Building your business beyond your employer. Telecommuting and taking on extra work.

The word gets out and now other companies are contacting you to see if you can help them with a project here and there. Your position as a telecommuter may provide you with the demand to open a freelance business on the side.

Freelancing is different from telecommuting because you’re responsible for your own taxes, invoicing, collections, marketing and so on. You’re the business owner and along with being a business owner comes all of the responsibilities.

Marketing and promotion
Bookkeeping and accounting
Legal and insurance liability
Business Planning
Sales
And of course doing the tasks that create your income like writing, bookkeeping, data entry, and transcription and so on.

Adding a freelance business on top of your already existing telecommuting position can add tremendous profits to your annual income, it can also add several hours to your work day. Extra work may mean less time with your family, more stress, and a finer tightrope to walk in terms of a balanced life. However once you’ve established a routine, adding a freelance business to your already existing telecommuting business can also be tremendously rewarding, not to mention profitable. As a freelancer you control what extra work you take on so the controls are really in your hands.

Take the time and effort to balance your new freelance business with your existing workload or you’ll face unhappy clients and an unhappy boss! All the skills and experience you’ve developed as a telecommuter will come in handy. The ability to organize, prioritize, effectively communicate, and motivate yourself are all skills you need as a freelancer too.

Additionally, freelance workers need to be able to promote their business with marketing materials, a website, and networking both online and off. As a freelancer you will also be required to spend some time building your business. This process can be eased by hiring some outside help! Outsourcing some tasks can open up valuable time a busy work at home mom needs. Tasks that are outsourced range from house cleaning to accounting and just about everything in between. If you’re balancing telecommuting with your own business, outsourcing can be a real time, and sanity, saver.