Famine relief – Profiting from lean times

Most freelancers, including translators, suffer the extremes of work demand. A period of having to refuse work is suddenly followed by one of seeking work.  To one degree or another, this instability is a part of doing business.  As such, the freelancer must learn to cope with it both psychologically and actually benefit from the free time. The key to keeping in an even keel in those quiet times is to view the free hours not at a threat but instead as an opportunity.

To clarify, the cause of the quietness on the email front may be known or unknown. Worldwide, August and the three weeks from December 15^th to January 6^th are great for retailers but awful for service providers simply because most non-retail businesses close or go in sleep mode. Likewise, national and bank holidays affect transactions for one to three days.  A quick Google search can quickly identify the various and multifarious off-days of a given country.  In fact, in Israel and many countries, there is the term “after the holidays” to explain why nothing can be done during certain times of the year. A hidden factor may be an internal company matter or specific sector crisis. The long term and fundamental causes of downtime are slow but constant trends in the economy or business sector, such as a recession or conglomeration, which change the supply and demand curve. Clearly, a despairing freelancer can often but not always find a comforting explanation for the down trend.

A time to breath after a long stretch of intense work can actually feel quite refreshing.  It is the ideal moment to clean up unfinished matters.  These include ongoing accounting or financial issues, bill collecting, financial reporting, email correspondence and inventory, to name just a few. Given the importance of the Internet for most businesses, it is vital to periodically review and revise all profiles, brand identifiers and approaches.  All these tasks tend to be postponed while work is heavy but must be carried out in order to maintain a business.  In industrial management terms, these actions are considered productive even if they are not lucrative since they must be performed in order to maintain business efficiency.

Having completed these essential tasks, the freelancer can use the time to develop known potential contacts. During busy periods, the names of people and companies that could turn into clients come up. The quiet now makes it possible to carefully consider the manner of developing these contacts and actually follow up. Not only is this time productively spent but such actions are an essential part of future growth.

For sole proprietors, the background quite allows them to switch hats and become the director of marketing and research.  The problem with being a freelancer is the multiplicity of roles that need to filled and leads to the problem of “jack of all trades and master of none”. With only one hat on the head, the entrepreneur can analyze, research and discuss macro medium- and long-term trends and decide on actions to take to stay in line with them. Such a process requires time and concentration, which is only generally available when work is slow.

Of course, business people are also human.  Quiet times provide the best opportunity to spend time with family and friends without watching the clock. Short and even long trips become possible. It is a great time to lose a few grams of extra weight or see nature (or pick mushrooms as we do.).  It becomes possible to put a check on household tasks that have been put on hold for months or higher end purchases that must be considered carefully, such as buying a car. 

The message is that down time can be up time, both psychologically and operationally. It is the ideal time to accomplish all tasks that cannot be or simply are not handled when work is aplenty. As such, the freelancer can more easily maintain a good attitude and worry less. Remember that growth in children occurs when they sleep. Likewise, freelancers prepare their growth when business is slow. They can profit from the worst of times no less than from the best of times.