To grow your freelance business, it’s a good idea to set yourself goals. If you’re already generating more clients than last year, that’s great – but if you haven’t, maybe you need to reassess to figure out what else you could be doing to increase business. Ask yourself – what can you do to boost your services? How can you attract more clients, and keep the ones you’ve got satisfied? What steps can you take to stay competitive against others? And, most importantly, how can you translate all these answers into achievable objectives?

Follow our five tips to help grow your freelance business.

1. Invest in Professional Development

If you’re short of inspiration, read a business book from someone you admire or an author who’s an expert in your industry or field. Let them teach you how to test out new strategies, source better equipment, develop new and marketable skills, and enroll in worthwhile courses. The result will mean you can take a step back and listen to advice – which will, in turn, add value to your own services.

2. Cut Unnecessary Costs

Do you have a ton of subscriptions and excess office expenses you don’t really need? These extra costs might be holding your business back instead of letting you reach your full potential. Write out a list of all those business costs that you definitely need and then the ones you don’t – and start cutting down on the costs that are ultimately holding your business back.

3. Promote Your Services Better

The key to getting more leads is self-promotion. If you’re not getting your name out there, no-one will know about your great services and what you can provide to others. Ensure you promote yourself and spread the word, whether that’s handing out business cards to prospective leads or boosting your website with ads on the web. Spreading the word through social media and blogging about your field and services are a great low-cost way to bring in traffic and leads to your website.

4. Connect With Other Freelancers.

Working in silo can mean you occasionally get off-track and lose a little perspective – and sometimes even inspiration. Take some time to attend local conferences, events or business gatherings: it’s a great way to network with potential clients, meet other freelancers in your field and hear what’s going on in your industry.

5. Hire a Bookkeeping Service

As long as you have trusted service to manage your accounting records, you can focus on boosting your services and generating more revenue. Bookkeeping Zoom is a service that allows you to eliminate any guesswork in your numbers and leave the numbers to professionals, so you can focus on building your portfolio and clientele. Read more on the benefits of hiring a bookkeeping service here.

Especially at the start, launching your freelance business can be tricky, as almost all the hard work will be down to you reaching out to new clients, controlling expenses and promoting your specialized services. Use these tips as a way of taking a fresh look at your business and finding ways to improve it.

Ready to get started with your free trial of Bookkeeping Zoom? Learn more here.