Cash flow is going to take on a whole new meaning for you.
No more regular checks. And when they do come it will be a couple of months after you did the work. Don't kid yourself. The days of getting paid in 30 days are over. It sucks but it's reality.
You are making a big mistake elsewhere too. You think you can hold a full time job and slowly ease your way into freelance. You know what's going to happen? Nothing. You'll always be too afraid to go all the way until you make the commitment to freelance.
The old saying "$hit or get off the pot" fit your situation. Either go freelance or stay with your full time job. Being afraid to go all the way indicates you don't have the confidence in your own skills to be freelance. Freelance means being able to say YES at any time of the day to go on a job. Having a full time job means you can't leave for freelance work when it's available. You'll miss good jobs. You'll say NO to jobs and the people WITH the jobs will remember that. That means THEY will not call you again. At least you won't be their first call anymore. They don't want to play games. They want someone willing to work NOW when THEY want to work. Your halfway plan of slowly going freelance means your fulltime job will suffer and your freelance dreams will never come true.
Even after you get paid a couple of months down the road you have to keep that cash flow machine rolling. Maybe a year down the road you'll be thinking you're IN! Then it happens. It always happens. One, maybe two months without work. You're eating into your cash pad. Screwing up your cash flow. You freak out. You wonder how you'll pay your bills. That's when it's gut check time friend. Are you going to quit then? Or are you going to beat the odds? Have enough to hold yourself over so you don't end up in bankrupt and a joke of a credit rating?
Some of the guys above talked about it. You need to take it to heart. Have your act together when it comes to money. Know where it is. Know how to collect it. Know how to cover your @ss when you get screwed by a client. You WILL get screwed sometime, somewhere. No one escapes it. Every business in the world has bums who don't pay. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and take the hit. Be ready for it! Have your head together enough to last out the down time, the problems. It is not easy but it can be done. It can NOT be done by somebody too afraid to leave their regular paycheck thinking they can play it safe. Playing it safe means failure.
Last tough love advice. Be in a place that has work. That means larger markets or out of the way places that generate work but have no freelancers. Where are you? Chicago? Not bad but you already have LOTS of established freelancers in place with great camera packages. Can you offer the same? Why should someone hire you instead of them? Because you are cheaper? Because you will do it for free or undercut others to get a job even if it does't cover your financial needs? Freelancers like that come and go. Yes, they always GO. That's how a lot of us get good deals on used gear because someone can't make their payments and have to sell their gear cheap since they are forced out of the business.
Trust. That's what those current freelancers, your competition, have built up with clients. You have no record. You have no reputation among those who do the hiring. You have to PROVE yourself and that doesn't happen fast. It also doesn't happen while you are holding a full time job.
Where do you want to live? Chicago? It can happen. LA, New York, Dallas, Denver, Miami, the East Coast, all have work available but, again you need to be there AND available to work whenever they want you to.
Listen, this is good advice you're getting. I'm a little surprised by how many have taken time to answer your post. Why should other freelancers help you? Why should they tell you how to get started and maybe take work away from them in the future? Don't expect a big welcome into the freelance club. It's sink or swim time friend. Can you swim? Do it or be happy on the beach with your full time job and don't waste peoples time. Not just freelancers but the time potential client have. They aren't there to work around YOUR work schedule. If you can't do the job there are plenty more who CAN!
Don't boo hoo on me now. Maybe you can do it but the odds are against you. Not because I'm trying to cut you down. Most small business' fail anyway. ANY business! Freelancing is just that. A business so see it for what it is. No guarantees. No weekly paycheck. No company health care. Have you even figured out how much it costs for you to freelance and still have health coverage or are you thinking you don't need it? I thought so
