Planning a Freelancing Business Commented [LM1]: This title is fairly straightforward.

Making it a bit more animated might better hook the

reader’s interest. Perhaps you could add something about
The Benefits of a Business Plan
your goal to make your business multi-faceted.

Starting a freelance business is complicated. Every time new freelancers turn around, Commented [LM2]: This section is well constructed! In
order to adhere to the rubric more, you may want to add a
paragraph (or a few sentences) on how these benefits of a
they facethere seems to be another problem they’d never considered. Perhaps they’re trying to business plan apply specifically to a freelance editor.

start their businesses but don’t know how to ensure everything is in order before they jump into

the waters. In this situation, freelancers can benefit from a business plan.

Business plans lay out the details of the business, from the mission to the finances. They

give freelancers a chance to really think through their ideas before they need to use them. Such

an exercise encourages thoughtfulness, and also improves the efficiency of freelancers’ business

strategies. Francis J. Greene and Christopher Hopp, writing for the Harvard Business Review,

contrast two methods of starting a business: the “learning by doing” approach and the “purposive

planning” approach.1 They share their study results that found that “entrepreneurs who write

formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than the otherwise identical nonplanning

entrepreneurs.”2 The benefits of business plans seem to be worth the investment. Freelance editor

Suzy Bills certainly thinks so: “Every business—including a part-time freelance editing [or

design] enterprise—can benefit from having a business plan,” she writes.3 Not only can business Commented [LM3]: This might be a place to focus your
general discussion on freelancing. Before this you might
insert, “While freelance editing may not be a large-scale
plans increase freelancers’ chances of having lasting, profitable businesses, but they can also
business, it too would benefit from a business plan.
Freelance editor Suzy Bill emphasizes…"
give freelancers the direction and confidence they need to get their names out there.

The Elements of a Business Plan

1. Francis J. Greene and Christian Hopp, “Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to
Succeed,” Harvard Business Review, July 14, 2017, https://hbr.org/2017/07/research-writing-a-business-plan-
makes-your-startup-more-likely-to-succeed.
2. Greene and Hopp, “Research.”
3. Suzy Bills, The Freelance Editor’s Handbook: A Complete Guide to Making Your Business Thrive. (Oakland:
University of California Press, 2021), 40.
 The exact details that appear in a business plan will differ between businesses. However,

Bills gives a useful list of elements that freelance business plan should have.4 A brief description

of each of these elements is found below.

Executive summary. Freelancers forecast the main ideas of their business plan. Formatted: Indent: Left: 0.5"

Description of the business. Freelancers describe the exact services they offer (e.g.,

copyediting for dissertations, substantive editing for novels, and graphic design for

advertising, and so on).

Mission and vision statements. Freelancers state the value they provide for their clients in

their mission statement. They consider long-term goals for their business in their vision

statement.

Market analysis. Freelancers describe what the market(s) they work in, what their

competitors are like, and what sets their own business apart from others.

SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). Freelancers analyze the

internal strengths and weaknesses of their businesses, and the external opportunities and

threats.

Marketing and sales strategies. Freelancers describe the marketing strategies they’ll use,

and discuss which strategies they’ll prioritize.

Description of operations. Freelancers discuss their operations, such as what places

they’ll work in, what method they’ll use to keep track of their files, and what time they’ll

spend working on different tasks (e.g., checking email and, marketing, and so on).

Financial overview. Freelancers detail the financial aspects of their businesses, such as

pricing methods, recurring costs, income estimates.

4. Bills, The Freelance Editor’s Handbook, 42–45. The information in this section of the essay is drawn primarily
from Bills’s book.
 Business plans can discuss more elements than just these. For example, many business

plans for entrepreneurial startups include a section that ask for money from investors.5 But the

above elements are the most essential, and with them, freelancers can navigate their fields.

The Considerations of My Business Plan

For my freelance business, I want to work in both editing and design. In my business

plan, I will begin by need to focusing on my services, my marketing strategies, and my costs.

My services and genres are many. I want to try my hand at all three levels of editing in

fiction, particularly fantasy and children’s literaturekidlit; at copyediting in some nonfiction

genres, such as Christian nonfiction; at book design, both exterior and interior; and at

promotional designs for small businesses. I may discover that I love one of these services more

than the others, thenand focus my business more on that preferred service than the others. Or I

may decide to only work as a part-time freelancer, in which case I may only have time for one or

two of my ideas. However, given that I have some level of experience in all of these areas, I will

enjoy offering all of these services.

Even if I offer all of these services, however, I absolutely need to focus my marketing in

one main area (or maybe two) in order to specialize my clientele.. My central marketing focus Commented [LM4]: Why do you absolutely need to focus
your marketing? It would be good to include a reason.
will be self-published fiction authors. I believe I can make a strong marketing push toward self- Commented [LM5]: Is there a distinction between self-
published and self-publishing authors? If not, we will want
publishing authors. My services to them will range from developmental editing at the ideas stage, to keep those terms consistent.

to typesetting at the book design stage. If they so desire, my clients can work with me through

every stage of their publishing process. (I will, however, keep lists of other editors who offer the

various services, in case clients would like to branch out.) To attract clients, I will prioritize

marketing my book cover design service, because the idea of giving their story a beautiful visual

5. See U.S. Small Business Administration, “Write your business plan,” U.S. Small Business Administration,
https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/write-your-business-plan.
element will speak to authors. Then, if I learn more about their project and discover that they

need help in other areas, I can offer my other services. I can even do package deals, where an

author pays for copyediting and typesetting, or typesetting and book cover design, or substantive

and copyediting. But it will likely take some time to grow my business enough to offer those

packages, and so I should start with book cover design and one editing service, like copyediting.

My desire to work in design will affect my costs. A major difference between editing and

design is the external costs that go into creating each design. I will need to buyDesigning costs

include purchasing professional fonts, the licensing ofe images, paying artists to do illustrations,

and of course subscribing e to Adobe products. I will need to calculate these costs when I

calculate the financial section of my business plan, because it may affect if I can start out in book

cover design as I desire, or if I’ll need to begin bystart out offering only editing services. Some

of the other costs I will need to consider are a powerful computer, possibly a drawing tablet,

subscriptions to both editing and design platforms to advertise my work, and fees for design

classes and certificates (although the DIGIT 230 and DIGHT 250 classes I’ve taken give me an

advantage). Commented [LM6]: This could be unclear to readers.

Depending on your meaning, you could clarify this as, “I
have the advantage of having taken design classes in my
The three considerations of services, marketing strategies, and costs are only a few of the
undergraduate studies” or “although I have some
certification from my completion of DIGT 230 and 350.”
ones I will need for my business plan. However, discussing them here gets me started in my

preparation, and it shows a piece of the business plan process.

Conclusion

Creating a business plan requires time and research, as Bills points out in her book.6 Yet

this time and research is well worth it, because it gives freelancers a plan for their actions as

business owners. If they consider the problems and solutions of their business before those

6. Suzy Bills, The Freelance Editor’s Handbook: A Complete Guide to Making Your Business Thrive. (Oakland:
University of California Press, 2021), 41.
problems come, they will have more success in their endeavors. Before taking the plunge into the

world of freelancing, I recommend creating a business plan.

References

Bills, Suzy. The Freelance Editor’s Handbook: A Complete Guide to Making Your Business

Thrive. Oakland: University of California Press, 2021.

Greene, Francis J. and Christian Hopp. “Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup

More Likely to Succeed.” Harvard Business Review, July 14, 2017.

https://hbr.org/2017/07/research-writing-a-business-plan-makes-your-startup-more-

likely-to-succeed.

U.S. Small Business Administration. “Write your business plan.” U.S. Small Business

Administration, https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/write-your-

business-plan.