spreading the word and showing up at activities. Later I also put together a team to make a YouTube channel on sustainability. I ended up going to a conference in Belgium to meet ecu contacts, en route to get funding for the capacity. but the trip turned into a total failure and at that point I started realizing that the cash was coming out of my pocket like blood from a severed artery.

With December’s help, I had spent almost all of my profits from the independent project. I calculated that based entirely on my savings, I might want to control until March, April in excellent. My rent becomes quite expensive for a person in dire straits. To make matters worse, there has been nothing new on the horizon. I also did not understand that to land new projects they would be approached common for up to 6 months. Furthermore, the municipality did not seem so curious about working with a recent overseas graduate who did not speak the language and had no formal business experience or a close network. My preliminary expectations had nothing to do with the facts and I used to follow difficult instructions about my lifestyle.

2: when you run out of money, be flexible

At the start of the new year, it became clear that if he didn’t get a project quickly now, he would be broke. The most difficult element was that I was not ready to give up my dream of being self-employed and do all the tasks that I wanted to do. So I didn’t look for a regular activity. instead, I doubled the challenge of the municipality. I met them every week and they rejected me every week. I referred to my old clients, who also struggled to acquire knowledge of Dutch. I read all the business e-books I wanted to find and little by little I started to fix my LinkedIN. I also went on a few occasions and sooner or later I came across an exciting startup in Amsterdam. They wanted to work with me to develop an innovative company. But, while the rush came, they no longer had any investment for that and they shouldn’t have the funds to wait either.

February arrived and due to expenses that I had not taken into account, I went for a walk without cash using the end of the month! What changed in what I am going to do? I didn’t need to go back to Greece or ask my mother and father for help. I wished for cash and fast! But first I had to cut down on unnecessary expenses, along with proper food and yoga classes. The hiring changed later: I had an annual agreement, so I wanted to interrupt it and find something cheaper. thankfully two of my housemates have also left, as a result they moved into a less expensive room in our residence. Task accomplished. The subsequent flow became putting that extra money to stay in the Netherlands, as a consequence I needed to get creative again.

I sat in the living room and wrote down all the abilities I possessed. Two of them were that I had worked as a waiter and spoke Greek. you can see what this turned into going. I referred and emailed all the Greek eating places in the vicinity. sooner or later a person from a family tavern in a nearby metropolis answered. I had a coffee with my destination boss, a 32-year-old Greek of Dutch origin and we got along well from the beginning. The only problem became that I was disgusting as a waiter. He would ignore orders, put matters aside, and didn’t exactly speak Dutch.

Later, the boss confronted me: “Look at the o, I like you a lot and I really like your company, but you are not such a suitable waiter. Maybe we can find something else you can do. You informed me that you are the best with computer systems , although I have no concept about them. So how roughly do you help me with that? ” Fortunately, I had delighted in online advertising during my internship; He knew how to design business cards and send large emails.

I would go to the restaurant as soon as a week. Sitting quietly at a desk by the bar with my computer, he could paint for his online marketing campaign. If the restaurant got too crowded, he would grab the puck and dispense liquids to customers with a big smile. It became humble work, but I kept calm and kept going, because I should see a direct result of my efforts. I felt useful. The boss became an excellent manager and knew how to motivate his body of workers. I learned a lot from him and that work helped me not to drown financially and emotionally during that difficult period.

3: if you are going to take risks, first take care of the inconvenience

The most important lesson I learned from this experience was that, every time, when taking any type of risk, you must first protect the inconvenience. You have to make sure that, in case of failure, you have a couch to overwhelm, a second task, a hot meal to devour, a solid accomplice. That takes much of the strain off the fault and allows you to get back on your toes in your lower back. Losing is part of the game, and little experiments, little gaffes, are essential to learning. The time at the restaurant also made me realize that I had actually run some business in the past year. I had started my own business venture in a foreign country with little or no enjoyment. I had tried very hard to learn the language in a very limited time. I had taken a brilliant assignment from college and finished it on time and on budget. I met a lot of new humans and tried to be successful in obtaining unique tasks while studying how to sell myself from scratch.

And I did promote myself. sooner or later I managed to recover and started applying for regular jobs. This will help me take advantage of the experience, the community, and the price range if I ever wanted to try freelancing one more time. In other sentences, he was going to protect the inconvenience. To my surprise, after 9 months my level of Dutch became adequate enough to persuade people that I am capable of understanding the language. This opened positions 3 cases larger than before. I started using it as if there were no the next day: I sent fifty letters in two weeks and they invited me to 3 interviews. I got the process da and usually a well-paying assignment within the sustainability arm of the global substance corporation. Satisfied with myself, I booked the cheapest ticket to the south of France, where I disappeared for a couple of weeks.

After finishing my last Sunday shift at the restaurant, I took my bike to ride home. I ended up for a minute next to my favorite channel. I stared at the moon reflected on the floor of the water. while i became the best time i honestly took the time to indulge in easy things like that? I lived in one of the most impressive cities in the world and I had forgotten to make an effort to understand it. I stepped back on my bike feeling at peace with myself. I returned home certain that everything could work out in the end.

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