The beauty of freelancing is to work on your own terms. It’s perfect to do it part time for some extra money. But if you love what you do, or don’t want to return to your cubicle farm and explore a new field, or develop a new skill.

Freelancing in India has been growing at a rapid pace since 2018 and it will make up 40% of the workforce by 2025. Today, it’s an opportunity to turn your passions into a long-term, lucrative career with a bit of careful planning and hard work. So here’s how to get started:

 1.  Get your feet wet 

Before you start to see yourself as a future freelancer, get your feet wet by taking a few projects in your free time while you’re still employed. This enables you to collect a little cash and get along with the pros and cons on freelancing before you’re completely ready to make your jump to full time freelancing. You need three to six months of living expenses, plus start-up costs in order to start off your freelance career from a secure position. It also lets you try out different kinds of clients and projects that will give you an insight about what you’re going to deal with.

2.  Plan in advance

Once you’re done with experimenting on different kinds of gigs with different clients and get the gist of the work that really interests you, it's time to plan a schedule that can roughly show you a blueprint to success. Keep few things in mind:

- What kind of work do you love the most?

- What is your definition of success?

- What if you don’t get enough projects?

- How much money do you need in order to think, you have made it.

- Keeping a track on your competitors and what do you offer that they don’t?

- Will you be requiring employees or will you work on your own (though it’s not necessary to plan before you get started)?

3.  Set your rates

 A big advantage comes in your way when you’re freelancing is defining your own worth. You can set your rates and revise them. At first you may undercharge for your services as a budding freelancer to establish yourself in the market but after working on some gigs you can price them accordingly. The best way to price your projects is to figure out what you’re making for similar work at your full time job and don’t forget to include things like job benefits, sick leaves. Then you can either charge your clients hourly or by the project.

4.  Find out your ideal clients

Once you start freelancing over the time you’ll get a picture of companies or individuals you work best with. Your ideal client will be the best mixture of schedule, working style and pay. Whether you match with the client culturally or personally. Maybe you want to work with the clients, for example who are friendly and warm or punctual and precise. It’s all on your professional boundaries in terms of time, communication and combination of these.

5.  Network and Promote Yourself

Freelancers need connections in order to keep getting new work, but they also need them in order to create the sense of work community that clients sometimes lack. The good news is that you don't need to become a cocktail party person or learn to love small talk in order to become an expert networker. All you have to do is to be reliable, pleasant to work with, and open to making new acquaintances while promoting yourself sideways.

Gone are the days when you needed to buy space in a newspaper to promote your new business. Now, you might be able to start your freelance career without spending a single dime, You'd be surprised how much business you can generate simply by posting on your various social networks and letting folks know that you're looking for a specific type of work just by touting your services on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, and Twitter. The important thing is to be willing to reach out. When you do make the leap, tell your connections that you're doing so.