So, we’ve been debating Men with Pens this week on the topic of how much it costs to start and run a freelance business. I love the fact that after we named our post “The Cost of Freelancing,” James went ahead and named his “The True Cost of Freelancing.” Competitive much? 
What Did You Have to Say?
Anyway, there have been some really good discussions sparked by the debate, both in the comments here and over at their blog.
Some folks see things the way Tamara and I do:
Annette Elton has first-hand experience starting a freelancing business with nothing more than a website and an Elance account.
Tony Lawrence also has some experience bootstrapping, although he points out that it shouldn’t be a way of life.
Genesis Davies started freelancing by spending $1 an hour at an internet cafe!
Others feel that it takes more to be successful:
Heidi Blodgett is investing over time to allow her to make the leap from her day job.
Heike Miller is finding that it’s much more expensive to become a virtual assistant than he originally expected.
Trish Lambert feels like we need to get rid of the “starving artists” metaphor once and for all.
Some saw both sides of the story:
Laura Spencer notes that while it may not be totally cheap to run a freelance business, it beats the pants off of working for The Man.
Graham Strong also weighed out some pros and cons, citing that a freelance business is inexpensive to start, but there are some other benefits (and drawbacks) to working from home.
John Hewitt points out that you can get started on the cheap, but that it’s really a lot easier if you’ve got some cash to back you up.
A whole lot of the arguments we wanted to make were already brought up in the comments sections on both blogs, but we’re going to go ahead and make them anyway. After all, we started this thing, it seems only right we’d be bull-headed enough to make you listen to the rest of our thoughts, eh? So, what follows on the next page is the rest of our side of things.
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Christina Lemmey is the mother of two school-aged girls, a wife, and the owner of 
Hey there! Thanks for the mention in your summary. This debate gave me lots to think about. I still stick by my assertion that the “starving artist” mindset create more obstacles than growth for freelancers. As I said in one of the posts on the Men with Pens post, starting on a shoestring is possible, but continuing to operate on a shoestring isn’t so great.
One idea that has started forming around this topic is that the amount of money one spends depends on other things too. I would never have had Genesis’ patience–it took over a year to get traction with the $1 and Internet cafe route. When I decide to jump, I jump, and there is some expense involved.
Actually, I had very few start up costs myself, in light of your definitions. I already had a computer–I opened an Elance account while I was still working a corporate job. In 6 weeks, I had booked over $20K in projects, and went in to my boss and quit. Elance figured prominently in the fast growth of my company, helping me break the 6-figure revenue line in less than 2 years. In that time, I had to step up to higher operating costs–but it was worth it…I netted additional income by way of subcontractors, so that hourly earning were higher than what I could make on my own. I am able to offer wider and more comprehensive solutions now, which means I can grow the company beyond my own keyboard. This kind of growth is necessary for me-staying chained to the keyboard and the clock would get too confining, even though I love writing.
Anyway…I do see both sides of the story, but I also strongly believe that too many freelancers stick with small thinking. There is absolutely no reason why a free agent can’t make over $100K per year without a huge increase in overhead or cost of sales. The main thing that stands in their way is their own thinking…and bragging about how little one spends to be in business tends to perpetuate the scarcity view that stymies many folks.
Sorry for the long post…sigh…guess I’d better go blog on this myself! Laugh! Thanks for teeing this whole thing up…gave my week some extra spice!
Trish Lambert
Success in Sweatpants
Trish Lamberts last blog post..Beard Yourself….
@Trish – You make some very good points. While the starving artist thing may be romantic, it’s certainly not what either Tamara or I are going for at this point in our lives. On the other hand, we know that neither one of us is all that interested in working full time. That is one of the coolest things about this freelancing gig…we can decide what works for us.
I like what you have to say about scarcity and poverty thinking, and I’ll be putting more thought into that myself. I don’t have my ideas formed well enough to talk about it here yet, but I really appreciate the food for thought.
Also, I’m impressed/jealous/amazed and happy for you to have had such a good experience with Elance. I keep hearing that there’s such opportunity there, but we just didn’t seem to be able to make it work for us. Perhaps we’ll have to give it another go one of these days.
Like you and others have said, you probably don’t want to have to bootstrap forever, but there is something to be said for being in a business where the vast majority of what you make can go into your own pocket instead of back out the door!
Hey Lorna,
I think you and I are on the same page. Why would you “pay” for a chair that you already have? I can see James’ point though — lots of business people account for *everything*. But unless you are physically paying the household for use of that chair, it’s already paid for.
(Even if you want to be a business stickler, why not set up a 99-year leases worth $1. Still “good business” and doesn’t cost as much…)
You don’t even need business cards or a website to start up really — not if you are going through eLance or something. All you need is a computer and an Internet connection, both of which most people already have.
So although it may not be advisable, you can actually launch your freelance writing career with $0. As Trish points out (sort of), once you’ve tested the waters, you can decide later whether or not to commit more to it.
BTW, thanks for the link back!
~Graham
Graham Strongs last blog post..The Art of Perception (Part III): Are Customers Getting The Right Perception of Your Business?
There are a number of businesses that you can start without monetary investment. My freelance writing was started on an old office computer and dialup. It was only when I was to the point of full time INCOME that I upgraded to cable.
My children are starting a flower business – they are taking the iris and daylilies that were given to use over the years, using old pots from a nursery to pot them up and selling them. They will use the profits to build their first greenhouse.
Money make things easier – but it is not a necessity.
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“it beats the pants off of working for The Man”
Ahh, is that what I said?
Actually, I think this is a great discussion and one that every new entrepreneur/freelancer should read.
What I’m finding is that there is no set answer. Cost is relative to where you are starting from and what your goals are.
Interesting.
I’m a newbie. I had an article of mine published in a newspaper but that’s it. I attended a magazine writer’s conference and learned tons of things, too.
I dunno.
I wish I could write a killer article on my blog, have it turn into some sort of mega-viral article, launch a mega-million-dollar writing/book empire, and richly slink off into a golden sunset.
I like this blog – I’ll be back.
Thanks!
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