FREELANCING 2020: The latest news for freelancers on the coronavirus lockdown

By Tristan Grove Chief correspondent

AUGUST EXTENSION FOR SELFEMPLOYED SUPPORT

On 29th May, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the government would be extending its Self-Employment Income Support Scheme until August 2020. Self-employed people will be able to claim the grant for an additional three month period in a lump sum in August. It will now cover 70 per cent of eligible claimants’ average income instead of 80 per cent. It will be capped at £2,190 a month, or £6,570 in total.

The scheme is open to self-employed people who work as sole traders and who filed tax returns for 2018/19. IPSE welcomed the extension of the scheme, saying it would be an “overwhelming relief” for eligible self-employed people. However, it warned the government must do something for groups that had been “patently forgotten” such as “limited companies and the newly self-employed”.

“SEISS scheme extension an overwhelming relief [...]but limited companies and the newly self-employed have been patently forgotten”

freelancers

to close their business because of the coronavirus crisis

“NOT ELIGIBLE FOR ANY SAFETY NET” – NEW RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS PLIGHT OF LIMITED COMPANIES

One in five highly skilled freelancers expect to have to close their business because of the coronavirus crisis, new research by the University of Edinburgh and IPSE has revealed. In most cases (73%), this was because they worked through limited companies.

Three quarters (74%) said they had lost income because of the crisis, with an average drop in earnings of 76 per cent. The report revealed the personal cost of this, with some respondents saying they had been forced to sell their homes and others reporting they were struggling to feed their families. Chloé Jepps, Head of Research at IPSE, said: “The plight of contractors working through limited companies can make for difficult reading because this group has not just been forgotten, but actually abandoned by the government.”

GOVERNMENT PLANNING TO GO AHEAD WITH IR35 REFORMS IN 2021 DESPITE DAMNING LORDS REVIEW

The government passed its Finance Bill for this year, including plans to forge ahead with the changes to IR35 rules, despite a damning House of Lords review of the legislation. David Davis MP proposed an amendment to the legislation, delaying the changes until 2023/24 in light of the coronavirus crisis. Since MPs failed to vote on the amendment, however, the Finance Bill passed with the IR35 changes set for April 2021.

At the end of April, the House of Lords Economic Affairs Finance Bill Sub-Committee published a damning report that said the government’s proposals to change IR35 were “riddled with problems, unfairnesses, and unintended consequences”. It urged the government to rethink the proposals and announce whether or not it would go ahead with them in six months – meaning it would have to remove them from the Finance Bill. The government did not take up the recommendation, instead committing to driving through the changes in April 2021.

“The government’s proposals to change IR35 were riddled with problems, unfairnesses, and unintended consequences”

Tech

COVID-19 and the scams that come with it

By Stuart Ulrich Tech correspondent

Scammers and their malicious ways have plagued the world since the dawn of the modern-day internet. Happily, their ways have in most part been easy to detect – badly worded emails with more spelling mistakes than your autocorrect can handle; a prince trying to sell you his fortune or the magic pill that will put an end to every man’s deepest worry.

We all know the lengths a scammer will go to. Personally, I love playing along on the calls where I find out that I was in a car incident. Up until now, I have found most scams out there quite easy to detect.

Sadly, the era of badly worded emails and rich princes has come to end.

A new wave of scams has erupted across the world over the last few months, capitalising on the one thing that is affecting everyone, coronavirus, and it’s only getting worse. As early as the 4th April, the number of coronavirus phishing attempts stood at 2,192 and the number has grown daily. Here are just a few to be aware of:

Fines – a few scammers have turned to impersonating government bodies, sending spoofed emails telling you that you have been fined upwards of £250 for breaking confinement or social-distancing.

The health guidelines email – an email containing a PDF / image download with updated guidelines and advice on how to spot symptoms and protect yourself against the virus. Piggy backing off the legitimate advice emails from news and health services, these email attachments contain a malicious payload.

Donation scam – Sadly, coronavirus has led to a considerable number of people losing income or their jobs. Pretending to be one of these individuals, scammers are preying on the immense generosity that the general public has shown to help combat the effects of this virus. The Guardian reports that as many as 41 daily scams involve an email asking for donations to support the NHS in purchasing medical supplies.

There are too many new scams out there to write about, but the important thing to note is that a majority of these email scams rarely differ from those we have come to know and accept. They follow the same principle: they ask you to either click a link e.g. to a password capture page/ donation page or they ask you to download an attachment containing the malicious payload. Here lies the problem, every company out there is sending out daily email updates on coronavirus, along with the updates from government bodies such as the NHS and TFL, it’s easy for these scam emails to slip through and be mistaken for the real thing.

Determining if the email you just received can be trusted is, in most cases. quite easy. Watch out for the following warning signs and you’re on your way to securing your safety. 1. The sender – Is it a sender you don’t know? Have you received emails from them before that you know you can trust? 2. The sending address – Does the email address look real or is it odd? e.g. amazon.co.uk not amzon.co.uk 3. The message – Read the email, are there spelling mistakes, how’s the formatting? Companies pay big bucks to ensure their email marketing is on-point. 4. Attachments – Are there any attachments? Why are they asking you to download an attachment? 5. Link forward – Is the linked page unsecured?

If you are forwarded from the email to a webpage, ensure the website is secure and in HTTPS. 6. Contact the sender – Is it impossible to contact the sender or get a response? If you are unsure about the email, contact the sender and ask if this email is legitimate.

Of course, this is only a starting point and can’t be applied to every scam email we receive, so let’s talk about protection.

Sadly, when it comes to scams, the best protection out there isn’t something you can buy, it’s you! Look out for the warning signs I mentioned earlier, and I promise you that this will catch 90 per cent of scam emails out there, but for the other 10 per cent when the scammer wins, how do we protect ourselves? You guessed it, ANTI-VIRUS, make sure you have one installed to stop anything nasty getting on your computer. While nothing is 100 per cent foolproof, combining vigilance with protective software will go a long way to reducing your risk.

Now, we have only really mentioned email and online scams, but it is vital to know that the scams cropping up in the wake of coronavirus are not limited to the virtual realm. Sadly, the number of doorstep and telephone scams either trying to sell counterfeit goods such as home testing kits or asking for donations have increased. Many of the same rules apply, if you don’t know that it is someone you can trust then don’t hand over your hard earned money and if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

Feels like a crisis?

Let’s be honest. Even the best writers feel nervous when the economy closes down. I’ve been freelance 28 years and I’ve no idea what’s ahead. But I do have some top tips.

BE A CONTACT VAMPIRE

Now is not the time to be socially restrained. I’m not saying you should suck people’s blood, but your freelance lifeblood IS the people you know. Without contacts, you are one thirsty writer.

Go through all the projects you’ve worked on. Which clients did you love to work with? Who is likely to be working now? What did you do for them that made a difference to their work, or made their day easier?

Who was that interesting woman you chatted to at that conference and were going to stay in touch with?

Put a star next to the people you most want to work with and are probably working right now. Email them, individually. Yup. No bland template emails. Write to them like you know them. Remind them of the last thing you did together and how much fun it was. It’s a kind of love letter so make it sound like you mean it.

This takes time so do a handful each day and don’t fret when they don’t reply. Some will be too busy. Some are terrible at email. I reckon it takes on average six months from sending a marketing email to someone asking me to work with them.

BURY TREASURE

As soon as cash starts flowing, put some aside every month. You need a savings pot when you’re freelance.

Stuff happens. Appendectomy that took three months to recover from? Yup. Nasty parasitic bug on a delicious tropical fruit. Mmmm, that took a year out of my working life. But I’ve always saved, so we had food on the table.

SHARE YOUR LOVE

Work for lots of clients. One time I gave all my copy love to one client and when they reshaped their business I was out in the cold. Don’t do it. No one owes you work, love or loyalty if you’re freelance. So enjoy the freedom and flexibility of working for many clients and you’re always likely to have work.

DON’T BE A DIVA – ALL WORK IS GOOD

If you’re going to starve if you don’t get a writing gig in the next month, my message is get over your pride and apply to stack shelves. No experience is ever wasted as a writer. And you’ve got to be alive to land that next writing gig.

I’ve cleaned public toilets, I’ve sold sausages, I’ve programmed computers. Every job taught me something. And I got my first role in publishing because I wasn’t all doe-eyed about books – I knew about scheduling and budgets from two years of manufacturing paper. Make your work count, whatever it is.

DREAM BIG

Use this time to think about what makes you sing in the morning. Rate your clients: why are you still working with people who score low on pay, respect, value and interest? Build knowledge, skills and contacts in areas you’re personally committed to. It’s a slow process but doing work you love is the best thing about being freelance, so here’s a chance to make it happen down the line.

CONNECT AND LEARN

Read other people’s copy obsessively. How did they do that? Why does it work? Why is that copy so terrible? Try Richard Shotton’s The Choice Factory for a new angle. Storythings’ weekly newsletter (storythings.com) is a jewel and they run great events. Sian Meades (sianmeadeswilliams.com) is generosity personified: every Thursday she sends us a bulging list of freelance writing jobs. Join a writer’s organisation. I’m in 26.org.uk, a friendly bunch of professional writers – find your tribe and have fun.

BIO

SJ Butler is a writer, consultant and trainer. She’s been helping all kinds of clients communicate for 28 years and every day is glad she went freelance. She finished her first novel in March, set during a viral pandemic (ouch). Find her at

www.looseleafproductions.co.uk

1. Keep track of outgoings

In the current climate, it’s really important to get a clear picture of what’s coming in and out. Starling’s Spending Insights feature can help answer questions such as: What are my largest outgoings? Is my spending this month higher or lower than my monthly average? What is my most important income stream? You can then use this information to cut down on non-essential spending, meet key payments and monitor income streams.

Your business income and outgoings are automatically categorised, to help you and your accountant (if you have one) understand exactly what you’re spending. You’ll be able to see how much you spend on Admin or Equipment, both as a percentage of the total spend and as its own amount, with a breakdown of your revenue. It’s great news for understanding your average monthly takings and outgoings and taking stock of any cash reserves, as well as outstanding invoices or loan repayments.

2. Manage invoices and tax

For extra tools to manage your business finances, take a look at Starling’s business Toolkit. It allows you to create invoices and match them to incoming payments, as well as upload bills, estimate tax and VAT, and pay VAT with a Making Tax Digital submission. You can join the waitlist to explore the Toolkit’s features while it’s still in beta, completely free of charge.

3. Deposit cheques from home

Being able to deposit cheques on your mobile is handy at the best of times, but especially so right now. After a flurry of customer requests, Starling Bank recently introduced this functionality to its app to make sure their customers really can do all their banking from home. It works simply by taking a photo of your cheque in the app, then Starling’s team will process it within two working days (which is generally faster than sending it by post).

4. Reduce your admin

In the Starling Marketplace, you’ll find integrations with a range of third party products and services. This includes the likes of Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent,

allowing you to connect your real-time bank transactions with your accounting software. By making it easier to reconcile payments, you’ll spend less time on financial admin and more time on your business.

The Starling Marketplace has insurance options, too; for example, invoice insurance from Nimbla or cybersecurity or indemnity cover from DigitalRisks or CyberSmart. For project management tools, there’s UnderPinned and to help you keep track of your digital receipts, there’s Flux.

5. Stay organised with Goals

To help you organise your finances, you can separate your money into different Goals in the Starling app. Label them however suits you: ‘Tax or Cash Reserves’, for example, and you won’t be able to spend the money in your Goal unless you move it back into your everyday account. This way, your finances are kept organised and visible and you’ll never accidentally spend something you should have been saving.

So, there you have it.

Five ways that Starling’s business account could help you make sure that for your banking at least, it’s business as usual. Download the app here.

0800 023 4617 help@starlingbank.com

@StarlingBank starlingbank.com

Any money you hold in Starling’s business account is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to a value of £85,000.

Economic effects of coronavirus

By Ryan Barnett

The worldwide coronavirus pandemic has created a health crisis not seen since the Spanish Flu towards the end of WW1, over a century ago. However, the need to create social distance, and manage the outbreak through the control of movement and external borders, has already had a much bigger effect. Spending habits have automatically changed – focussing on food and goods which can be delivered, the global stock market is at its worst since the financial crisis and millions of people’s jobs are at risk as the economy grinds to a halt whilst many have already been lost. There are five million self-employed in the UK who will need both income and business support. They provide skills across all indus tries and sectors in the UK, contributing £305 billion to the economy last year. Several sectors are affected more than others: contractors in the arts and working in events felt the effects almost immediately. Tourism, construction and those selling goods came next. Personal trainers and yoga teachers suffered from gym closures, but many have gone online.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s latest jobs report saw a sudden dip in permanent placements, much sharper than seen during the financial crisis. IPSE’s latest Confidence Index results indicated a drop-off in work and earnings and a six-year record low in both their business and the UK economy.

There are a wide range of other effects also taking their toll, with the world on the verge of an economic crisis, stocks, shares and currencies plummeting. Political leaders worldwide have

Confidence Index results indicated a drop-off in work and earnings and a six-year record low in both their business and the UK economy.

seen a boost to their approval ratings, known as the “rally around the flag effect” as people look to leaders for security. It may look, in hindsight, much more like a war effort, with the economy paused and then remodelled in front of us to provide what we need. Louis Vuitton and Brewdog moved into making antibacterial gel and factories are still being encouraged to build ventilators.

BEYOND THE LOCKDOWN MONTHS

The Government have outlined a package of support for the economy, with many measures targeted at the self-employed. Primarily, the postponement of IR35 for at least a year, which was causing increased uncertainty amongst freelancers. They have announced the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) for sole traders, after extensive consultation with IPSE. These schemes are built on top of loans, hardship funds and tax deferral pledges put in place to help businesses small and large, but more needs to be done. Limited companies, those who have become self-employed since April 2019, and those who earn more than the £50,000 cap have been left out of the scheme and will suffer the knock-on effects of this omission if no further measures of support are put in place. a

There are longer term implications beyond concerns for freelancers' finances as they wait for support. Interest rates are effectively at zero which will help with mortgage payments, but not savings (although we are all pretty used to that). Mortgage holidays of up to three months have been guaranteed by the Government which may help you access more immediate cash. The stress on international markets might affect people's

pensions, which the self-employed usually find it harder to save for, and ISAs and other investments, lowering their value. Often, they save using their businesses, but if they have to draw down on its assets this may drive insolvencies further down the line.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) believes the cost of the crisis could be a 35 per cent dip in GDP and an increase of over £200 billion in borrowing, as the state has to absorb the cost of replacing millions of incomes whilst tax revenue inevitably drops off. This is a bigger fall than seen during the financial crisis, and the largest in a century. Unemployment figures in the US have already surged to well over 15 million people.

The self-employed have been amongst those most affected so far. Freelancers who have the luxury of working from home as consultants, designers and writers, have reported

a drying up of work as bigger businesses seek to control spending and suspend projects. The creative sector, from films and TV to theatre and music production, is predominantly made up of freelancers, often registered as limited companies and work has been cancelled as far ahead as the end of 2021.

A lack of demand in everything apart from technology and food, and a lack of supply through the hit of labour shortages, could result in an “L” shaped recession. A deep contraction followed by a long depression waiting for the global economy to catch up with where it once was. This has been seen before, in the 1930s and 1970s to different degrees. It was only the huge spending on a global war in 1939 and state-led liberalisation in the UK under the 1979 Conservative Government which jolted the economy back to life after a decade of stagnation. What we are seeing is much more like the Great Depression, the impact of which we may not fully understand for years.

Derek Cribb

Chief Executive Officer, IPSE

It’s a turbulent time to become CEO of IPSE, but rest assured we’re working harder than ever for you

IT’S difficult to imagine a stranger time than this to start as CEO of an organisation – particularly one like IPSE, at the heart of the struggle to get support for the self-employed during the coronavirus pandemic. In my first week as CEO, I found myself in talks with the Chancellor about what support the self-employed needed and making the case for limited companies. Just in the last two weeks, I’ve been on Sky News and the Today Programme making that case, too. And all of this without even being able to go into the IPSE office in Westminster. These are trying times for freelancers and the self-employed, it’s true. IPSE’s research has shown the devastating effect the coronavirus crisis has had on freelancers’ incomes. But in my first few months here I have also seen how hard IPSE works for the self-employed, both supporting its members and also striving to make sure all freelancers’ challenges are known, understood and addressed. This year, IPSE has secured support for large parts of the self-employed community during the coronavirus crisis with the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). Although we didn’t get everything we asked for from the government, particularly for people who work through limited companies, we did persuade the Treasury to allow limited company directors to furlough themselves on the Job Retention Scheme. We worked hard to extend SEISS, too, and alerted the press to the groups that still aren’t getting the support they need: particularly limited companies and the newly self-employed. Now I’ve seen what we can do for the self-employed, rest assured that this year we’ll be working harder than ever to champion your interests. Not just on support during the coronavirus outbreak, but also the other issues that matter most to you, from clamping down on late payment to finally creating a tax system that is fair for all freelancers.

Balancing home and work life during lockdown

Getting the balance between home life and work life is hard enough in general for freelancers. But, with most of the self-employed community now working from home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, achieving the ideal work/life balance is even more challenging. Steve Ash, freelance content consultant at CommsBreakdown and author of Going Freelance: Building Work Around Your Life gives his take on the day-by-day self-isolation adventure that many of us have been forced into experiencing, with top tips for enhancing that work/life balance.

A CHALLENGING TIME FOR ALL FREELANCERS

There’s no sugarcoating the fact that this is a serious time for freelancers. If you’re working in one of the most affected sectors, there’s a huge amount of uncertainty around what the long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic will be. But even in these testing times, it’s important for us all to rise to the challenge of homeworking in isolation.

At the time of writing I’m on my third week of self-isolation at home with my family, and it’s certainly been a strange experience so far. However, as someone who worked from home on a fairly regular basis anyway, the concept of remote working is something I’m already very familiar with.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A WORK ROUTINE AND STRUCTURE

The temptation once you’re stuck at home for the foreseeable future is to take the slacker option: stay in your pyjamas all day, watch daytime TV and generally not do too much. However, if you’re lucky enough to have client work still on the go, you’re going to need some structure!

Routine is vital when in lockdown. As British astronaut Tim Peake pointed out in a recent interview, habits and routine are critical if you’re going to get through a period of isolation.

To bring some structure to your working day: • Give yourself a ‘clocking on’ time – try to start working at roughly the same time each day. Having a start and end time means you complete a ‘working day’ and feel like you’ve done your usual day’s work, even though you’re confined to the house. • Write a to-do list – creating a list of tasks keeps you motivated and productive. It could be a handwritten list, reminders in your online diary or notes in a project management tool like Trello or Asana. Be realistic, tick off your tasks and feel that achievement! • Take regular breaks to relax – humans can only focus on a task for around 90 minutes, so taking frequent breaks during

the day is essential. Have a cuppa, go for a walk, or do some yoga – anything to take yourself out of that work headspace for five minutes. • Exercise if you can – a sedentary lifestyle, sitting at a laptop, is not good for your health. Factor in time for one form of exercise in the open air, or try following one of the many YouTube fitness channels to keep yourself trim and your mind feeling energised.

• Make sure you stop work at a given

time – yes, your home is now your workplace, but you need a clear dividing line between work time and your own leisure time. Set a time to finish and stick to it: working into the night will just tire you out for tomorrow.

FAMILY TIME AND STAYING IN TOUCH WITH CLIENTS

One the biggest challenges of being ‘confined to barracks’ during periods like the lockdown is the lack of social contact and interaction. But there are ways and means to stay in touch.

You may be self-isolating with family, your partner, on your own or working miles away from home. Whatever your situation, it’s important to factor your home and social life into the mix when you can’t see people face to face.

Video conferencing platforms such as Google Hangouts, Zoom, Skype and Microsoft Teams have come into their own during this crisis. With a video call, you can keep in touch with your extended family and set up online parties with your friends. Video conferencing is also a great way to maintain contact with your clients, have work meetings and open up your social interactions to those outside of your lockdown bubble

Even birthday parties and other family celebrations can be moved to the digital space – allowing these important life events to carry on, even whilst the world deals with the ongoing emergency.

For freelancers with children, getting involved in home-schooling is a new task you probably hadn’t expected. But see this as a way to get more involved with your kids, dive into some education and not swear (too much) at the maths homework.

CREATE YOUR OWN UNIQUE WORK/LIFE BALANCE

There’s no single solution for getting your home and work life balance right. Everyone’s situation is different, and there are no hard and fast rules to fol low. Families may be cramped together in a small space (noise-cancelling headphones are great at helping you focus), or you may be on your own, fighting the urge to binge-watch the latest Netflix series.

In essence, the balance you achieve will be unique to you – and that’s part of the appeal of freelancing for many of us. The ability to manage your time, work when it’s convenient and spend more time with your loved ones is a huge part of the value of being self-employed.

So, my advice is to take the challenge of the coronavirus crisis one day at a time – and make the most of this bonus time to slow down, relax and enjoy the company of those you love.

Steve Ash is an independent content writer and consultant at CommsBreakdown, specialising in the technology, fintech, accounting and small business sectors.