Background: Being a freelance business owner provides an opportunity to grow your income and enjoy the freedom and flexibility to pursue the work you enjoy, in your own way and pace. Based on his personal experience, Rajiv Bagra shares 5 tips for freelance entrepreneurs to grow their business.

My favourite part of running a small business as a freelancer is that one can accomplish learning, pursuing hobbies simultaneously while building a life-long brand that will generate income even when one retires, subject to the right moves. By eliminating the effects of politics in the workplace, one can be more productive and feel more confident in one's core ability.

Here are my five quick tips for freelance entrepreneurs.

1. Leverage programmes for startups
For India, based on the current economic environment, leverage StartUp India programme that provides a learning and networking opportunity as well as a host of benefits not only from the government but also partners including Amazon Web Services, Zoho, MyOperator to kickstart your small business. You can enroll in this programme either as an individual or a company.

With the introduction of OPC (One Person Company) in 2013, I would recommend adopting the OPC structure for your business entity, as keeping your business separate from your personal financial identity may benefit you and enable you to leverage more financial benefits while keeping you motivated to grow big.

Also read: Why should SMEs & Startups be provided with a definitive platform

2. Explore co-working solutions
While OPC is a great way to boost your brand, another idea for freelancers or small businessmen operating from home is to align with a workspace and co-working solutions service provider like Awfis. As a solopreneur, this provides an inspiring atmosphere to grow and connect with other business owners.

3. Enrol for an online course
As part of continuous learning, enrol with online learning courses to upgrade your skills. It’s important that entrepreneurs constantly upskill to navigate the complexities of running an enterprise. A convenient way to achieve this is to enrol for online courses. An online course offers great value with flexibility of pace and time. These courses are frequently updated to remain relevant. Moreover, they are resource and cost efficient.

Also read: Top 4 online learning tools for every business

4. Make use of payment gateways for accounting
When it comes to accounting, leverage payment gateways like PayTm (only India) and PayPal (national/international transactions). For freelancers in the United States, QuickBooks has come out with a special package for freelancers. For India, QuickBooks comes with GST ready online accounting and more.

5.Own your own website
Despite the advent of social media, having your own website has several benefits. The easiest and the fastest way to launch your own website/online store is using website builders like the ones by GoDaddy.

Having said that, I still believe that CMS (Content Management System) like WordPress is the best platform for any freelancers or small businesses in the long run which too are easy to operate these days with a host of plugins to choose from and almost no coding knowledge needed.

So here you have it, my tips for freelance entrepreneurs. Would love to hear your insights on the same.

Also read: How SMEs can succeed in a digital world

Image source: shutterstock.com

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, official policy or position of GlobalLinker.