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Running your Business

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Business Plan

Whatever the industry, it is important for any freelancer to have a business plan and strategy. The business plan outlines how you are going to run your business, while the strategic plan focuses on achieving key initiatives to grow it.

Writing your business plan doesn’t need to be a complicated task. In can be a one-page diagram or a written document where you clarify:

  1. Elevator pitch (who you are, what you do, and who it’s for)
  2. Lines of work
  3. Values (how you like to work and what standards are important to you)
  4. Clients profile
  5. Marketing / Branding (whether you have a website or online portfolio, or use social media networks for your branding)
  6. Budget and rates: Include in your budget anything you need to start your business, i.e. equipment, tools, and whatever is essential to kick off, as well as other anticipated annual costs such as internet connection, professional memberships, studio rental or software as a service (SaaS) subscriptions.
  7. Action plan

A well-defined plan can guide you in making the best career choices. It is also your blueprint towards a strategy to establish future goals and the path to achieving them. A business strategy should focus on:

  • Your current capabilities, values, mission and vision
  • Your future goals, and the steps to achieve them:
    • Who does what
    • How
    • When do you want to achieve your goals (be realistic)

Both the plan and strategy should remain flexible, enabling you to adjust as needed, refine ineffective steps, and seize new opportunities.

Tools & Equipment

Similarly, whatever the industry, it is also important for any freelancer to have the right tools and equipment. The basics are fairly simple and depending on your needs you can either add or subtract as required:

  • Computer/laptop/tablet to work remotely or on site, enabling you to answer emails, send invoices, information finding, and use social media for your marketing and networking.
    If you are required to supply a computer/laptop/tablet to perform your job you may be offered an allowance for the use of this piece of equipment.
  • Internet Connection – either your own broadband, personal hotspot, or access to it. We live in an increasingly connected world via many mediums and access to the internet is an essential part of this connection.
  • Anti virus protection for your devices. This is highly recommended as protecting your tech from viruses and potential hacks is key to keeping your hardware and software safe and your work and information protected.
  • Backup – An external hard drive and/or cloud storage will give the safety and comfort knowing that your work is safe and accessible. For cloud storage there are many free options such as Box, Dropbox, Filen, iCloud, Mega or OneDrive, that you can access from any device (please note that the free options offer a limited amount of GBs).
  • Phone or mobile contact. However you work as a freelancer you need to be contactable.
  • Email address that is recognisable by your name or business name. Keep it simple.
  • Calendar – that links to your phone and other tech is a must. That way your information and schedule is accessible wherever you are. Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and many other SaaS offer free online calendars. It’s worth taking a look to the different options to see which one suits you best. Time tree is a good app if you want to connect it with your family’s schedule for instance.
  • Productivity & Collaboration Tools. Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 are great options for working on documents of all different kinds. They offer easy share and collaboration options also.
  • Project & Time Management Software might come handy to help you plan, organise, and manage your resources and different projects. Some of the most popular ones have a free version and are accessible from all your devices: Trello, ClickUp, and Wrike provide visual boards where you can include all your tasks, and track your progress and time spent on each project. In addition, Paymo also tracks budgets and sends invoices.
  • Bookkeeping software is great for keeping your finances in order and your invoices in check. There are loads to choose from so ask colleagues, friends or your accountant which one they would recommend. Examples include; Wave, Sage, and Quickbooks.
  • Expenses apps are great options to have on your phone also. They can be as basic as simply taking a photo of your receipt and sending it to your email for you to file. Some apps log them with the relevant details for each project you work on. That way if you lose the receipts you have a back-up. There are loads out there so shop around to find one that suits you best.Or more sophisticated ones that log and file your receipts as you need them per project. Expensify is very popular among freelancers in the creative industries. It’s worth researching and asking colleagues which ones they use for reference.

As a freelancer you will likely have a number of different projects over the course of any year. How many will depend on the type of work you do and the size and scale of the projects you are involved with.

It is crucial to get a contract or agreement before starting the job, specifying the terms of employment, and payment terms and conditions, including how, when and where payments will be processed. This will help you plan your personal budget accordingly. Managing your money between jobs will be important. There may be gaps so you should ensure you have enough reserves to cover these periods.

Also, contracts depend on your tax status. You can check this up on this website’s tax section.

Bear in mind that you will be paid in different ways depending on the project, your role, and the sector.

Usually, you need to provide a invoice outlining the exact services provided, the service charge, the date the work was completed, your payment details, and payment terms i.e. the date the payment is due. The standard deadline is 30 days unless you have a contract or agreement outlining a different payment schedule.

It should be addressed to your client, including the company name, registered address, and, depending on the company:

  • VAT registration number
  • Company registration number
  • Tax registration number
  • Registered charity number

It should also incorporate your name or company name (if limited company), registered address, and VAT number; if not VAT registered, then you should include your Personal Public Service (PPS) number.

Finally, if any expenses have been incurred in the performance of that service these expenses should be itemised and the appropriate VAT rate applied to these and charged to the client.

Click here to see a downloadable invoice.

You can also find many free templates online and most word processing and spreadsheet software provide such as well.

Insurance

When you’re self-employed, you may not be eligible for sick pay, so it is important to consider your insurance options seriously.

Options are plentiful and it is easy to get lost in the mix. Here are some helpful pointers to consider when looking at insurance:

  • Can you afford to not be paid if off sick? Income Protection Insurance is a potential option for freelancers that pays part of your lost income if you’re unable to work because of a disability, caused by illness or injury. It can help pay the bills so you can focus on getting better. Be sure to double check the small print on all Income Protection Insurance policies to ensure that they fit your needs properly. When do they pay out? How much? What do they pay out for?
  • Life insurance helps to protect your family financially if you aren’t around anymore. If the worst were to happen or if you got seriously ill, your loved ones get a cash payment they can use to cover the likes of funeral costs, outgoings, bills or credit card debt.
  • Public liability insurance for film and TV industry workers protects you if you are blamed for injury to a person or damage to their belongings.
  • If you use a car to work, Car Insurance that gives you Business Use cover is essential. Gives you peace of mind and extra cover should you be transporting equipment etc.
  • Professional indemnity insurance covers your reputation. As a freelancer, you will no doubt have clients and contracts that are important to your business. If one of them makes a complaint against your work, a professional indemnity policy will pay for your legal fees, compensation and damages.
  • Equipment insurance for technical equipment such as talkback systems, cameras, VR sets and graphic tablets. You can protect your essential film production equipment in this way. You can also adapt your cover for extra job roles, contract requirements or upcoming projects.
  • Employers’ liability insurance. If you are a small business with even just one employee, then Employers’ Liability insurance is a legal requirement. This can cover any compensation pay-outs arising from a claim against your business from an employee.
  • Annual or short-term cover. Next project only lasting a few days? Just need insurance for a month? Short term insurance means you can tailor the protection for your project. Public liability insurance can be bought for just one day, if that’s all you need it for.
  • Worldwide cover. Be careful to ensure that the insurance policies you buy cover you for the countries that you are working in. World wide cover is an option but check the small print to ensure you are covered for the exact country or countries you are working in.

Pricing your Services

Pricing your work is one of the more challenging aspects of being a freelancer. Factors that affect your rate will include what others typically charge for a job (the going rate) and what you need to live on. First, you need to understand how the money works.

How much do I need to live on?

Taking ownership of your personal finances and knowing how much you really need to live on will allow you to work out how much you need to earn each year. A good starting place is a spreadsheet which totals this up. Here is a link to a budget spreadsheet.

Once you know how much you have going out each week or month you can add up all your expenditure for the year. This tells you how much you need to earn, after tax, to live the life you want to lead.

It’s quite common when you are starting out that you do other non-industry work alongside your screen sector work – this work can provide you with valuable soft skills relevant to the sector in addition to much-needed income.

Keeping your Finances organised handy tips:

  • Separate your personal banking from business banking. In this way you can easily identify your income and any expenses you may have incurred.
  • Having a separate business savings account means you can put aside any tax liability you have accrued in the year.
  • Use your budget planner to figure out what wage to pay yourself from your business account to your personal account. That way, you have clarity over what you can spend and when.
  • Freelance work can be sporadic. So if you can build an emergency fund to cover you for those lean periods and/or any unexpected costs such as a boiler or car breaking down.

As a rule of thumb, if you can save up three to six months of living expenses it will give you a cushion to fall back on that will help ease the financial pressure during lean times.

What do others charge?

Currently there is no easy answer to this question as different genres and sectors pay differing amounts for the same job title. For example: a production manager in the performing arts will be paid a different rate to a production coordinator in screen. This will be due to the different amount of skill and experience needed to perform those roles and the differing budgets.

It’s not easy to know what to charge when you are meeting a new employer or client about a new project. Don’t be afraid to ask advice from others working in a similar role and to negotiate.

National Minimum Wage

Irrespective of the differences paid for roles, Ireland does have a National Minimum Wage which details the minimum hourly wage a worker should receive. 

Co-Working & Studio Spaces

Co-working spaces and studios can be fantastic for building a strong professional network, especially in the creative and cultural sectors. Being in a shared space naturally leads to conversations, idea exchanges, and potential collaborations, particularly in an industry where word-of-mouth does wonders! In short, it increases your visibility, as in the creative and cultural industries, having contacts across sectors (designers, marketers, producers, tech specialists) can open unexpected doors.

Also, many of these spaces host workshops, networking events and even mentorship programmes, all helpful for your professional growth.

More importantly, working alongside like-minded people creates a sense of belonging. You can get informal feedback, share resources, or find support during professional challenges.

Finally, co-working spaces and studios are more affordable than renting a private space, making them accessible to freelancers and small businesses.

While there are many commercial co-working spaces available to rent on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, there are also a number of affordable co-working spaces and studios catering specifically to the needs of artists and creatives across the country. We have included a list of the main ones below:

Dublin

Cork

Galway

Limerick

Dignity at Work

Bullying is repeated inappropriate behaviour that undermines your right to dignity at work. It usually takes place over a period of time. It can be done by one or more persons and it is aimed at an individual or a group to make them feel inferior to other people. Bullying can be direct or indirect, and can include verbal, physical or cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying which is carried out online, through mobile phones, social networking sites, email or texts.

The terms bullying and harassment are different. A behaviour can be considered to be either bullying or harassment but not both. You can get more information about harassment at work through the Citizen’s Information website.

You can also find more information, toolkits and other resources on Safe to Create’s website, a Dignity at Work programme whose aim is to impact change on the culture and practices of the arts and creative sectors in Ireland, and to provide safer working conditions for all workers.

Bullying can take many different forms such as:

  • Social exclusion and isolation
  • Verbal abuse and insults
  • Being treated less favourably than colleagues in similar roles
  • Belittling a person’s opinion
  • Spreading malicious rumours, gossip or innuendo
  • Intrusion – pestering, spying or stalking
  • Intimidation and aggressive interactions
  • Excessive monitoring of work
  • Withholding information needed for the person to perform their job properly
  • Repeatedly manipulating a person’s job contents and targets
  • Blaming a person for things beyond their control
  • Use of aggressive or obscene language
  • Other menacing behaviour

An isolated incident of the above behaviour is not considered to be bullying.

Bullying can happen at all levels within an organisation and can be conducted by customers, clients and business contacts. A summary of your employer’s anti-bullying policy should be displayed prominently within the workplace.

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) works to ensure that workplace bullying is not tolerated and it provides information and advice on bullying. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) offers a mediation service to help resolve issues informally before a formal process is initiated.

Harassment & Discrimination

There are 9 grounds for discrimination, including:

  • Gender: this means man, woman or transgender
  • Civil status: includes single, married, separated, divorced, widowed people, civil partners and former civil partners
  • Family status: this refers to the parent of a person under 18 years or the resident primary carer or parent of a person with a disability
  • Sexual orientation: includes gay, lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual
  • Religion: means religious belief, background, outlook or none
  • Age: this does not apply to a person aged under 16
  • Disability: includes people with physical, intellectual, learning, cognitive or emotional disabilities and a range of medical conditions
  • Race: includes race, skin colour, nationality or ethnic origin
  • Membership of the Traveller community

Harassment based on any of the above 9 grounds is a form of discrimination in relation to conditions of employment. Some examples could include making jokes or derogatory comments. The Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 define harassment as “unwanted conduct” which is related to any of the 9 discriminatory grounds above.

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is any form of “unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature”. Some examples include unwanted physical contact or unwelcome propositions.

What is ‘unwanted conduct’?

In both cases, it is defined as conduct which “has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the person” and it is prohibited under the Acts.

The “unwanted conduct” includes:

  • Spoken words
  • Gestures – including offensive gestures or facial expressions
  • Production and display of written words, pictures and other material (unwelcome emails or other offensive material).

Harassment and sexual harassment can be by:

  • A fellow worker
  • Your boss
  • Someone in a superior position
  • A client
  • A customer
  • Any other business contact

Harassment can take place at work or on a training course, on a work trip, at a work social event or any other occasion connected with your job.

It may be targeted at one employee or a group of employees and it may consist of a single incident or repeated inappropriate behaviour. Useful links are: