Income Tax Implications for A Freelancer in India

Income Tax Implications

Unlike salaried professionals, tax implications are often a Gray area for those that are self-employed. Whether you’re a freelancer, small business owner or consultant, you’ll have to suit various tax-related formalities and implications.

Here are some tips that could help with understanding your freelance tax implications:

Compulsory Maintenance Books of Accounts

If your freelance profession falls into any of the subsequent categories like—

Information Technology

Company Secretary

Film Artist

Authorized Representative

Interior Decoration

Technical Consultancy

Medical

Legal

Accountancy

and your gross receipts exceed Rs 150,000 in any of the three instantly preceding years or in that particular year. Then you will need to maintain books of accounts.

If your freelance career doesn’t fall under any of the mentioned categories. Then you’d have to maintain books of accounts as long as your income exceeds Rs 250,000 in a particular year or the 3 preceding years.

You can pick between two methods: cash basis or accrual basis. The main difference between the 2 is that in accounting you’ll have to pay tax only if the income is with you.

Whereas on an accrual basis, tax liability arises when income is booked. In terms, in accrual accounting, revenue is booked once you raise an invoice. While in cash accounting, revenue is calculated when payment is received.

Within Indian Law a person running a business where he/she is the sole owner is termed as a Sole Proprietor, an equivalent applies with a Freelancer. A person earning on his own is advised a Sole Proprietor and needs to file income tax returns using the ITR-4 return form. If you have any other source of income (maybe your full-time job) you need to include that as well while filing your income tax return.

Filing your IT Returns

Income tax returns will have to be filed by filling up the ITR-4 form. You will be able to determine the tax slab you belong to and calculate your tax using the calculator on the ITR website. Keep in mind that you will be taxed on your net income. Make sure that you simply apply all applicable deductions before you reach your taxable income. As a private, you’ll claim the Section 80 deductions that are available to your salaried counterparts. As a freelancer in India, you’ll also claim the deductions available to business owners.

What is TDS and is it Applicable just in case of Freelance Work?

TDS is Tax Deducted at Source; The Government of India has built regulations by which a company paying an individual or another company for services offered to deduct tax at source. But just in case someone deducts tax at source they need to supply a Form 16 to the person whose tax has been deducted. You can then use this TDS amount while filing your Income Tax Return and look for a refund in case your earning for the year doesn’t exceed 2 lakhs.

Advance Tax

Advance tax is calculated by estimating the present year income then applying tax rates thereon. Tax deducted at source (TDS) / Tax Collected at source (TCS) and Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) credit shall be deducted to reach Advance liabilities.

Presumptive Taxation

Section 44ADA of tax Act, 1961: Profits and Gains of execs on Presumptive Basis

This section is applicable if Gross Receipts of resident assessed (who is engaged in profession as per section 44AA) is up to Rs. 50 lakhs.
As per the provisions of 44ADA section PGBP income will be 50% of Gross Receipts. Income tax will be calculated on the 50% income on the basis of slab rates.
Deduction of business expenses shall not be allowed as it is assumed that all the deductions are included as only 50% of the total gross receipts are taken for tax purposes.
There is no need of maintaining Books of Accounts as per section 44AA and get it audited as per section 44AB of the assessed declared income on Presumptive basis.
However, if the assessed declared income is lower than 50% but its Net Taxable Income is more than basic exemption limit then such assessed is required to maintain Books of Accounts and get it audited.

Goods and Services Tax (GST)

If your turnover exceeds Rs. 20 lakhs (or Rs.10 lakh for north eastern states), you’ll have to seek GST registration. Since GST registration is state-wise, you’d have to obtain separate registration for every state. To understand more about this tax, read another blog on Simplest guide to GST for freelancers in India

TDS and Refund

Under certain conditions, you’ll save even more by claiming back the TDS that’s deducted by clients.

Once you get used to it, freelance and taxes do go hand in hand!

Read Is Freelance Income Taxable in India

Simplest Guide to GST for Freelancers in India

Guide to GST for Freelancers

When the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was started in July 2017, it replaced the VAT & Service Tax. While it brought in uniform tax laws for giant and little businesses alike, most businesses struggled with deciding if they needed GST registration. Today, much of the mist has lifted and most businesses have some measure of clarity.

As a freelancer in India, who has not registered under a business name, you’ll wonder why you would like to stress about GST. However, GST does apply to service providers. It’s an honest idea therefore to gauge if you would like to pay the GST on freelancers.

GST Registration for Freelancers

If you’re a freelancer whose turnover during a fiscal year crosses the edge limit of Rs. 20 lakhs, you’d be required to pay GST.

If you’re a freelancer who lives and functions from any of the North-eastern States, you’d cross the edge limit at Rs.10 lakhs and would therefore need to choose GST.

If you’re a freelancer exporting services over Rs. 20 lakhs, you’d need to pay GST. For example, if you’re designing an internet site for a US-based company and therefore the foreign currency you receive as payment exceeds Rs. 20 lakhs, you’d need to register for GST.

Irrespective of the mixture turnover, if you’re receiving payment for services under OIDAR (Online Information and Database Access and Retrieval), GST registration is mandatory.

What are OIDAR services?

Under the GST Act, OIDAR services includes:

1. Advertising on internet

2. Providing cloud service

3. Provision of e-books, music, movie, software via the internet

4. Providing information, retrieval or otherwise to any person in electronic form through a computer network

5. Online gaming

Which GST rates are applicable to freelancers?

The GST rates applicable to freelancers are 0%, 5%,12%, 18% and 28% counting on the sort of service provided. If there’s no specified rate for the service provided, you’ll need to charge 18% GST from your clients.

Documents required for GST registration

Your photograph
Copy of your PAN and Aadhaar card
Identity and address proof
Latest bank account statement or cancelled cheque
Your digital signature
Electricity or telephone bill
The rental agreement for office premises
No objection certificates

What are the invoicing rules for freelancers?

Any invoice lifted by a freelancer India should be GST-compliant. The invoice should contain all the required information like name, address, GSTIN of the service provider also because the recipient, SAC of services, date, the worth of service provided and so on.

How the GST Affects your Income

The GST on freelancers affects the customer and not the freelancer or service provider. This means that you simply charge the additional amount to your client. While it’s possible that some clients will choose a provider who doesn’t charge GST, most of them tend to look at GST registration as an indicator of your credibility.

How many GST returns does a freelancer need to file?

A freelancer will need to file 25 GST returns during a year if he’s registered as a traditional taxable person.

Is a freelancer eligible to say input tax credit?

The Indian freelancers, like any other taxpayer under the GST, are allowed to take the input tax credit of the services used by him for the motive of rendering service. For example, he could also be employing a laptop, electricity, telephone etc to supply taxable service. Further, the tax being charged by the freelancer also can be taken as input by the recipient of service. Therefore, we will conclude that the burden of GST doesn’t fall on the freelancer nor will his fee be reduced as he is going to be collecting the additional tax amount from the customers.

Default can Result in Penalty

Since all accounts are Aadhar and PAN linked, the government can more easily track your income through TDS deductions and payments made to your bank. Defaults may result in penalties and damage your credibility.

Voluntary Registration—the good and the bad

Even if your annual turnover is a smaller amount than Rs. 20 lakhs you can opt for voluntary registration. This would allow you to welcome projects from foreign clients, without worrying about possible defaults.

GST Filing

Once you receive your GST number, you would like to file regularly, regardless of your annual turnover. Delays in depositing GST would attract interest.

All payments will need to be made online. If your payments exceed Rs. 10000, the GST must be deposited with the govt on a quarterly or monthly basis. Annually, a complete of 37 returns would wish to be filed—three monthly returns and one annual return.

Clients who don’t want to pay for GST charges you have to explain to them that they can get a tax credit for it when they file for taxes. So, the clients who wouldn’t want to pay for GST charges are the ones who aren’t paying taxes or also aren’t interested in paying you.

To conclude, there are certain conditions under which GST is useful. Our suggestion would be to wait and watch before deciding if you need to register.

Is Your Profile Complete on Rockerstop?

Suggestions to Improve your Profile:

Freelance platforms are great in order to find freelance work, but after you register, you shouldn’t do a rush-job on your profile. believe it: you’re one of many Indian freelancers registered on various websites. If your profile is not complete, uneasy to read, or poorly laid out, then potential clients will just advance to subsequent freelancers.

The potential for locating work on an internet freelance platform like Rockerstop is way above other channels. Consequently, there’s also a much bigger pool of competition on the platform looking to hire freelancers online India. With numerous Freelancers offering freelance professional services, it’s imperative that your Profile effectively communicates your qualifications and capabilities to prospective Employers trying to seek out talent on our site.

With the most recent update on Rockerstop, we’ve redefined the content experience on Profiles to provide more information to potential Employers. You’ll convey your unique identity on your Profile and encourage Employers to attach with you.

Here are the key elements of a Profile on Rockerstop and suggestions on how you’ll best make those work to your advantage.

1. Your Profile Picture –

The first thing an approaching client will see on your Profile is your picture. Your Profile photo helps clients to acknowledge you and develop the right impression of you. When adding a picture, keep it simple and ensure you’re smiling. If you’re at your workplace, you’ll also add your brand logo.

2. Your Profile Cover Photo –

Think of the Profile cover photo as a knowledgeable banner ad promoting your freelance business. Ask yourself what you’d include if you were to advertise your services. Then create a cover ad that describes your core offering and upload it on your Profile.

3. About us –

Use the About section of your Profile to elucidate who you’re, your interests, education, qualifications, awards, certifications, and publications. This is often your opportunity to impress upon Employers that you simply possess the right experience and background for providing the services you promote.

4. Your Portfolios –

Use portfolios to authenticate your services. Portfolios indicate what quiet work you’ve finished other Employers and thus the standard of labor that you simply provide. Portfolios also assist you differentiate your service from similar services offered by other Freelancers in India on Rockerstop. So, for each skill you add, share samples of your best work by creating portfolios.

Don’t forget to review your work before adding it to your portfolio. Confirm that there aren’t any sloppy errors or typos. If you’re showing work that has been published online, share it as a PDF or similar format instead of an internet link so it can’t be changed later by a client who edits your work for his or her needs.

If you don’t have any relevant work experience (in other words, you’re a newbie freelancer), you’ll include other work you’ve done and explain how it’s relevant to your current field.

5. Your Skills –

Your services describe what you’ll offer Employers. They play an integral role in getting you hired and helping you discover jobs on Rockerstop that are best fitted to you.

Make sure your services accurately describe your abilities. When creating each service, keep the subsequent pointers in mind:

• Include the core skill/deliverable you offer within the title. Your title attracts clients to know more and click on there.

• When writing each service description, clearly describe what you’ll offer Employers.

• Describe your skills, qualifications, and knowledge within the maximum amount of detail as possible to convince prospective Employers to hire you.

• provides a minimum of three good reasons why you (and not someone else) should be hired for the work.

• Create as many services as you’d like, ensuring each is well defined and specific. This makes it easier for Employers to understand what you’re doing so well.

6. Your Website –

Remember that your profile is often quite just text. You’ll enhance your profile with a video and/or a link to a knowledgeable portfolio website, which provides you more room to display your samples, certifications, and more.

Provide a link to your website and gain the freedom to serve content in your way. Your website opens new and unlimited possibilities for convincing potential Employers because they need to rent you. You’ll also add links to your social channels (Facebook & LinkedIn) on the Profile.

A Profile with properly presented capabilities and an authenticated work clearly a winning combination for securing work. But this type of labour history takes time to make. This is not what any Freelancer from India has on their Profile on the first day. The more you’re employed on Rockerstop, the stronger your Profile becomes.

To start with, you would like to feature detailed and complete information on your Profile so that potential Employers are encouraged to connect with you.

Additional Tips –

Search Profiles of other rewarding freelancers through the Find Freelancers tool. Observe their pages and obtain inspiration. Then build your Profile that makes your unique identity.

Remember to be professional, authentic, and showcase the only of what you’ve to provide.

Rockerstop may be a web freelance marketplace that helps Freelancers India and Employers to urge work done securely, flexibly, and cost-effectively. If you are a Freelancer, you will find freelance jobs that match your skills on Rockerstop.

If you’re just stepping out, consider offering free consultations or sample products. As an example, a graphic designer could offer five free logos to urge some positive reviews and increase her portfolio.

How Freelancers from India can Improve Productivity using Tools

10 Tools used by Freelancers to Improve productivity-

One of the simplest perks of being a freelancer is flexibility. You don’t get to report back to figure on a specific time or clock in x number of hours. While this may be extremely liberating, it also comes with a risk—you are solely responsible for managing a while.

As a Indian freelancer, you’ve the facility to dictate your schedule. You’ll work whenever you see fit; be it regular business hours, early hours of the morning or late into the night. Setting your own working hours not only allows you to figure to the only of your efficiency, but also makes ample time for things like hobbies that otherwise fall by the wayside when you’re restricted to a nine-to-five schedule. Women have particularly benefited from this model as they have not got to quit their jobs because of social factors and family obligations. Forty-eight percent of women’s from India consider it a preferable career choice.

Thankfully, there are numerous productivity tools out there today to help you improve your management skill. Here are Ten kinds of productivity tools to help you manage your projects better:

1. Time Trackers Tools:

Time trackers can assist you analyse how you’re spending a while. While it does require discipline from your end to input the start and end time of a selected activity and maybe even clock in interruptions, you’ll begin to notice order over a period of time—both healthy and unhealthy ones. You’ll even be ready to estimate the time taken for a specific task more accurately, comb out time stealers and plan your days better. A number of the simplest tools for freelancers in India, in terms of their time tracking capabilities are Hub staff, Harvest, RescueTime, StayFocusd, Toggl, Timeneye.

2. Note Takers Tools:

While an honest old notepad is typically handy to jot quick notes, a note taker could find yourself to be more useful within the top of the day. As an example, if you’d wish to compute the quantity of a client you scrawled down in your notepad a year ago, chances are that you’ll never find it because you’ve trashed your old notepad.

A virtual note taker on the opposite hand usually stores old notes in trash. Some are cloud-based or have archive features that assist you retrieve old notes. These are often synced across multiple devices and you will even share notes alongside your contacts.

3. Calendars/Schedulers Tools:

Though most smartphones accompany in-built calendars or schedulers, they’re mostly underutilized. Try planning out your entire week beforehand on a calendar. You’ll be very much surprised by how some simple reminders raise your productivity. You’ll be able to set reminders for professional and personal tasks, schedule appointments and be more deliberate about slotting in time for those important but non-urgent tasks like updating your skills. A number of the simplest tools to stay in mind are Google, Calendar and Calendly.

4. Cloud Storage Tools:

Cloud storage has made it easier to store, access, share, and even collaborate on files in real-time: from anywhere within the world with an online connection. Because of these useful features, a cloud storage solution is important for freelancers India who collaborate remotely with clients and contractors from everywhere the planet

Using cloud storage tools also can function a backup storage solution, especially since hard drives are susceptible to viruses and wear. By working within the cloud, you don’t need to worry about a few sudden computer shutdowns and lost work—your work is automatically saved as you type! Best tools are Dropbox and Spinback.

5. Proposal Tools:

If your dreams include making six-figures to be a top freelancer in India , you’ll have to add “business development” to your list of everyday roles.

It’s not enough to use for available job postings or seek opportunities solely through job boards because usually, these lead sources involve more competition and lower pay. If you’re just starting out, these job opportunities are often good for building your portfolio, but when you’ve gained more experience, you shouldn’t accept low-paying jobs. Best Tools are Draftsend, Prospero, Proposify etc.

6. Finance Tools:

Whether they want to or not, freelancers need to look out of their own finances: from managing their budgets, to receiving payments (and chasing down late invoices), and handling their taxes. The best tools for freelancers make this part of the job a little easier are PayPal, Square, Mint, FreshBooks, QuickBooks and many more.

7. Invoicing assistants Tools:

Invoicing software does tons of quite granting you access to some professional templates. It can help save some time by automatically following abreast of payment with clients, calculate your tax and balance your book of accounts. Most of those solutions also can be synced together with your checking account.

8. Design Tools:

Several hired Indian freelancers who offer marketing services get dragged into graphic design—even if they create it clear that it isn’t really their strong point ! Luckily, there are many free and affordable graphic design tools for freelancers that you simply can use to supply visual content that clients will love.

list of the best tools for freelancers who do design for their clients are Canva, InVision, Behance, Adobe Creative Cloud, Affinity Designer and Photo.

9. Task and Project Managers Tools:

Depending on the scope of your work, you’ll want to use either a task or project manager. While the latter is typically used for giant projects involving multiple people, task managers are used for smaller teams and individuals. Both allow you to allocate tasks/activities, find out milestones, share boards, add comments and even perform team discussions. You can even grant different levels of access to different members supporting their roles.

While each of these tools can enhance your productivity, do remember that ultimately, they’re only ‘assistants’. As a freelancer, you continue to try to do what you’re keen on best—be your own boss. Best tools are Asana, Trello and Basecamp.

10. Writing Tools:

One of the foremost in-demand skills to do freelancing in India Online is content writing. If this is often a contract service you’d wish to offer, check in for Kaleigh Moore’s newsletter to find out from the master (or inspect the Creative Class podcast she co-hosts).

It has been found that content marketing is effective in driving conversions and purchases, which is why many websites have a gentle need for content (especially SEO-optimized content). Whether you’re doing content marketing for a client or your own brand, these are some of the best tools for freelancers like Hemingway, Yoast SEO, Grammarly, KWFinder, Evernote etc.

Kickstart your freelancing career today and use these tools to improve your productivity.

8 Ways to Build a Culture in a Remote Team

Ways How to Build a Culture in a Remote Team

Many researches have shown that working remotely has valuable effects on employee productivity, happiness and general well being.

Company culture is vital because it affects how your employees and customers perceive you—and this greatly determines how successful your business is going to be. Since remote teams are physically distanced, building a culture may be a bigger challenge, but the necessity is even greater without in-person interactions to create culture.

When an organization lives up to its core values, its culture will transform employees into advocates, enrich their well being, and confirm the corporate retains its top talent. And with the Covid-19 pandemic shifting much of the planet to performing from home overnight.

Add to this another element of the unknown—a freelance remote worker— and it seems that the bulk companies simply accept that a freelancer in India can never meld with their company’s culture. As a result, most companies tend to treat freelancers with a degree of professionalism and courtesy that’s almost impersonal. While this might help get the work done, winning the loyalty of a freelancer is like winning the loyalty of a full-time worker—they perform better, retention rates are going to be more and freelancer attrition rates will be less.

If you’ve got a foreign team, here are a couple of ways to create camaraderie and acquaint them together with your company culture:

1. Onboard your freelancers:

While several companies have a procedure to onboard full-time employees, they distribute this practice for Indian freelancers. Give freelancers a small look at your company and its culture. Convey the personality of your company and permit them to understand what the company values. Communicating your long-term visions and goals help remote workers feel a neighbourhood of a team that’s working together to understand something larger than themselves.

2. Be explicit about your work policy:

“Flexible” or “remote” work can mean various things to different people—are employees expected to be online a particular number of hours each day? Will they have to visit HQ on a daily basis? Put those specific expectations in your job descriptions, so the candidate is 100% clear about what they’re signing up for.

3. Schedule some face time:

It’s always great to place a face to the person you’re working with. Whenever feasible, schedule video meetings to debate the project. Introduce members of the team that the freelancer from India is perhaps getting to figure with via video. You’ll even ‘show them around the office.’ This provides your company an identity within the freelancer’s mind and builds how of loyalty and solidarity alongside your company. It’ll also reflect within the keenness with which they approach your projects.

4. Keep communication lines open:

If there are important events happening at your office do let your freelancers know. Perhaps you’re moving buildings or you’re refurbishing the office space. While the event in itself may make no difference to your remote workers, keeping them within the loop helps them feel valued.

5. Include them within the brainstorming process:

Most top freelancers in India are brought on board after decisions are taken. This approach could work with a replacement freelancer that you’re engaging. However, if there are regular freelancers that you simply work with, include them within the ideation process.

Many freelancers report that they miss the joys of bouncing off ideas with team mates. You’ll also invite to contribute towards regular group meetings. Technologies today support remote working and there are several group meetings tools that allow freelancers to network with the core team and with each other. Besides building rapport, this is often ready to cause valuable perspectives from specialists in various fields.

6. Appreciate them permanently work:

Most of the freelancer’s dearth a feedback system that indicates how they’re progressing in their careers. There aren’t any appraisals and promotions to recognize efforts. While companies offer year-on-year hikes—a freelancer cannot ask for this from a client with whom he/she has an ongoing relationship.

Take the primary step and supply financial incentives if you actually expect the freelancer to continue onboard. Not only will this confirm that they priorities your project over others, but they’ll feel how of loyalty which can be no but that of your full-timer.

7. Create mentorship programs:

One of the foremost important aspects of building trust and a way of belonging during a remote team helps people grow and learn from their peers. Incorporate rituals which will help everyone grow individually also as a group: discuss each person’s goal at a performance review and set a metric to live progress, host a workshop on giving feedback, or start time weekly for normal lunch and learns.

8. Prioritize health and wellness as a part of corporate culture:

When working with remote teams, it’s easy to assume that employees have a far better time of finding work-life balance. But dodging the daily commute and dealing in their slippers features a darker side.

Many remote workers feel awkward about taking leave, with 55% taking fewer than 15 vacation days annually. Overall, most remote employees find that employment disbalances their personal lives more easily, and that they have a harder time making healthy choices.

Unfortunately, your remote team can’t win championships if all its members aren’t physically fit.

That’s why you would like to form health and wellness a high priority when building corporate culture for remote teams.

Regular one-on-one health and wellness check-ins are an honest start. Take time to debate and understand employees’ challenges – some may have specific reasons to figure remotely that need sensitivity and a nuanced approach. Try to find out what resists employees from taking leave, and work toward solutions so that they can get some rest and relaxation.

7 Ways to Manage Freelancers in India Effectively

Ways to Manage Freelancers

According to the State of Remote Work 2018,1 which collected data from 1900 remote workers around the world, 35% of companies have a workforce made from remote workers. With businesses beginning to use the advantages of the gig economy to their advantage, it becomes important to find out the way to effectively manage freelancers in India.

Freelance employee management, however, employs completely different management strategies as against managing your usual full-time employees. The reason being, you’ll get to manage people you haven’t met face-to-face and manage them from a distance. Managing Indian freelancers becomes simple once you develop the proper strategy to fit your business needs.

1. Recruiting the right freelancer:

Considering that we’ve concluded that the simplest thanks to work with freelancers is to figure with reliable and trustworthy freelancers, the foremost important tread on your road to raised freelance management is ensuring you hire the proper freelancers.

Here’s where you’ll find freelancers in India, and the way you’ll confirm they’re the proper people to ascertain the work through.

Hiring freelancers in India require different tactics from recruiting full-time employees. Be sure to seem for the below factors to assist you shortlist and recruit the proper freelancer.

Reviews on their website

Previous work samples

Freelancing platforms that display freelancer’s experience levels consistent with the amount of completed projects

Social media for verification

Some of the best freelance websites allow freelancers to contact you directly by sending their CVs, work samples, and get in touch with information. Others allow freelancers to send you their bids, estimates, and project proposals, so you simply pick the only one and then decide who you want to contact.

2. Insist on signing a freelancer contract:

Managing freelancers is simpler once you have clearly outlined the scope of services expected, deliverables, and payment terms, alongside refund and cancellation policies. Go over the small print of the contract together with your freelancers to make sure of mutual clarity. Additionally, signing a non-disclosure agreement together with your remote workers will make sure that all sensitive information about your business remains confidential.

3. Provide adequate details of your company:

Briefing your gig workers about your company’s primary competitors, the key stakeholders and therefore the final approver of the projects helps establish a business context. Similar to the induction process of a full-time employee, this may help in better management of your freelancers as they’re clear about the industry also as your organization’s goals and objectives.

4. Contour the objectives of the project:

Productive management of your Indian freelancer will ultimately determine the success of your project and your organization. Therefore, it’s important that you simply list out all objectives that describe the general purpose and expectations of the project. Make sure that you hired freelancers which exactly understand project requirements, deliverables, deadlines and meeting agendas. This will prevent misunderstanding and promote smooth functioning till project completion.

5. Build a relationship with the freelancer:

Last but not least, once you’ve hired your ideal, dependable personnel, explained everything they have to understand about the project, and made it a habit to use the proper software on a day to day, you ought to build an optimal relationship with the freelancer, and confirm he or she finds you a trustworthy and reliable leader.

Show that you simply care about the freelancers’ careers – supply them with quality projects, and not just something your team simply doesn’t desire doing.

6. Work out the cost:

Successful freelance management should also include costs. It is knowing to create an annual freelance budget than to affect budgeting whenever you would like to rent someone. Work out if it’s in your best interest to pay your freelancer via a long-term contract, an hourly/weekly rate or a project-based rate supporting the scope of your project.

7. Manage without Controlling:

The whole idea of working in autonomy is the first reason why freelancers choose doing gigs rather than full-time jobs. Furthermore, freelancers might be working with multiple clients. Therefore, it’s vital that you simply don’t micromanage them but give them adequate time and space to try to do their work effectively. Trusting your workforce to efficiently complete projects, without micromanaging, also helps to create and maintain a long-term relationship with them.

While all of the above methods can assist you effectively manage your freelancers, a contract platform helps you streamline the way you manage your remote workers. From recruiting, taking onboard, and assigning projects to tracking invoices and paying your hired freelancers, a contract platform makes freelance management smarter and faster.

Now you know how to manage your freelancers. You know the way to cash in on the various freelance markets to rent skilled and dedicated laborers without all the headaches.

Closure –

Freelancers will bring prosperity to your start-up as you narrow down on overhead costs and grow your market. If freelance labour doesn’t initially sound sort of a promising route for your business, I encourage you to require a re-evaluation.

Don’t be afraid to require freelance management a step at a time. Follow the guide above, build a routine for managing freelancers in your start-up, and begin discovering what the freelance market has got to offer for your start-up.

Time Management Tips Every Freelancer in India Must Know

Tips for Time Management

Not having enough time on important tasks can cause you to rush things until the deadline, which could leave space for errors. Spend less non-billable time and determine the way to dismiss or affect distractions while working.

As a freelancer, you’re essentially, your own boss. If you don’t stay top of your deadlines and keep open lines of communication alongside your clients, it can get messy really quick and even be the highest risk of your freelancing company.

Time management for freelancers is more important than for normal employees because they have nobody to account to accept themselves. If you’ve been wanting to improve your management skills, here are a few of your time management tips from freelancers themselves.

1. Create a routine:

While working in a routine could seem to run counter to a freelancer’s desire for flexibility, it can cut down plenty of stress and helps you stay productive. You don’t have a hard and fast time, you simply can follow a day , schedule your day the previous evening, prioritizing your tasks and tackling the primary item on your list at the start .

2. Track your time:

Time tracking for freelancers in India is typically something that’s overlooked, especially creatives. It is often easy to get sucked into working on one project all day until it’s done, although meaning staying up until you see the sunrise the very next day.

Use a time tracking tool like one of those mentioned above, or even use the stopwatch on your phone if you’d wish to urge on top of some time management for freelancers.

This is pertinent because then you will see if you’re actually spending an excessive amount of your time on a project that you simply simply won’t be getting a whole lot of money for. Or, if you’re simply taking too long to end a task.

3. Set yourself a deadline:

If you discover yourself getting frazzled and stressed at work because you’re not getting your tasks done on time, you’d wish to be organized and manage a while better. Although your work days are never the same , you’ll still organize your days and manage your tasks which can assist you complete everything on time—and thoroughly.

Make an inventory of your goals for the week. Write down any goal you’d wish to realize , whether it’s work-related or not. Then organize your work-related goals into large and tiny goals. Create a daily checklist so you’ll cross off the goals you’ve accomplished. A checklist will help with work management and cause you to be more productive. It’ll also feel good to cross off the goals you’ve achieved for the day, no matter how small.

3. Try Time-Blocking:

Time-blocking could also be an honest thanks to undertake managing a while as a freelancer. Each morning, sit at your desk and open up an app like Google Calendar and block out increments of your time for the various tasks that you simply need to complete every day .

Try to persist with the times that you simply assign yourself to determine what proportion you’ll truly get through in each of those time blocks. This is often the proper way to see what proportion of time a project really takes, and also helps to remain the ball rolling on all of the tasks that you simply have due.

4. Don’t Overbook Yourself:

I think every freelancer’s India goes through this a minimum of once. You think that you’ll handle much more clients than you initially thought, which can be hard to remain up with. You’ll lack sleep, your social life, and maybe you even start to hate being a freelancer.

5. Minimize distractions from social media and email:

To be honest— we’ve all been distracted by social media. It’s either the constant notifications that turn us back to scrolling through Instagram or a peek into Facebook on our laptop. And it’s getting to surprise you that even your inbox is often distracting!

Many folks are always available on our inbox, instant at replying to new emails. This way, you land up pausing your more important work to need care of a little , trivial task.

Avoid distractions by installing smart extensions like StayFocusd on your browser to keep you away from Facebook and other social media sites. You’ll get an app that blocks social media apps on your phone for specific hours. When it involves your inbox, set two timings that you simply plan to check your emails and reply to any new messages.

At last, not the least some tricks to manage some time to reach clients deadlines-

1. Awaken early – counting on whether your productive peak hours are within the morning or not, you’ll use this point to figure on the foremost important tasks for the day, or ease into the day with some exercises and fewer important errands.

2. Have breakfast before engaging in any serious work.

3. Specialise in your most vital task of the day.

4. Leave your less productive hours for running errands, that specialize in smaller assignments, communicating with clients, managing your inbox.

5. Choose the time when you’ll officially finish your work day – you’ll follow a routine from 9 a.m.to 5 p.m., but considering you’re not bound by such rules, you’ll parse your day differently and be more flexible.

Best Ways to Speak Effectively with Clients

Communication Skill Tips

In today’s era of constant information overload, good communication skills are non-negotiable for a freelancer in India. However, your material expertise helps attract clients, sustaining the connection requires good communication skills.

If you’re a freelancer, chances are that you simply simply are working remotely. Without the face-to-face affinity engendered by traditional set-ups, it’s imperative to intentionally build trust and improve your communication skills.

Regular communication between the client and thus the freelancer will strengthen the connection that exists between them. this is often necessary when one is doing the work, or even after the work is finished. … Communication will enable you to seek out more about the project at hand and understand what the client really wants.

Good communication skills are mandatory to allow others and yourself to understand project details more accurately and quickly. On the other side, poor communication skills cause frequent misunderstanding and frustration.

For your freelance business to grow speedily, make effective and efficient communication your key strategy. Communication is significant within the least three stages of your work; before getting the project, throughout the project and after finishing the project. Before winning the project, communication is completed through the proposal. The professional look of your proposal will drive the client to talk with you, and this is often the first stage of your business growth.

Once you get the project, communication then becomes a critical factor, as you’ve been given a chance to prove your worth and take your business to a special level.

Effective communication settles the client’s satisfaction and makes them our regular clients. After completing the project, communicating with the clients will enable one to understand whether the client is satisfied with the work presented or not.

Let’s discuss some popular mode of communication to attach with clients: –

1. Telephone –

Telephone communication is powerful because it allows for rapid personal response, is interactive, facilitates long distance communication and may be wont to convey tips. Telephone communication also boosts businesses through telemarketing and market research. This mode of communication works with domestic clients. you’ll ably analyse the tone of voice, amusement, frustration then on.

2. Messaging –

Traditionally, this includes SMS service provided by your mobile service provider. Immediate messaging permit for both private messaging and group chats. These two options are highly advantageous, relying on the sort of communication you’d wish to urge into. Through private messaging, you’re able to chat with only people who you decide on to talk with. This is often particularly important if the message you’d wish to relay is private and confidential.

On the opposite hand, group chats are particularly useful when it involves informing clients about change in important information like deadlines, tasks assigned or others.

3. Face to Face –

While the several tools available today assist you to speak effectively with clients, an honest old-fashioned face-to-face meeting is usually the simplest. Not only does it add a private touch and also strengthen the client-freelancer relationship because it allows for a far better exchange of data since both Indian freelancers and clients are ready to see and interpret visual communication and facial expressions.

4. Emails –

Emails are an official and professional way of communication. they’ll seem to require an excessive amount of time—you’d spend time drafting the email, checking for error, fine-tuning your words and re-reading several times to make sure you’re leaving no space for your message to be misinterpreted. While the method could seem time consuming, it’s a particular advantage on occasions. Email allows for straightforward referencing. Messages that are sent and received can be stored, and searched through safely and easily. it’s tons easier to travel through old email messages instead of old notes written on paper.

Conclusion –

It’s important to spot and understand your client’s communication style. Not all kinds of contact are created equal; whether you’re communicating informally or working with more technical language, it’s important to adapt your communication style to match your client’s needs.

Once you’ve signed the deal, offer your client other ways to talk with you during a cushty, quick, and assertive manner (Mail, WhatsApp, Zoom, etc). Avoid using only one kind of communication, but take into account that there possesses to be documentation for all the important aspects of the project on the platform to guard your work.

When communicating with a client, pick your words carefully. Try to not leave room for misunderstanding. Also listen carefully when your client speaks. If you’re unsure of something they assert, ask them to clarify. Tell them you would like to be perfectly clear with everything.

When communicating with clients in writing, words are everything. If you’re not on the phone or on video, they can’t see your face or your communication nor hear the tone in your voice. Any time you write to your client, be as clear as much as possible. If you’re following up in writing after a verbal conversation, write for your client what it’s that you simply agreed to while you were talking.

How to Begin Freelancing Without Experience (Tips for College Students)

How to Start Freelancing-

Try juggling a part-time job, four classes (or lectures), and a buzzing social life, and one of these things will suffer.

Your life suddenly becomes an exhausting combination of four-hour afternoon shifts, last-minute cramming, and prioritizing power naps over Friday night football games.

But this trifecta can still work for a 20-something looking to earn extra money while earning a degree. The trick is ditching the rigid supermarket shifts and taking the freelance route instead.

No experience?

No problem!

In this guide, we’ll review tips for inexperienced college students looking to snag a freelance gig and earn a livable wage.

Create a Professional Online Profile

Welcome to the freelance community!

Whether you’re hopping on the Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer.com, or People Per Hour bandwagons, you don’t have a career until you build at least one online profile.

A good one.

Don’t start applying for gigs until your profile has the basics, like:

A professional-ish headshot
Volunteer work, completed courses, or internships
A soft skills list (Are you a skilled communicator? Research-savvy?)
Samples of completed projects, capstones, or research papers

Once it’s all stitched together and tidied up, send the link to a diligent professor, parent, or friend who knows you well.

Ask for constructive criticism.

Are there grammatical errors you overlooked? Is your real-life “persuasion” skill as impressive as you described? Are you truly an HTML master?

Look for Gigs Under Your Major’s Umbrella

Thousands of gigs post daily on every job platform, most of them mindless or requiring minimal skill.

A $13/hour gig addressing 1,000 envelopes from your dorm room is undoubtedly “easy money.” But you could be doing more and learning more.

Before you fire off a job proposal and waste your Upwork Connects, ask yourself:

How will this help me down the road?

If you wouldn’t add it to your professional resume or ask them for a reference letter in the future, pass!

Instead, filter your job results with keywords related to your major or expertise (ex: “writing” for an English major or “stock photography” for an art major).

By the time you graduate, your resume’s “work experience” section will be plumper and more competitive than your peers, who worked an unrelated job as a summer camp counselor or grocery store clerk.

Don’t Lowball Your Rates

The college student stigma can be daunting to overcome in the freelance world. Some clients will assume that, since you’re hardly 21, you’d accept scraps if it meant snagging beer money or road-tripping next summer.

Don’t undersell your skills.

Craft competitive rates that you can back up with your skill set, experience, and drive to learn. If you set your hourly rate to $17/hour, a $16/hour offer would be reasonable, but $9/hour would be insulting.

Negotiation skills will help you in the future as you finagle for a higher — more deserving — salary after graduation.

Remember: School Comes First

Juggling multiple freelance gigs and a full collegiate course load will catch up to you eventually (if it hasn’t already!). That $20/hour freelance gig is mindblowing for a teenager used to pocketing half that at a local boutique.

But always put school above your freelance career.

If accepting a gig and hitting the deadline also means cramming for a final and skipping group study sessions, the potential risk isn’t worth it. Limit your weekly work schedule to 12-15 hours a week and leave extra time for:

Socialization
Studying
Going to class (of course)
Exercising
Sleeping
Eating

It’s impossible to please every client.

But it’s also 100% within your right to say “no” and live the traditional college student life, too, where sleeping and eating rank higher than freelance work.

Press Your Comfort Zone

College is all about exiting your comfort zone and engulfing yourself in the unknown. As you’re scrolling through freelance gig listings on your preferred job platform, you might notice a trend:

You nail most of the criteria.

But the rest is still “well above your paygrade.”

Don’t assume that lacking one out of the eight listed requirements means you aren’t qualified for the project. Many passionate industry clients will teach newcomers the ropes if they’re willing to stick around long-term.

Growth is only possible by pressing your comfort zone. Unless they’re specifically requesting industry veterans, there’s no harm in applying! You might just learn something new.

Create a Daily Schedule

The only way to balance your separate social, school, and work lives is by setting a daily or weekly schedule that you commit to. Maybe your hectic capstone courses and fraternity lifestyle leave rogue openings like:

4-6 PM on weekdays
Between your morning and afternoon classes
Only Saturdays
All-day Monday

Let your prospective clients know when you’re available to work and don’t accept jobs that branch out of these “free slots.” It can be emotionally draining to realize that your next “break” is spring break, three months away.

Take Time to Make the Transition

Jumping feet-first into any career is challenging, but even more so for a college student craving balance and free time. Ease into the freelance world by not taking the classic bait:

Don’t apply to dozens of jobs at once and cross your fingers. You might hear back from every single one offering a deal, and saying “no” bluntly is hard.

Seek out freelance positions one at a time, track how long it takes to complete projects with your few clients, and ask yourself whether you can take on more.

If possible, look for clients seeking long-term work or weekly freelancers. That way, you have a steady workflow (and income) without applying for new positions every few weeks.

Stock Up On the Right Supplies

The only thing more essential than your skill set and industry knowledge is having the tools to succeed.

What does a person in your industry need to be hireable?

A high-speed internet connection, computer, and cell phone data? A printer or fax machine? Textbooks, workshops, or specific software?

Whatever would set you up for success without completely draining your bank account, get! The only thing that makes you more prepared for a freelance gig is having tools that make success easier.

It’ll pay itself off after a few weeks on the job!

Conclusion

Your freelance journey might begin on Upwork during freshman year, filling in those long stretches between lectures and during that endless 10-day spring break. But don’t look at these gigs as just extra cash in your once-bare pocket.

Instead, view freelancing as a stepping stone to your future career.

Fine-tune your work ethic, select gigs related to your major, and collect industry references that can vouch for you after graduation.

Hey, you might just stay the freelance path like 35% of all workers while your peers battle for 9-to-5 office positions.

Don’t be afraid to blaze your own trail!

Author Bio

Adam Marshall is a freelance writer specializing in all things apartment organization, real estate, and college advice. He currently works with Copper Beech at Ames to help them with their online marketing.

Hacks for Indian Freelancers to Find Remote Jobs

7 Hacks to Find Online Jobs

Finding a permanent or long term guarantee of remote freelance jobs can be one of the biggest challenges confronting a new freelancer. While there are countless sites which unite freelancers and clients, there’s always a lot of competition and your selection among them can be really difficult. That’s why it’s needed to prepare yourself with some tips and tricks to be more visible.

Most clients tend to hire freelancers online who have testimonials from previous clients and have high reviews or ratings on their profile. They might be reluctant to take their chances with a new candidate. Freelancing is becoming popular among beginners who want to start their career as a self-employed person.

Here we come with some amazing hacks for Indian freelancers to do freelancing in India Online and find remote jobs:

Hack 1: Engage more on Social Media –

Joining highly engaged Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, Slack communities and Twitter chats can assist you meet and build relationships with potential clients. LinkedIn is the best platform for Posting jobs Ad which helps you increase the visibility of your job ads among potential candidates. If you’re creating top quality content tailored to your audience’s needs, it should generate shares organically. Social media offers freelancers and clients many chances to urge their content seen by their audience. When people share your content, it not only increases reach, but it also boosts your credibility.

Hack 2: Freelancing Sites –

Freelancing sites are becoming popular day by day. Freelancing sites play a vital role in reaching out freelancers to genuine clients. Rockerstop is the freelancer India website that has a broad sampling of freelance jobs. Whether you’re a content writer, Web designer, Web developer, marketer, salesperson, photographer or virtually any other service provider, there are freelance jobs for you on this marketplace.

Hack 3: Make Connections –

Does your address book know that you are now a freelancer? Look through your email contacts, social media contacts, professional and personal networks. Let them know you are a freelancer and looking for online jobs. Outsource your portfolio may any of your contact have any work for you. People who know you’re more likely to rent you than an entire stranger.

Hack 4: Turn on Notifications –

Set up an alert on Google, Bing or other search engines for keywords associated with your job. Make sure you employ words like freelance, consultant or remote jobs to make sure you’re getting alerts about companies that are hospitable remote staff. You can also find out alerts for your job function then reach bent the corporate together with your pitch.

Hack 5: Versatile Freelancer-

Suggest you to be quality freelancers who have the bandwidth to absorb any challenges. Freelancers need to be able to present well over the phone, in person and in writing. Freelancers need to be cold-hearted about time management to succeed. Clients have deadlines; if you miss those, you’ll cost them money, and that they won’t want to figure with you again. If you’re the type of person who gives up whenever an unexpected challenge comes itself, freelancing is going to be really hard on you. To win clients, you’ve got to be persistent in marketing and sales. To deliver value for your clients, you’ve got to be persistent about doing the simplest work that you simply can do.

Hack 6: Make Cold Call –

A cold call is an unrequested call to an employer with the aim of expressing your interest in their open position. Cold calls give you the chance to show your prelude and solid interest in the role. Initiating with a cold call might even help you fix an interview or meeting. Many times, cold calling an employer is the only way to get your CV in front of a hiring recruiter before you submit it along with all the other potential candidates. Although the thought of cold calling an employer might not come spontaneously to you, you’ll experience some success as long as you’ve got confidence and are ready to plead to your contact’s workplace needs.

Hack 7: On site Jobs –

In my experience employers want their freelancers to work onsite. They often feel that there will be a high control over what the freelancer does if they are onsite. If you are business and you have a freelancer working onsite you will be able to make sure that they are doing what they say to do. It might sound weird but some employees will have a hard time working with someone that they only have talked to over the phone. They value the face-to-face interaction which will be provided by having someone onsite. Having a true person on site can really bring someone into the office culture which can be great for an ingenious individual.

So, these were the hacks for freelancers in India to find their suitable online jobs. Let us know if you agree with these hacks.