I'm trying the 'evening slog' work on projects but simply find that time's too short or energy levels are low. Unfortunately a daily 2.5 hour commute into London and home in the evening so early morning, late evenings are taking it's toll. I've attempted working on the train but the 5am getup normally requires me to sleep for the journey simply to catchup, and stop me from flaggin during the evening. I do however think I need to work smarter to achieve the results I require. Your inspirational monthly target system is something I need to adapt. As mentioned before it's learning not to exceed my capabilities and then FAIL on everything due to there simply being too much on the list.

With regards to freelance projects, were you working as a registered business, contracts, formal agreements, the whole package, or working more on the fly? I've been asked by a couple of colleagues for a website simply to strengthen my portfolio but have yet to approach businesses. What level of setup would be required? How would you recommend approaching the freelance projects?

Thanks again for any advice you, or anyone else, can add.

I'm actually writing up the next 'monthly review' post right now, it should be live in a few minutes.

I'm not sure if this has been asked of before, but what were you doing previous to starting off on your own? Obviously another fulltime job, but was that web design related or something completely different, with web design being a 'sparetime only' process?

I'm currently working in IT, but not webdesign, but have started working on a few personal sites, and have run through a small number of affiliate marketing sites in the past, but the main issue is time. I'm always looking for ways in which to maintain the fulltime job but have the webstuff up to a feasible level to be financially stable (enough to not crash and burn) once moving into self employment. I'm wondering whether there's any particular advice you can offer. Obviously with time being precious I need to maximise profit for time but being still within a learner position I'm looking for any advice where possible.

I really like the way you set yourself realistic targets. This is something I need to take on board and utilise to its potential, rather than creating lists of what I want to achieve, feeling overwhelmed with the shear quantity and actually gaining little. I think being realistic on what can be achieved is again something I need advice on and also to concentrate and get better at.

Apologies....that post got a wee bit longwinded, best end it there

Looking forward to your review of FreeAgent.

As a seasoned freelancer :-), I have a question...

What are the things you wish you knew on day one that you know after 6 months? Things which might have made the transition smoother, and possibly helped any successes come sooner.

Keep up the good work!

John

- Setup a version management system for my files & introduce working practices around that system.

These posts supposed to be here so you can review your progress & so that you and others can learn from your documented mistakes. Don't document a mistake & not add a goal to learn from it!

I also want to play devils advocate on the idea that 6 months in you've finished "starting" your business. Most people don't consider a company established til it's about 5 years old! But you have done many of the things other companies might take 5 years to achieve. I think you should only change to "running a business" if you do manage to match your previous employement's take-home pay!

Loving these posts as always though ;)

It took me about 2 years to replace my former job's annual salary. If you can do that this quickly, you're doing quite nicely.

I agree, it's amazing how few hours are actually billable some weeks.

@BrianScates - Thanks for the comment, good to hear different ways of going about these things :)

When twitter comes back I'll follow you :)

I hope to detail these in my blog soon, but here are some accomplishments / changes I have implemented in the last few months:

- opened a business bank account
- began a monthly cashflow analysis for my business + projections
- found partners for a new side business
- had my first skype conference call across the world
- signed my biggest client yet
- decided to hire my first employee (which has not officially begun yet)

@Aaron - I should do a few more audioboo's really, I've also been toying with the idea of maybe doing a video or two, but I'm still in two minds as to whether anyone would bother to watch them. Personally I barely ever bother to watch video blogs, so I'm not sure if it's a wise thing to pursue really!

Anyway congratulations on what sounds like a great first six months.

Totally with you on your comment above about how many hours are NOT billable. I've been doing this 13 months now and still not quite on what I was earning when I left full-time employment - and I work like a bitch sometimes. I seriously think if I wanted to work a comfortable 9-5, Monday-Friday, no weekends, I'd only schedule in 2.5 days of work a week. Of course if I did that I'd have to charge a lot more, plus most project are too urgent to only throw a a day or two a week at. It's tricky.

Anyway, keep it up mate.