Many of you that have followed me for a while will know that I’ve always combined my freelance work with full-time employment. It’s always been the plan to go it alone as a full time freelancer once I was satisfied that I was ready to take the plunge.
This state of readiness has always been a safe distance away – when I’d saved X amount of money; once I’d got X number of years industry experience under my belt. When I took on the role at Inbox this mythical moment in the future was safely put back another year… or two, or three…
June has been one of the most intense months of soul-searching and thinking that I have ever been through. For a combination of reasons I started to feel ready. I don’t have as much money as I wanted to save, and I don’t really have that perfect level of experience that would have rounded me off. But then, when would I?
Just over a week ago I decided that if I’m ever going to do this, it’s better to do it sooner rather than later, because the longer I leave it the more difficult it will become for me to cut my ties. And it wasn’t an entirely impulsive decision – I do have a few gigs lined up! 
So as you read this post, I will be enjoying my first day as a fully fledged self employed freelancer. I’m officially open for business and aiming to dedicate a bit more time to this blog and some other personal projects I’ve got plans for (although we’ll see about that, I’m sure). Here’s to the future!
16 fantastic comments
Good on you, Aaron. I’m raising a glass of Tropicana to your future success.
Trust the Irish to be on the hard stuff this time of the morning! Thanks for the best wishes David!
Yoi cannt beat a bot of th godd stuf beforre 9am,
good luck on your first day!! Hope it all works well for you and you really enjoy your new workstyle
Good luck, though i’m sure you won’t need it!
It’s a hard decision whenever you make it. It’s a massive life change so there will always be a reason or two not to do it.
Sometimes you just have to take a risk and have confidence in yourself.
Well done on taking the plunge Aaron! I wish you all the luck in the world with your new endeavour. Give me a shout if you need any advice about freelancing or just want to bounce some ideas off a fellow designer/freelancer.
Ed, Shaun and Rob – Many thanks for all the kind words.
Shaun – You’re right. It’s easier to keep putting it off and waiting for the right time, but before you know it the right time might have been five years ago!
Rob – Cheers mate, thanks for the offer. Likewise, you know how to get hold of me if you need to. 
Aaron, man, I am right where you were a couple of months ago now in my life. I work a full-time job and I am working relentlessly to build up some work and clients so that I can go full-time freelance. I also keep thinking that I need to do this and know this skill before I take the plunge, but like you said, am I ever really going to be completely at ease with the decision?
It is a scary thing but you encouraged me a bit today. Thanks. Now back to learning that final important skill and saving up that decided amount of cash….
Good Luck Aaron!
It is really scary making that decision, but it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. You won’t look back!
Frank – I’m real glad I’ve encouraged you in some way. To be honest, I’ve been doing stuff ‘on the side’ for about four years now, so this has been a long time coming. It’s real scary cutting your ties and not really knowing how the mortgage and bills are going to get paid… but two days in and no regrets!
Lucinda – Thanks for the well wishes, and I have no intention of looking back
Aaron,
Good luck on going full-time. I look forward to reading how things go on your blog.
Thanks,
Sean
sorry for the late congratulations, just catching up with my feeds. C-o-n-g-r-a-t-u-l-a-t-i-o-n-s, Aaron! I was like you doing freelancing part time for over five years. After diving into it full time, I have no shortage in client projects, but I do have a bit of hard time organizing my day with having a very active three-year-old around.
So, how was your first week of full freelancing so far?
Well done, Aaron, welcome to the freelance world. I’m sure there’ll be no shortage of opportunities for a man of your obvious talents. I’m very interested in how you’ve designed this new site in comparison to http://www.milienzo.com/ . I’ve been thinking for a long time to have the homepage of the blog to be a static-ish work call to action rather than be dominated by the last ten or so posts. I wonder how is faired in terms of attracting work for you. Do you think people are more or less likely to contact you for work with a more professional-looking home page than a website that’s look more like a blog.
Good Morning Aaron, like the rest, I’m a late commenter after only recently discovering your blog. It’s a great design—and it’s a unique design also.
Just to say hope all goes well with the full-time freelancing. As a part-time freelancer myself, I am aware of the difficulties involved in trying to do 2 jobs at once!
I’ll keep track of your blog, and hope to hear of what work you’ve been doing lately…
Hey Aaron, you probaley dont remember me from Multimedia, id just like to say i’m really impressed with the Site and I can only hope to achieve what im sure your on your way to Achieving with this endeavour, Good luck!
Hey Simon – of course I remember you! Cheers for the kind comment. How’s life treating you then?
What are your thoughts?
