My 2023 Freelance Business Review Process

Hi freelance friend,

As the end of the year approaches, it’s time to take a look at how business went this year and what that means for our strategies moving forward. No matter the size of your freelance business, I recommend setting aside some time to look at your finances, client satisfaction, and time spent working to reveal what’s working for you and what needs tweaking.

Here are some of the steps I take each year to make sure I align my work and life goals as much as possible.

Financial review

I think it’s helpful to review a few different metrics when it comes to financials. I look at both monthly and yearly numbers to get a sense of how much I earned versus how much I worked. I’ll also set a revenue goal for 2024. For me, I find it easier to break it down on a monthly basis, understanding that there are definitely seasonal fluctuations to account for.

If you’re a sole proprietor and earning a full-time salary, now is also a good time to see if it makes financial sense to switch to an LLC taxed as an S corp. This is a helpful way to save on self employment taxes. I did this a few years ago and it really made a difference in my taxes! I used Collective to get set up and still use them for my accounting and tax filing. If you want to see if it makes sense for you, give them a holler and get one month free with my referral code.

My final financial task this year is to look at my expenses. I heard this tip on the Talk Freelance To Me podcast on a recent wealth-building episode aimed at solopreneurs. CFO Christina Ganache gave the advice to be ruthless in cutting back expenses, so I plan to do this, especially with recurring subscription services. I highly recommend listening to the entire episode for great financial tips that apply to the unique freelancing business model!

Planning time off in 2024

I also use my monthly figures to get a sense of good times to take off the following year. Inevitably, July is always an incredibly slow month. But it works out well because my husband and I both have birthdays that month! So I know it’s easy to take a vacation and some extra days off without having to give a lot of notice.

Looking back at my 2022 and 2023 income tracker, I also noticed a drop in revenue in January. So I plan to do some extra end-of-year pitching and outreach to drum up a little extra business in case things are quiet as people come back from the holidays.

That leads perfectly to my next point about managing clients in 2024!

Managing clients

As you reflect on your year, think about how much you earned versus how much you worked. Did it feel like a good exchange? Were there clients that made you stomach drop every time you saw an email from them? If so, it may be time to either a) drop them if you can afford to or b) look for a replacement client.

I’m also planning to reach out to all of my inactive clients from the last year or so. This will be a simple message telling them I’m planning my first quarter projects and have room if they need anything. I recommend you to do the same as an easy way to bring in more work! Some editors and content manager simply need a nudge to send you assignments.

Coming up on the Write with Lauren blog

Moving forward in the New Year, I plan to bring back fresh content on the Write with Lauren blog. One of my goals here is to build an open community that shares real life advice and experience about freelance writing.

I’m opening up the blog to paid contributors to share personal experiences and lessons learned about their freelance journey - and I’d love to hear from you! You can get all the juicy details and submit your pitch here.

Thank you in advance! I can’t wait to see your ideas.

Happy freelancing,

Lauren

When you’re ready, here are 2 ways I can help you with your freelance business:

1. Organize your business with my income tracker or pitch tracker.

2. Read The Fully Booked Freelance Writer to follow my exact process for keeping a full schedule (whatever that looks like for you).