TODO Magazine Issue 5

ISSUE #5 / 2013 /

THE FIFTH ISSUE The magazine for creative freelancers and small businesses in Brighton & Hove

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magazine THE FIFTH ISSUE The magazine for creative freelancers and small businesses in Brighton & Hove

PHOTOBOOK SHOW

MULTICURRENCY INVOICING

P4-5

P6-7

TEDX BRIGHTON

TWITTER FOR BUSINESS

P12-13

P14-15

THE BIG PICTURE: APPLES

WIRED SUSSEX WORKSHOP

P20-21

P22-23

Brought to you by NLD Accountancy

Hello everyone

So many roles to fill in a small company; can one person fill them all? In this TODO, advice and encouragement to have a go. Steve Bustin (p8) urges not to be shy but put ourselves out there and blow our own trumpet to succeed. On a related theme, Tom Watts (p14) believes Twitter is not to be feared, scorned or overlooked.

Claire Griffin (p10) offers advice on taking on an advisor/mentor in the shape of a non-executive director. Accounting advice is on pages 6 and 16. There are sundry sage business tips in the report (p22) on a Wired Sussex workshop. While on page 18 Tristram Moore warns creatives don’t neglect to secure your intellectual property rights.

May the fine weather put a spring in your step! – Nilden

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SO ...

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO? P8-9 REAL TIME INFORMATION

THE NONEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR P10-11 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

MANAGING DIRECTOR/EDITOR Nilden Ozkan todo@nldaccountancy.com

ART DIRECTION, ILLUSTRATION AND DESIGN Phil Wellington info@ilovenewwork.co.uk

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS John Shann, Tristram Moore, Nilden Ozkan, Tom Watts, Ayse Kongur, William Sadowski, FreeAgent, Steve Bustin, Claire Griffin, Natalie Lloyd. Aegir Hallmundur, Wired Sussex.

PUBLISHER NLD Accountancy Limited nldaccountancy.com

P16-17

P18-19

TO ADVERTISE OR TO SUBMIT AN ARTICLE todo@nldaccountancy.com

TO ENQUIRE ABOUT ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES

ABOUT NLD P24

info@nldaccountancy.com Š 2013 TODO Magazine / NLD Accountancy Limited All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without permission from the publisher.

The views expressed in TODO Magazine are those of the individual contributors and are not necessarily shared by TODO Magazine / NLD Accountancy Limited.

CONTACT xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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PHOTOBOOKshow Photobookshow was set up in 2011 by Brighton photographers William Sadowski and Kevin Beck. In just eighteen months they have held five different exhibitions in cities including Helsinki, curated a show for Brighton Photo Biennial, had a six-week residency at Brighton Photo Fringe, and taken part in book fairs around the UK. Their shows have been accompanied by sold-out workshops, panel discussions and film screenings.

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W

illiam and Kevin set up the organisation to raise the profile of this under-represented art form, where the book-craft itself is as thoughtful as the photographic content.

“Photobooks are not widely available to the public in libraries or shops, and many rarely get exhibited”, explains William. “You normally have to go to book fairs, where you’re under pressure to buy, or shows where the books are wrapped in cellophane or must be handled with gloves. We want people to enjoy immersing themselves fully in the books, the way the artists intended.“ Kevin points out that the work is not there purely to be looked at – it is to be experienced. “People are constantly surprised by the shows. We have books where the pages pull out like a long concertina, some with hidden sections, books within books and origami-style fold-outs. With one, the pages had to be torn to see the images inside. People spend hours at the shows and often visit more than once. It’s quite thrilling to get so hands-on.”

The two photographers fit Photobookshow around busy freelance careers. William runs Workflow Studio, a workspace for Brighton photographers with a shooting studio and workshop, where he teaches bookmaking courses. Photographer and web designer Kevin Beck is Digital Product Manager at Photoworks magazine and publishes his own and other peoples work under the imprint Bottling Fruit.

Between exhibitions, the Photobookshow

archive can be viewed at Workflow Studio which currently holds over 300 examples of rare, limited edition, one off, or hand-crafted works. A lot of the books are also showcased in an online archive, an ongoing development on the Photobookshow website.

The shows are titled alphabetically, and feature work from both established and emerging photographers from all over the world. The next two shows, ‘F’ and ‘G’, will be held in Tokyo and London later this year. In the meantime they are busy starting a monthly photobook market, held every first Saturday of the month at Workflow Studio in Brighton.

Photobookshow accepts submissions all year round, and the Library can be viewed by appointment. So whether you want to make one, submit one, read one or buy one, get inspired

by Photobookshow.

CONTACT William Sadowski mail@photobookshow.co.uk www.photobookshow.co.uk

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/ ISSUE #5 / 2013 IMAGE: WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/EPSOS/

MULTI-CURRENCY

invoicing

If you want to invoice a customer in a different currency from your usual one, here’s how to do it.

L

et’s say you’re in the UK and you want to issue an invoice in Euros. Start creating the invoice as normal. Underneath the Payment terms, you’ll see a drop-down menu that lets you choose to issue this invoice in a different currency.

Choose the currency for this invoice from the drop-down menu.

When you add items to this invoice, they’ll be in the currency you chose.

You can’t put different items on the same invoice if you want to charge your client for them in different currencies. Each invoice can only be in one currency.

FreeAgent will add VAT depending on how you’ve set up the contact to whom you’re issuing this invoice.

You then finish and send the invoice as normal.

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CONTACT Freeagent info@freeagent.com freeagent.com

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EXCHANGE RATE DIFFERENCES You’ll notice at the bottom of the invoice, a panel showing “unrealized” and “realized” gains.

This shows any gains or losses for that particular invoice if the exchange rate changes between the date the invoice was issued and the date it was paid. It also shows you how much you could expect to receive in your base currency (that’s £ sterling for our UK customers) if your customer paid you today.

FreeAgent has exchange rates ready programmed in from the exchange rate site xe.com and works out these figures automatically.

NOTE A gain or loss will be “unrealized” until payment is received. When the invoice is fully or partly paid, all or some of the unrealized gains and losses will be crystallized and become “realized”.

But FreeAgent will handle all that for you seamlessly.

I’M CURIOUS NOW. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? If you want to see how this happens, look under: Accounting > Reports > Show Transactions Under the Trade Debtors account, number 681, you can see that every day an invoice remains unpaid, FreeAgent puts an entry through to revalue it. It’ll make one entry per day per currency, so that if you have some invoices in Euros and others in dollars, you’ll see one line per day for dollars and one for Euros, like this.

The opposite entries for these go to the Unrealized Gain or Loss account..

And once all or part of the invoice is paid, all or some of that gain or loss will move to the account for Realized Gain or Loss, like this.

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so ...

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO?

By Steve Bustin

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hen someone you know asks what you’ve been up to workwise, what do you tell them? Most of us mumble something about being busy, “Bit of this, bit of that,” maybe a whinge about a client, or a moan about needing more work/being run off our feet. As freelancers, we tend to be nonspecific and remarkably modest.

Why are we so shy to blow our own trumpets?

We should be celebrating our success, communicating it the world at large through every available channel, from social media and networking events to chatting with mates over a glass of something and even when meeting someone new. If we don’t let people know how good we are, they’re never going to find out.

Most freelancers are pretty au fait with social media, but when was the last time you posted about winning a new client, producing an amazing piece of work or even just about how proud you are of the work you do and how you help clients? At best we occasionally post or retweet a testimonial from a satisfied client but obviously this only reaches our regular followers and doesn’t really help spread the word of just how shit-hot we really are at what we do.

I’d like to see more freelancers and micro businesses embrace the media and public relations (PR) to let the world know what they’re up to. It’s a great way to reach a much bigger audience with news of your successes and to put yourself on the radar of potential clients. Coverage in the media won’t harm your SEO, either.

As someone who’s worked on both sides of the PR equation (as a journalist and as a PR consultant), a few thoughts on the different types of media that could be interested in your news:

• ‘ Trade’ press (on- and offline) want to know what’s going on in their industry. They want to know who’s secured which contract, won what award and done what deal, and it can be a great way to boost your reputation among your industry peers.

• T he local press are also interested in what local businesses are up to. John Keenan, the business editor at The Argus, is very approachable and interested in newsworthy things we’re all up to, and events happening across the city.

• T here’s a big appetite from national papers (and their online editions) for strong business stories. Track #journorequest on Twitter to see what journos are looking for – or identify who writes about your sector and follow them, as they’ll often tweet shoutouts for case studies, expert knowledge or industry opinion. I’ve seen a single appearance in a national newspaper be the making of a freelancer’s business.

Having said all that, journalists are busy people, too. Don’t expect them to track you down and find out what you’re up to; you need to make yourself visible. Tweet, blog and post about your successes. Write a press release (I’ve created a template to help you, find it on http://vadamedia.co.uk/ press-release-template) and send it to the journalists or publications you’d most like to appear in. OK, it’s not going to work every time but if you don’t put yourself out there, you’ll never appear anywhere.

Be bold, be a little bit shameless, don’t be too English – and tell the world about the amazing things you’ve been up to.

Steve Bustin is a media and communications trainer and consultant and freelance journalist.

CONTACT Steve Bustin www.vadamedia.co.uk www.stevebustin.com

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The

NON-EXECUTIVE Director

The non-executive director is the best kept secret of many successful companies.

T

he right non-exec contributes a wealth of knowledge, experience and contacts to the business at a fraction of the cost it would take to bring in a very senior full-timer. They act as guide and mentor to the business, very often at a point where companies are looking to step up to the next level: from start-up to SME. They may also have a mature network of existing contacts to bring to the table; contacts built up over many years which can more quickly add value to your business than those which you may still be nurturing yourself.

So here are the five main reasons your business may benefit from the right non-exec director:

THEY CAN CONNECT YOU WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE ’It’s not what you know it’s who you know‘, in other words. You benefit from their contacts and from the respect they have already earned amongst those contacts during their career.

THEY ARE ABLE TO SEE THE WOOD NOT JUST THE TREES The non-executive director does not work with the company full time. They are there to focus on the Big Picture to help you stay focussed on your overall business goals and avoid getting bogged down in the day-to-day

running of things (“next item on the agenda, the coffee machine”).

PROBLEM SOLVING They can help you through the bumpy patches and often anticipate problems before they arise, after all they’ve probably seen it all before.

THEY TELL IT LIKE IT IS They stay above board room politics. Part of their role is to offer unbiased and constructive criticism at all times, ask probing questions and generally make sure the company and its board are on track and running to the best of their ability.

THEY’LL BRING OUT THE BEST IN YOU, AND IN THE REST OF YOUR BOARD MEMBERS Like a cross between Usain Bolt’s trainer and his favourite running partner, your non-exec director should be someone to provide the experience, the strategy, and the motivation to make your company a winner.

CONTACT Claire Griffin claire@clairegriffintalent.com www.clairegriffintalent.com

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TEDxBrighton Driven by our community

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the 2011 team leader, Tom Bailey, had not reapplied for the license to run a TEDx event in Brighton, a team of eager volunteers came together in the rafters of local co-working space The Skiff, to hatch out a plan that would see the event resurrected in 2012.

The group wanted to build on the great experience Tom had delivered, and realise his and the community’s desire to produce a larger event in 2012.

And somehow it did! After hearing that

When local TEDster, Marc Koska agreed to

IMAGE: WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/TEDXBRIGHTON2012/

fter the success of the inaugural TEDxBrighton in September 2011, there were concerns about the future of the conference in securing funding for the following year, considering the economic climate. Nevertheless, Greg Hadfield’s parting comment in an Argus article at the time left a glimmer of hope: “I’m sure it will somehow remain a highlight of Brighton’s creative and cultural calendar.”

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ISSUE #5 / 2013 / come on board, we were delighted to be able to do exactly that. We secured a great deal of in-kind sponsorship, booked the Corn Exchange, and had a fantastic day of musing on the ideas and inspiration of fourteen speakers, with their different takes on the theme of The Generation Gap. With an audience of 400 and a publicly open Ideas Lab, the event certainly built on its already strong foundations, but seemed to successfully retain the intimacy that allowed everyone to fire their own ideas around the synapses of our newly formed network.

TEDxBrighton 2012 was overwhelmingly well received and this year has already seen a non-stop influx of emails from potential speakers and volunteers, and conversations from the Brighton and global community.

As a volunteer-led team running a franchise event, it’s been really encouraging to know that there’s still a huge appetite for TEDxBrighton.

Following our Round Table, where we invited members of the public to join us online and in person at the new NixonMcInnes offices

to discuss the potential theme for 2013, we’ve been busy digesting the conversations and starting the first steps towards the third installation of TEDxBrighton. Public discussion is key to creating an event catering directly to the conversations its audience wants to be having, so we’re looking forward to hosting more of these smaller, informal discussions throughout the lead up to the big day on 25th October.

By building on the format of last year, we’re aiming to cement TEDxBrighton as a permanent fixture in Brighton’s conference scene, while, at the same time, giving the ownership of this event back to the community who drive it.

Join our conversations on our website at www.tedxbrighton.com or on Twitter @TEDxBrighton. We’d also love to hear your nominations for speakers, or get in touch if you run an organisation that would like to support us as a 2013 sponsor.

Natalie Lloyd is the Producer/Curator of TEDxBrighton.

CONTACT Natalie Lloyd hello@natalielloyd.co.uk www.natalielloyd.co.uk

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TWITTER for business 14

be becoming almost strange to talk of “taking work home”. Office and home are becoming identical communal spaces.

The first rule in any guide to “Twitter for Business” is “keep it real”, or words to that effect: “Be true to who you are.” But if you have your own company it demands its own identity, at once yourself and something fresh-faced and alluring. Plus of course it needs to have a real name attached to it.

Advice to “be yourself” is not necessarily helpful, and perhaps explains why some business users resort exclusively to the language of corporate informality; it’s quite a tricky task to become “real”.

IMAGE: AYŞE KONGUR

I

magine your colleague head-down all the time over their smartphone. Even when they’ve half an eye on their task for the day, they’ve the other half on their Twitter feed. An addiction? Possibly. But in Japan, for example, one of the first things you notice, both in daily life and in a company environment, is how often, how continually, people greet each other, acknowledge each other with a wave or a bow, or ask formulaic questions. Connections seemed a good deal looser in the UK before social media arrived, and people who might once have quite naturally ignored each other most of the time are now almost permanently open to communication. Hence the growth of ’working from home‘, and how it seems to

ISSUE #5 / 2013 / Of course if you can’t be yourself, you can be true to what you’re doing: this is the work I am doing at the moment; this is the event we have planned for next Monday, etc. The trouble is that so often a single informational tweet just seems to get lost in the rubble of the other 400 million. Twitter users are always thinking about a dozen other tweets at the same time, and it can seem hard to win their attention even for a second or two, much less their business.

Anyone starting out for themselves is either already part of a network of friends and contacts, or it’s the very first thing they need to form. Business itself evolved from the family unit dividing its labour. One still reads ridiculous articles claiming that real friends are being replaced by “Twitter friends” and “Facebook friends”. But in reality, new media are sustaining personal connections which can at any point solidify into conference attendance, acts of trade, or even genuine friendship. A secure, sustaining network is a prerequisite for business. If you do attend a conference or an event relevant to your business, you can make yourself seem useful by tweeting from it. Ideally this will lead to people wanting to meet you.

Twitter recommend that business users send “awesome tweets”. How to be “awesome”?

The readiest way is to piggyback on someone else’s awesomeness – the “retweet” of something funny or informative. Retweets, as Lord McAlpine has shown, are the same as tweets, and on the upside that means we can all share the credit for the good ones. But of course the Twitter definition of “awesome” is by no means so majestic that it’s not within everyone’s daily grasp. It’s just a word to describe an effective conversational gambit.

The problem is that there are so many ways to be awesome that it can be hard to maintain a consistent “voice”.

But remember that “voice” is by its nature interpersonal – it’s built out of innumerable conversations. Your aim should not simply be to draw traffic to your website or rustle up trade but to open a new conversation. Never advertise at people. Do carpet sellers invite

you in to look at their carpets? Of course not – they want to introduce you to someone you might like, provide you some helpful advice, or seek help from you. Indeed, it’s been shown if you ask someone else a favour, they feel more subconsciously indebted to you than you do to them.

So Twitter is just a new sort of precinct with benches. People become more comfortable with it than they anticipate, just so long as they use it often. It is here for good because it becomes a kind of clan or an extended family; both permanent facts of human existence. (Although now may be the time to start thinking about how to promote yourself on Google Glass!) You can’t go much more wrong on Twitter than you can in conversation because every new tweet is as fresh as a new word. And nobody can make their way in the everyday world without stumbling from time to time or sounding the occasional clank.

There’s no more need to provide ’value‘ in each new tweet than there is in each conversation. Sometimes you’ll provide information, sometimes you’ll tweet something personal, sometimes you’ll tip your hat at a collaborator. The only way to fail at Twitter is to save all your tweets until two in the morning or to bore your followers with bonsai advertorials.

But make Twitter a regular habit. You don’t have to tweet intensively, but be regular, be there. This is no more than a reversion back to the ancient ways of doing business.

Atomisation is surely by now an outdated anxiety: there’s nothing lonely about an atom if it’s bound into interlocking chains. But these threads, these connections will become your voice and your business. Being with others is the secret to being what you are.

Illustration by: Ayşe Kongur Tom & Ayşe work together as Kongur Design Ayşe tweets @kongroove

CONTACT Tom Watts info@kongur.co.uk kongur.co.uk

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Real time INFORMATION What does it mean to you?

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R

eal Time Information (RTI) is a new system for reporting pay, tax and National Insurance to HMRC. From April 2013, all employers have to report PAYE in real time, this means that information about all PAYE payments needs to be submitted before or as each payment is made rather than at the end of the year. This means that you won’t need to complete an annual return of PAYE tax and National Insurance contributions any more.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU? As an employer, each time you pay an employee you must submit deductions such as Income Tax and National Insurance contributions, and starting and leaving dates where applicable. You need to include details of all employees you pay. You no longer need to submit end of year return forms P35 and P14. You can still give your employee a P45 form when they leave but you don’t have to send it to HMRC. You do have to submit starter and leaver information of each employee as part of the Full Payment Submission. Over time RTI will mean more frequent updating of tax codes and less underpayments or overpayments.

WHY THE CHANGE TO RTI? The Taxman claims that the RTI system will make it easier for employers, and it may do, however, it’s mainly to clamp down on businesses that don’t make their PAYE payments on time. You are obliged to release details of all your employees’ earnings, tax and National Insurance every payday, and the Taxman collects the PAYE from your bank.

BUT DON’T WORRY! This may seem a bit confusing now, but this simply means you have to submit information to HMRC when, or before, you make each payment to an employee, and don’t need to do it at the end of the year. The good news is that if we complete your payroll for you, as part of our service we will deal with all your RTI submissions.

CONTACT Nilden Ozkan info@nldaccountancy.com nldaccountancy.com

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Protecting the

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e act for a number of creative industry clients and we are seeing an increase in the number of disputes arising over intellectual property (IP). IP rights are at the heart of innovation and are created when developing new products or manufacturing processes but also in relation to other creative

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endeavours of the kind that are typical of the work of freelancers and creative entrepreneurs in Brighton & Hove.

IP rights need to be properly understood in order that they can be safeguarded, controlled and exploited, but unfortunately

IMAGE: WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/PASUKARU76/

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY in what you do

ISSUE #5 / 2013 / this is often not the case. It is beyond the scope of this short article to deal with patents, trade marks, design rights and the treatment of know-how/methodology, and confidential information (all important kinds of IP), so we shall focus on copyright since it probably has the widest application to freelancers.

Copyright is essentially the exclusive right to reproduce the whole, or a substantial part of, a qualifying original artistic, dramatic, literary or musical work, or sound recording, film or broadcast. Generally the creator of a work is the first owner of copyright in it. Therefore, consultants will by default own the copyright in the works they create during a consultancy arrangement. This applies even if they have been expressly commissioned to do the work.

So, for example, freelance photographers, portrait artists, architects and consultant computer programmers will all be the first owners of their works in preference to the person paying for their services, subject to anything to the contrary in their terms of engagement. However, this is not the case for employee authors/creators, as distinct from freelancers. In these cases, subject to any agreement to the contrary, copyright vests in the employer. An employee is defined as someone employed under a contract of service or apprenticeship.

However, it is less the labelling of a contract as, e.g. an employment contract, or a freelance or consultant contract, and more the actual nature and form of the relationship between the parties, that the courts will consider. So, in the absence of a formal written contract or of any express provisions in the contract setting out the situation with regards to IP created during the contract period, the courts will consider the arrangement as a whole, taking into consideration factors such as the degree of control being exercised, the provision of tools or equipment, entitlement to holidays or sick pay, and the tax arrangements, to see if it is strongly indicative of one form of relationship over another.

So if someone asks you to send them some content or a piece of work without any

contractual arrangement in place, and you do not intend to give them ownership of the IP, beware: if your client starts treating your work as their own property, it can be a very protracted and difficult exercise to get it back and stop them using it. This is particularly important if the work that you are delivering is multi-tiered, i.e. it contains elements of your own Background IP which you intend to use in support of other contracts. You may think it is obvious that you are expecting to retain ownership of your work, but your client may equally feel that if they are paying you to undertake the work then it is obvious that they expect to own it. It is therefore worth ensuring that both of you are clear from the outset what the intention is in this regard: are you licensing your picture(s)/article(s)/software to them for a period, or is the intention that you are creating the work solely for the client and intending to give the ownership of it to them from the outset? In the latter case you need to be clear that there are no elements of the IP being transferred that you may wish to use on future projects, even in a different or modified guise, for other clients.

This is why setting out the specific elements of the IP and the intended ownership and any licensing arrangement in some Ts and Cs can really pay dividends further down the line.

No one likes getting mired in the paperwork, especially on a new, exciting and potentially lucrative job, but with a little planning you can avoid a potential minefield of issues and ensure you maintain smooth-running, transparent relationships with your client base.

We are happy to meet you for free to discuss your possible requirements. If you have any questions, queries or doubts then just drop us a line.

CONTACT Tristram Moore trismoore@moore-law.co.uk www.moore-law.co.uk

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Top tips for

SUCCESSFUL FREELANCING from successful freelancers For the third Wired Sussex Breakfast Workshop ‘Being a Successful Freelancer’, it was great to have freelancers Steve Bustin of Vada Media, Fran Swaine, Digital Marketing Consultant, and Jo Munro, Virtual PA. The workshop was full of handy hints and top tips for successful and enjoyable freelancing.

K

nowledge is power and there was knowledge, shared experiences and tips aplenty at the workshop. We’re all about sharing, so below you’ll find the key takeaways and top tips from the event, for being a successful freelancer.

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WORK/LIFE BALANCE • Do something that you are passionate about!

• K eep re-skilling yourself to help remain on top of your game.

• S et time boundaries and take advantage of

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FINANCES • L earn to think like a business.

• R emember to charge for your work – you’re worth it!

• I t’s advisable to set money aside for tax (20% for a Limited Company, 30% for a Sole Trader) every time you get paid.

• C alculate costs and daily rates to include outgoings such as childcare, for example.

• A dd in a ‘negotiating margin’ when costing a job. An extra 10% gives you the flexibility to come down in price without loss.

• W hen calculating cost, work out the time a job will take and then add 25% extra time.

• A void late payment issues with strict Terms & Conditions.

• C harging 50% of the full amount up front can help avoid cash flow problems.

• S ome law firms will send a standard payment-demand letter to a non-paying client for just £10.

• I t costs around £30 to go to the Small Claims Court. www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-formoney/overview

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA • M ake use of social media to find and learn about potential clients, i.e. what they are like and what you might be able to do for them.

• P lay to your strengths. If you aren’t great at selling over the phone, then email or use social media, but be wary of spamming.

• R emind your friends! Tell them (again) what you do and ask them to spread the word.

They might refer people on to you.

• R emember that clients don’t have to be local – make use of the virtual world.

• D on’t be shy to ask for testimonials from past and current clients.

CLIENTS AND WORKLOADS • I t’s not always necessary to understand a whole organisation when undertaking a piece of work.

• A sk clients/potential clients what they would like the end result to be, as well as finding out what they need.

NETWORKING • B e friendly and genuine; you don’t always need to give the hard sell.

• N etwork with people who have complementary skills and even with competitors, all contacts can potentially lead to new work.

• E xperiment and find the right environment for you. Do you. Do you feel more comfortable chatting over coffee at an informal meetup, or do you prefer a more structured networking event?

EVENTS • W ired Sussex Member Meetups (www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4506 55038296776.115546.284598324902449 &type=3) are informal networking events for business owners, freelancers and employees of member organisations, so a great chance to catch up with and meet peers over a beer or two.

• B righton Farm (www.brightonfarm.com) is a must for freelancers in and around Brighton.

Run by Paul Silver (www.brightonfarm. com/profile/paul-silver.php), the weekly informal meetup has grown from a group of programmers having a beer, to a meetup attracting around 25 to 30 freelancers from all areas of expertise.

For further handy hints on successful freelancing, check out this previous blog post, www.wiredsussex.com/blog/being-a-successfulfreelancer, that followed last year’s Wired Sussex workshop for freelancers.

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the flexibility of working as a freelancer.

• N etwork with other freelancers.

• W ork when and where you feel comfortable.

• T he thought of a holiday may well be daunting, both financially and mentally, but it is essential to take time off to refresh, and charge up the batteries.

• B elieve in yourself!

About

NLD ACCOUNTANCY

NLD Accountancy provides full accountancy and taxation services for freelancers and small businesses in Brighton & Hove. Nilden Ozkan heads a team of professionals to deliver services to our clients.

B

y spending time in the business community in order to understand businesses and the business environment locally, we have developed an understanding relationship with our clients, enabling us to tailor our service to individual needs and make real money savings.

Our aim is to help your business prosper and grow by using a range of accounting techniques and procedures, cash flow being an especially important area for most businesses.

If you think we may be of help, why not call Nilden for your free one-hour consultation: 01273 252 241 or 07960 315119 – nldaccountancy.com.

FREE ACCOUNTANCY AND TAX CLINIC AT NLD ACCOUNTANCY 2 p.m. Wednesday, 22nd May 2013 The Skiff, 49 Cheltenham Place, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 4AB Opportunity to have a twenty minute one-to-one meeting to discuss areas such as: • • • • •

Bookkeeping Sole trader versus limited company Personal tax versus corporation tax VAT Tax savings

Only four slots available. Please email: info@nldaccountancy.com to secure your place.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.