Stoicism For Freelancers: Some Things Are Beyond Your Control
Lost half your business? Time for stoicism!
By Andy Strote From the new book, How to Become a Successful Creative Freelancer. Coming soon to Amazon and other online retailers.
One of the foundations of stoicism suggests that some things are within your control while others are not. Stoicism also says not to be concerned about things that aren’t in your control.
The Greek stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote that we are disturbed “not by things, but by the views we take of things.” That’s easy for old Epictetus to say, not so easy to live in real life.
Many of us feel that there’s no way to separate the things that happen from our views of those things. But of course, that’s not true.
Let’s imagine you’re a freelancer with five good clients. However, one of these clients accounts for 50% of your business.
And now imagine that this client changes jobs and you lose the work you had with her.
Overnight, POOF!, 50% of your revenue disappears. Oh oh…
Stoicism Reminds Us That You Can’t Control Your Clients
If half your business walks out the door, you quickly realize you have no control over your clients.
You’ll be kicking yourself because you knew you shouldn’t let one client dominate that much. You should have worked harder to diversify your revenue sources, but you didn’t.
And now it’s too late.
Stoics would say that anything outside your control—half your business leaving— is none of your concern, but that’s hard to take when it happens.
How Does Stoicism Help You Face a Tough Situation?
First, you have to reach a point of acceptance.
In this case, that means accepting that your client’s business is gone.
Secondly, you have to accept that you can’t change the past.
Yes, you should have found more clients so that any one client doesn’t represent half of your business, but you didn’t. It’s too late to do anything about it now.
You can learn from this event, but you can’t change the past.
Next, you have to calm your mind and separate your emotions from the things that happened that were beyond your control.
Don’t Ignore Your Emotions, But Don’t Succumb to Them Either
You might need time to process the situation and accept this new reality. What was real yesterday has now changed.
You may be scared. You needed that income. You have bills to pay. Now what?
You may experience grief or mourning. All of a sudden, your revenue projections are blown to smithereens. Your billing is back to what it was five years ago. This is a big emotional hit. You could be in shock.
Even if you practice stoicism, you do have emotions, and you have to acknowledge them. You may be confused, feeling wounded, and put upon. You’re wondering, why me?
You may run various scenarios through your mind.
“If only I had done this or that.”
“If only I had focused more on getting new business.”
“I should have saved more for emergencies.”
Around and around it goes.
You can take time with these thoughts and sit with your emotions. There’s no denying them.
But at some point, reason and logic have to take over. The event happened, and now you must deal with the new reality.
A Stoic Position: Clear Your Mind, Accept Reality, Make New Plans
Your goal is to get to a place of calmness so that you can move forward with a clear mind.
Take control over the things that you can change.
Perhaps it’s time to review all of your client business. Look for opportunities to expand your business with your existing clients. When was the last time you let your clients know of your full range of services?
You’ll be thinking about finding new clients that fit with your existing ones. What kind of outreach will work for you?
Perhaps consider competitors to the client who just left you. After all, you have expertise in that sector. When you had that client, you couldn’t work for the competitors, but now you could.
The point is to slow down, figure out a strategy, and move on.
Remember, 20% of Life is What Happened, 80% is Your Reaction to It
Losing a major client can be a blow to your business, but it’s not “the end of the world”.
Sure, you could look at it as the worst possible thing that could happen and wallow in self-pity.
Or you could see it as a hard lesson and the kick in the pants you needed to set yourself up for the next level of success.
Don’t let one event dictate your future. You still have significant business to build upon, lots of experience, and a network that will continue to support you.
The past is the past. The key is that from this day forward, you’ll determine your future.
Now that you’re thinking about it, look at your client mix. Should you be making changes there?
Thinking of Starting An Agency?
If you’re looking for tips on how to grow your business, you’ll want to read How to Start a Successful Creative Agency. It’s the essential business guide for graphic designers, copywriters, filmmakers, photographers, and programmers.
Buy Your Book Here
Over 300 pages and 23 chapters, available at Amazon (Paper & Kindle), Kobo (ebook), Apple Books (ebook), and Gumroad (PDF).
The book is packed with useful information to help creatives start and grow their business.
5.0 out of 5 stars—Invaluable for Starting a Design Business
Will, from the U.K., said,
“Hey Andy. I recently finished your book and absolutely loved it. I myself am starting a design business with a colleague and it’s already been invaluable for us. It’s helping us organise the million things we have going on in our heads prior to the jump from full-time. Hope you’re well. Thanks again for the great read. Cheers Will”
Amazon, Verified Purchase
Want a Free Taste First?
Sure! Sign up in the footer below to get a free PDF of Chapter 14, Working With Clients.
This chapter covers essential areas such as Clients vs. Projects, Corporate Clients vs. Small Business Clients, How to Create an Opportunity Document, Benefits of Finding a Niche… and much more.
Questions? On Twitter, I’m @StroteBook. D.M.s are always open. Ask away.