It’s a business. You’re not JUST a worker for someone else. You need to keep a pipeline of new potential business, maintain your current roster of clients, and know that just because your call “went well”, it doesn’t mean the money is in the bank.
Billing is a Bummer
You talk to a prospect, they say they want to move forward. You send them a contract, it takes a week to get back signed. You send them an invoice, and you find their “finance team” hasn’t responded to you. You email them. Twice. You mention it to the client, and a week later they email and say “It’s processing”. Then you get the notice that it’s paying out. You chose to use Paypal invoices, and need to transfer to your personal account, which inexplicably takes 3 more days, even though it’s an “instant transfer” and neither support for Paypal or your bank know where it was that whole time.
Obviously, if you were waiting for THAT money to pay bills/rent/buy food, you would have been in T R O U B L E.
So you need a personal amount of savings, and a pile of funds in a separate business account you can pay yourself from, instead of living “invoice to invoice” as tempting as it may be.
***AND DON’T FORGET ABOUT TAXES***