It’s contract renewal time.

At this time of year it’s a game of musical chairs, and sometimes when the music stops you might be the one who no longer has a seat.

When that happens to people in our industry it often starts them thinking about going freelance or starting their own business.

But that is not as easy as many people think.

radioinfo’s Steve Ahern explored the pros and cons of going freelance or starting your own business with his financial advisors Sam Patrick and Steve Wilson of The Diligent Group.

Is a company the best ‘entity’ or should you think about being a sole trader first?

The answer depends on your ambitions for your business. Do you just want to “buy yourself back a job” or do you have higher goals?

Is it enough to just make the same salary as you were earning when you were employed by someone else?

Sam and Steve advise the answer to that question is no. “You need to make at least 30% more… to cover the things that your employer used to pay for….

“If you’re going to invoice more than $75,000 per year you also need to register for GST.”

Doing the accounting and paperwork regularly and correctly is also important. “No one’s making money until you’re invoicing… small business owners need to do everything at the start.”

In creative industries however, the personality of the business owner may not be so well suited to some of the more formulaec processes and book keeping needs. So getting the right tools and support is important.

There’s one thing that most people in a creative industry have in common… passion. Steve Wilson says. “identify three passions in your life, if there’s a business you can make from those, then go for it.”

Part 1 – what kind of entity fits you best?

 
Part 2 – bookwork, compliance, invoicing…

 
Part 3 – busines failure, business success, passion.