Freelancing is hard work. Not only do you have to design work that satisfies your clients, but you have the other office tasks that come along with any business: accounting, job management, client management… the list goes on. These things usually don’t come easy for creative types, myself included. As anyone that has worked on their own knows, wearing a bunch of hats doesn’t always come easy.

I’m fairly new to freelancing as a business, although I’ve done quite a bit of freelancing in general. Here’s my unofficial list of what you need to start up a freelancing biz and feel good about going to get clients:

• a brand – as a designer I feel this one is extremely important. How can you sell branding and marketing if you can’t bring yourself to do it?

• a purpose – every major successful company sets out with a goal, creates a plan, and then executes it. To be successful, you certainly need a purpose.

• determination – working on your own takes drive and patience, and sometimes some long hours to get you through

• good solid contracts – without these, you look unofficial

• supporters – this one seems silly, but without support, you’ve got nothing!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my list, what kinds of things do you need to get through the storm?