Deciding If You Should Go Out on Your Own

We are living in an interesting time where everyone is reevaluating what is most important to them, and one primary area of this seemingly global self-assessment period is “career.” More and more, people in the PR profession are evacuating their permanent roles to explore contracting, consulting and full-time freelance opportunities. 

If you think you’re ready to take the leap, establish your brand and grow your own PR business, consider the following:

Ask yourself why you want to make the switch. 

There are obvious benefits and risks to either path (contract work vs. company employment), so it is logical to carefully weigh your options before making a significant lifestyle change such as this. Be honest with yourself. What are you looking for? Do you want to diversify your skills, gain more experience, be your own boss or have a better work/life balance? What will you specialize in? Is there an industry you want to focus on? 

Also, who do you know? Look at your network, and consider if you have the contacts needed to identify potential clients, and the industry acumen required to provide them with the agency-level gold-standard counsel and execution that they need. Well-networked individuals may have a clearer runway to success when branching out to start their own consultancy, especially in the early days. Ask the people in your circle for advice!

Know you will be managing legal and financial issues. 

In addition to doing the work you love — public relations — you will also be drafting your own contracts, negotiating rates and following up. Consulting often means you won’t be paid on a biweekly or monthly pay cycle. You will be responsible for submitting your own tax returns. An employee may receive a fixed salary, but while working independently, there aren’t any limitations — you set your rates yourself. Don’t shortchange yourself in negotiations — do your homework and know your worth. 

Many consulting contracts do not include medical coverage or pension options to the vendor, so unless you are covered under someone else’s plan, this is a significant personal cost that may increase for you. You will also not have “paid time off,” but neither are you restricted to a set number of vacation days. You furthermore need to budget for home office needs, PR service software, media subscriptions and personal branding needs. 

Learn if you thrive working autonomously or with a team.

As many of us learned throughout the pandemic, when companies everywhere went virtual, solitude became something we had to navigate. What did you learn during this time? Did you thrive while working independently? Did you miss the bustle of a closely connected team? There are very real emotional implications involved for every individual. 

Consider that structural motivation or “climbing the ladder” isn’t an option. You have to be self-motivated and self-directed the majority of the time while working for yourself. 

Establish trust and deliver results. 

If an organization chooses to outsource their PR needs to you, then it requires lots of work on your part to create and maintain a partnership. You may be working directly with business executives, or with their internal communications team. You may be supplementing a PR agency’s work. Either way, when working solo, you must be clear about the scope of work and all expectations (all while minding billable hours). 

Are you devising strategy? Pushing a media relations agenda? Developing content for social media? Be honest about what you can deliver within the designated time frame. Don’t take on more clients at a time than you’re able, and bake these details into your contract.

Once you’ve gotten your business off the ground, you’ll begin to see returning clients and referrals, and you’ll have to become comfortable turning potential clients down. Or, perhaps you’ll find that you’re so successful, that you might be at a point where you can hire supplemental staff of your very own… but that’s a discussion for another day!

If you have the entrepreneurial spirit, the business acumen, the skills, the drive and the creativity, then you could be extremely successful as a freelance publicist! There is uncertainty involved, but going into business for yourself can be very rewarding.