How to Build a Freelance Business From Home

If you're reading this article right now, I'm guessing that you're desperately looking for a way to leave your job, start your own business and work from home, but let’s be honest, you haven’t yet found the right opportunity that will allow you the freedom, flexibility AND financial security you are looking for.

If you don’t know, I actually run a business in Adelaide, South Australia called Lunch Jars - it’s a service/product-based business where we cook, prepare and deliver fresh lunch (served in Jars) to offices around Adelaide.

Now, although it’s an incredible business (it’s my business baby and I love it dearly), if I’m 100% honest I wouldn’t ever recommend this business model for anyone who is looking to start in business and certainly not for 1st-time mums.

Why?

Well, there are a few reasons;

• Firstly I have to be at my mum’s every day (as our kitchen HQ is at mums place), so even though I run my own business and I’m my own boss, I’m not "technically" working from home.

• I am the one who does most of the work. This means I have to shop for produce, cook, prepare and deliver (with the help of my mum - luckily). On top of all the admin work etc.

• For a variety of different reasons, it's not really "baby" friendly.

But like I said because I started my business before we planned on starting a family, it's worked out okay for me.

So what do I recommend for first-time mums starting their own business, instead?

It has to be a freelancing or service-based business.

The main reason being you can work from home, set your own hours, have flexibility, work with as many or as little clients to reach your goals and MOST importantly replace your full-time income in a matter of months. Believe me, I’ve seen it done with so many mums within the freelancing/done for you service space.

So in this article, I’m going to walk you through the 5-steps I recommend to get you started with your freelance business…

Let’s get right to it!

Step 1: Define your “why".

If you caught my LIVE in the Start-Up Boss Mama Mastermind Facebook group or read over this blog post, you may have remembered me talking about the importance of defining the "why" behind your business. Now I won’t go into all the details I shared in that live/article, but if you haven’t had a chance to check it out, I would highly recommend it.

As a summary, defining you "why" is important, because starting, building and growing a business although very rewarding, can also be quite challenging at times. Having a strong why will help you to get through the tough times and ensure you won’t give up. I’ve seen so many mamas give up on their dreams because they didn’t have a strong why.

Step 2: Identify your profitable skills.

Now, as harsh as this may sound... if you don’t have an offer to sell you can’t make money. And if you don’t make money, I’m sorry mama but you don’t have a business.

It’s that simple.

So how do you know what to offer clients as a service? Well, look no further than your current skills or passions. Do you have a particular strength or have something that people always tell you “wow, you’re really good at that” - take note of this as it might be a service you can offer your clients.

If you need help to brainstorm some skills you can offer clients, then be sure to get your hands on my FREE Brainstorm Your Profitable Skills workbook. You can grab it by heading over to aliciarafiei.com/brainstorm

Step 3: Who is your ideal client?

Once you have figured out what services you will offer, next is to identify who actually needs your services and will be willing and able to pay for them. This is a SUPER important step, as narrowing down your focus and attention to a certain group of people will help sky-rocket your business.

Evey heard the marketing saying “if you market to everyone, you market to no-one”?

Well, this is so true. When you focus your energy on serving a certain person/market, you will not only attract the people you want to work with, but you will also repel the people you don’t want to work with.

When you understand who you want to work with, you can actually refine your messaging and marketing so that your client says things like “wow, it’s like she is reading my mind” or “she knows exactly what I want and need”.

This is "gold" when it comes to booking out your services and creating a full-time roster in your freelance business.

Step 4: Create your perfect package.

Once you know who you are working with and what service you will offer. Now you need to package up your services that will be perfect for your ideal client.

As a freelancer, you’ll want to determine your pricing and then figure out whether you want to charge hourly and/or by packages. What I suggest is working backwards from your monthly income goal in combination with the current market pricing and your skill level.

Step 5: Launch it, mama!

The last step we go through is to finally launch your business out into the world and work towards getting your first client.

By developing a plan and strategy, along with leveraging your own personal network, you can work on securing your first client and then your next client until you become booked out and reach your income goals.

Simple...

Now, I understand that to get to this point is more than just what we covered today and it involves more skills, tools and most importantly the mindset to believe that you can achieve it.

But honestly, it really is this simple.

Here's one thing to note: please don’t confuse simple with “easy”. As I assure you, it takes a lot of work, determination and believing in yourself to own and run a successful business…

But it is absolutely doable.

Okay, so there we have it, a 5-step framework on how you can build a business as a stay at home mum.

If starting a service-based business is something you would like to pursue, then I encourage you to check out an awesome freebie I created. It’s a brainstorming guide that will help you identify your profitable skills so you can get a head start as a freelance business owner.

If you haven’t got your copy, you can grab the FREE 'Brainstorm Your Profitable Skills' workbook by clicking the link.

And if you would like to join the program that has helped other mums just like you to start and launch a service-based business, then be sure to check out the Start-Up With Service 5-day Bootcamp program:

Have Your Heard?

My goal and why for my business is to help 1000 Start-Up Mamas launch their dream business by the end of 2020.

I'm working towards this goal by serving you here on my blog and in my FREE private Facebook Group - The Start-Up Boss Mama Mastermind where I go LIVE every week with tips and training.

I would love for you to join the community and get to know you inside the group: