As a self-employed freelancer you’ll need to report your earnings to HMRC and pay tax on them. To make sure that HMRC identify your tax records correctly, they’ll assign a Unique Taxpayer Reference number (UTR for short) once you register the business. Read More
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is a type of financial benefit that might be available if you have ‘limited capacity to work’, such as a health condition or disability which inhibits your ability to work.
The allowance is designed to provide some financial security whilst you are unable to generate income. It’s particularly useful if you’re a self-employed freelancer and don’t have an employer to pay Statutory Sick Pay when you need time off sick.
What is the new-style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)?
Most people who claim ESA now get what is called ‘new style ESA’, which replaced the previous income-based and contribution-based allowances.
It’s a contributory benefit, which means that you must have made sufficient National Insurance contributions or NI credits in last few years to receive it.
Although there are still some people receiving the old types of ESA, any new claims will now receive the new style Employment and Support Allowance which provides:
- Financial support towards your living costs
- Class 1 National Insurance credits, which can support your State Pension and other benefits.
- Professional support if you’re able to return to work.
How much can I claim with the Employment and Support Allowance?
A new claim for the ESA can take several weeks, or even months, to be assessed, so you’ll normally be entitled to an ‘assessment rate’ of ESA until a decision has been made. The assessment rates of new style ESA are currently:
- £67.20 per week for anybody under 25
- £84.80 per week for anybody 25 and over
If you are deemed eligible following assessment, any money owed from the assessment period will be backdated.
Assessment categorises those who are eligible for ESA into two groups: ‘work-related’ (those who will likely be able to work again) and ‘support’ (those who aren’t likely to work in the future).
The new style ESA rates for these groups are currently:
- Work-related: up to £84.80
- Support: up to £128.85
Note: a private pension of more than £85 per week may impact how much you can receive in ESA.
Who is eligible for new style ESA?
Employment and Support Allowance is available to those who are employed, unemployed, or self-employed, although you will need to meet the criteria in order to qualify.
To be eligible to receive ESA, you must:
- Have a disability or health condition that directly limits your capacity to work
- Have worked as an employee or been self-employed
- Be aged 16 or over
- Be under the State Pension age (you can find out more about this on the GOV.UK website)
- Live in England, Wales, or Scotland
- Have paid sufficient National Insurance (NI) for the last 2-3 tax years (this also includes National Insurance credits)
Note: Even if you aren’t eligible for new style ESA right now, you may still be able to get National Insurance credits if you are unable to work. These NI credits could then help you qualify for ESA further down the line.
Can a freelancer claim Employment and Support Allowance?
Yes, freelancers are allowed to claim ESA providing you also meet the other conditions. It’s worth noting that if you have a full-time job as well as a self-employed side hustle (i.e., you freelance to supplement your PAYE salary), you can claim ESA but only for one type of income. You won’t be able to claim ESA on both employment and self-employment income at the same time.
How do I apply for ESA?
If you think you qualify for ESA and need support while you’re unable to work, you can apply via the GOV.UK website.
Make sure you’ve got the following to hand:
- National Insurance number
- Bank or building society account number and sort code (yours or somebody else’s if you don’t have your own)
- Your doctor’s name, address and contact details
- A note from your doctor (i.e., a ‘sick note’, ‘fit note’ or a ‘statement of fitness for work’)
- Date your Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is due to end (if applicable)
Once your application has been submitted, you will then be contacted by phone with next steps.
Can I still work whilst claiming ESA?
You can still work if you are claiming Employment and Support Allowance but only if you:
- Work fewer than 16 hours per week.
- Aren’t earning more than £167 a week.
Any hours you do work will need to be recorded with Jobcentre Plus.
Can you get ESA alongside other benefits?
You may be able to claim some benefits whilst claiming the Employment and Support Allowance, but others will not be available during the claim period.
In most cases, you are able to claim Personal Independent Payments (PIP) and Universal Credit at the same time as new style ESA.
Some people choose to get ESA instead of Universal Credit because the payments are more frequent (every 2 weeks rather than monthly), while others choose to claim both.
If you do choose to claim ESA and Universal Credit simultaneously (and are eligible to do so), your Universal Credit allowance will be reduced by whatever you receive through ESA.
You cannot normally claim ESA alongside Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), Income Support or Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). Of course, SSP only applies to freelancers that are also in employment and paid through the PAYE system.
If you are a freelancer who is also in employment, it’s worth noting that you can apply for new style ESA up to 3 months before your SSP is due to finish. ESA will simply replace your Statutory Sick Pay once that comes to an end.
What else can I do?
Being off sick is never easy, especially if your only source of income is the money you make working for yourself. The way that ESA is structured can mean that it’s not that useful for shorter absences, so lots of self-employed freelancers build potential absences into their pricing structure.
Consider what time off you might need over the year for much-needed holidays or for short-term sickness, and factor this in to your fees so that there’s more of a buffer if anything does happen.
Some freelancers also look at self-employed income insurance, to protect them in the event of longer-term issues.
Find more advice and guidance for freelancers in our info hub.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a popular topic of conversation amongst freelancers all over the world, and while some of those conversations are positive, others aren’t so optimistic.
As a freelancer, you may worry that AI could take work from you, which is a very valid concern. After all, there’s very little it can’t do! But what if you used AI to your advantage?
By treating AI as a tool rather than a replacement, freelancers could improve their work in a more efficient way. In this blog, we’ll explore how you can make AI work for your freelance business.
What is AI?
In simple terms, artificial intelligence is inspired by human intelligence, and its main focus is the brain – especially when it comes to how we think, learn, and execute tasks. It essentially makes computers, smartphones, and machines act more like us.
What do we use AI for?
AI can do a multitude of things, and at a much faster speed than humans. It can problem-solve, make decisions, search the web, and even create art – not to mention switch your lights on or off in any room, or regulate your air conditioning without you lifting a finger.
You’re likely to have interacted with AI in one way or another, whether you’ve spoken to a customer service bot, asked Siri or Alexa a question, or used an AI art generator. It’s part of our lives these days, and most people don’t even realise how much we interact with it.
What are the benefits of using AI as a freelancer?
As a freelancer, it can be difficult to see AI as something positive – especially when it’s being used to create art and write content – but one thing AI lacks is the human touch, meaning freelancing isn’t dead (and never will be).
There’s plenty of things AI simply can’t replicate, and collaborating with it can help:
Boost your efficiency
As a freelancer, you’ll spend a lot of your time on admin. In fact, lots of freelancers will admit to spending a good chunk of their working hours scheduling meetings, sending out email reminders, and ensuring there’s no clashes in calendars. Using an AI scheduling assistant app can save you hours on admin, so you can focus on what you do best.
What types of AI can help me boost my efficiency as a freelancer?
If you want to be efficient as possible, an AI scheduling assistant like Clara can give you a helping hand. Apps like this give you a real-life-human virtual assistant feel, simply ask her to find a time in your diary to schedule a meeting and she will do just that.
If that feels a little weird, you can use other AI Calendar apps like Clockwise!
If the financial admin side of things is slowing you down, take a look at cloud-based bookkeeping software providers such as Pandle, which offers lots of powerful automations at a decent price.
Improve your accuracy
If you’re a copywriter, marketer, or someone who needs to write a lot (which is most freelancers), you’ll know mistakes are easily made. Especially when you’ve read over your work for the fifth time and words somehow lose all meaning.
Using AI tools can help you spot errors quickly, so you can focus on writing that killer article or piece of copy.
What types of AI can help improve my accuracy as a freelancer?
Tools like Grammarly highlight any errors, and in some cases offer suggestions to reword sentences so they read better for your audience. This is a massive help if you don’t have an extra pair of eyes to make use of every time you’re writing.
The likes of Grammarly aren’t there to replace you, but rather to assist you in writing clear, engaging content.
Assist you with ideas
We assume you have lots of ideas – after all, you’re a freelancer, and your business runs off the back of your creativity! But sometimes you need help getting the bones of an article or piece of copy, and AI can assist you in doing just that, while also keeping your content original and yours.
What types of AI can help me with ideas as a freelancer?
If you’re looking for inspiration on how to put an article together, AI tools like copy.ai can help get your creative juices flowing. You could use it to get the bare bones of an article or to see your topic from a different perspective. Make the article your own though, of course – the content needs your unique human perspective!
Keep you up-to-date
When you run your own business with clients from different industries, you’ll need to stay ahead of the curve with access to all the latest data and insights. It can be hard to do that sometimes, with information flying at you from every angle.
What type of AI can help me keep up to date with the latest trends and insights from my industry?
Chat GPT is big news at the moment. This AI chatbot is trained on a large dataset of up-to-date information, so asking it the right questions might be a useful way to find the latest data analysis and trends.
Will AI be the end of freelancing?
AI does have the capability to take some work away from freelancers – for example, if businesses want to cut costs and use AI to write a blog post – but there will always be a demand for freelance work somewhere, and this is because:
You can’t replicate human creativity
AI is brilliant for writing clear and concise content, but it doesn’t go much further than that. It can’t think outside of the box and it doesn’t have a deep understanding of real human emotions. So, while AI can write a decent piece of copy, it will always need a human touch to make it relatable.
Some content can be duplicated, and in some instances, false
There are two issues here that could damage your website authority. Firstly, if lots of us are asking for AI to write specific things, there’s a likelihood somewhere along the line content will be duplicated.
As well as this, if we were to ask AI to pull up quotes and statistics, it may pick out-of-date or incorrect information. Without human judgement, it could be tricky for AI to pull statistics that are factually correct.
It lacks original thought
AI is all about gathering data and looking at algorithms. It can’t come up with an idea that isn’t there, as all of its thoughts are ones that have been written before. We humans, on the other hand, can come up with a unique fresh perspective for everything we write.
It has knowledge, not experience
A lot of our learning is through experience, successes, or failures. And that’s what makes our content so unique. We can suggest things from our own personal experience and give examples or advice that AI can’t – simply because it hasn’t lived through it. It’s that personal touch readers want, and what clients love for their websites. Tapping into real human emotions will always be vital, whether you’re writing content, producing art, or creating designs.
Freelancers will not be replaced any time soon.
Head over to our Freelancer Hub where we have a whole host of guides and resources.
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Ten years ago the term ‘influencer’ wasn’t a phrase many of us were very familiar with. Little did we know it would soon become a common word in most vocabularies, as well as a whole new category of self-employment, income stream, digital content medium, and marketing channel.
For those who still aren’t entirely familiar, an influencer is somebody with a large (and loyal) online following who has the power to influence sales of products and services—hence the name.
You’ll typically find influencers on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube and TikTok but ‘influencing’ also extends beyond the most popular platforms into more niche parts of the digital world too.
Is being an influencer a ‘real’ job?
Yes, absolutely. In fact, according to a recent study by Adobe, UK social media content creators are now earning an average of £137,000 a year.
This is significantly more than other average salaries shared by the UK Government’s National Careers Service:
- Solicitor – £100,000
- Software developer – £70,000
- Accountant – £65,000
- Train driver – £65,000
- School teacher – £42,000
- Firefighter – £32,000
- Nurse – £32,000
Although some traditionalists might snub the idea of ‘influencing’ being a real career, the potential earnings mean it’s fair to say that it’s an extremely valid and lucrative way of earning a living.
Plus, while it might look easy and glamorous at times, producing the kind of digital content that engages an online audience so effectively that you can turn it into an income stream takes a great deal of time and skill.
The growing appetite for influencer marketing
Not only does influencing have the potential to be an extremely profitable income stream for the content creators themselves, but it can also have a powerful impact on the success of the brands and businesses they’re affiliated with.
According to research published by The Social Shepherd, 93% of marketers said they had incorporated influencer marketing as part of their overall strategy. This means almost all of those surveyed had worked with influencers and content creators to:
- Raise brand awareness (86%)
- Reach new or targeted audiences (74%)
- Improve brand advocacy (69%)
- Increase sales conversions (46%)
The same study found that 61% of consumers say they trust influencers’ recommendations. With a statistic like that, it’s clear to see why so many brands and businesses rely on influencers to help grow their digital presence and boost the bottom line.
What do you need to be an influencer?
Technically, anybody can become an influencer. Due to the fact influencers can run their business anywhere in the world with an internet connection, it’s actually a super inclusive and accessible way to make money.
Plus, with free access to social media platforms and advanced smartphone technology, great potential really is at our fingertips these days.
This applies whether somebody is a full-time influencer or if they influence on the side to supplement an employment salary. It also applies whether somebody is an influencer with hundreds, thousands, or even millions of followers, or if they are what is known as a ‘micro-influencer’, somebody with 1,000-10,000 followers.
Unlike many jobs, you don’t need any specific qualifications to be an influencer and the nature of the role is extremely diverse and expansive. Age, experience, and location are some major factors that often determine access to ‘regular jobs’, whereas influencing is open to anybody who wants to give it a go.
That said, there are some areas which might be worthy of consideration becoming an influencer as a way to generate income, including:
- Have a niche area that you specialise in and build your content around that
- As well as having a niche, have a target audience that you want to reach and engage
- Stay on top of your social media skills and the latest trends so that your content stays current
- Make sure you have time to post regularly and interact with your audience, as well as liaise with the brands you work with
- Be consistent—sporadic posts aren’t the way forward if you’re going to make a successful business from your online content
- Analyse how your content performs closely so that you can do more of what works and less of what doesn’t. This requires some knowledge of analytics platforms, most of which are now integrated into the digital platforms themselves.
The pros and cons of being an influencer
Below are some of the advantages of the role, as well as some things to consider. It’s important to remember that influencing isn’t just about getting nice things for free and editing Instagram reels in your PJs.
The benefits of being an influencer
- You have complete flexibility and autonomy over your own time
- As with all self-employment income streams, any post-tax profit you make is all yours to keep
- For people who are passionate about this line of work, it can be a whole lot of fun
- You have the chance to positively influence a large audience and make a real difference
- You get to try products, visit places, attend events, meet new people, and have experiences that you might not otherwise be exposed to
- Start-up and overhead costs can be super minimal. All you really need to get started is the smartphone that’s probably already in your hand right now.
Some things to consider
- Just like with any form of self-employment, you are responsible for generating your own income
- Similarly, you are also responsible for reporting and paying your own tax
- As influencing is so inclusive, this means that the competition is high too
- There isn’t necessarily as much job security as with salaried employment
- Even though it’s a lucrative industry right now, nobody knows the future of influencer marketing
- You may well need to share a part of your life with the world online, and sacrifice some of the privacy and anonymity regular employees or self-employed people have
Think a career as an influencer might be for you? There’s only one way to find out! Head over to our hub to find more information and support for freelancers.
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There are currently more than 2 million freelancers in the UK, contributing approximately £125 billion to the economy. It goes to show just how significantly freelancing has grown in popularity over the years, appealing to people across sectors, specialisms, and levels of seniority.
There are lots of reasons why someone might choose to go freelance, such as redundancy, a desire to gain professional independence and ‘be your own boss’, or simply to earn extra income to supplement an employment salary
Perhaps you’ve got your own personal reasons for wanting to explore the world of freelancing. Either way, it’s essential to find the right freelance job for you if you’re going to succeed.
For some people, the freelance route they choose to pursue is an obvious choice. If somebody has been working in content marketing for a number of years, for example, then freelance copywriting is a natural extension.
But for others, their freelancing direction is not quite so clear, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have options.
What are common examples of freelance jobs?
Freelancing work isn’t restricted to any particular sector, but some are more popular than others, particularly in service-type industries.
- Independent journalist
- Copywriter/content writer
- Social media manager
- Influencer
- Videographer/video editor
- Photographer
- Web developer
- Graphic designer
- Marketing
- Public relations
- Data
- Software
- Accounting and bookkeeping
- Editing and proofreading
That’s not to say your freelancing work has to fit into any of those common categories. There are plenty of professions which translate well into a freelance capacity, with some lending themselves more naturally than others. Even things like customer service, sales, and interior design, which are more typically in-house roles, can be carried out on a freelance basis.
You might have your own specialism or skillset that you’re looking to put to good use. In fact, the more niche your offering is, the less competition you’ll have to face. Although that said, you might find there’s less demand for something more specialist.
What are the most in-demand freelance jobs in the UK?
Micro Biz Mag conducted research to find out which were the most in-demand freelance jobs in the UK in 2022. The findings were based on data from Google’s Keyword Planner, which shows how much (or little) people are searching for specific terms on Google.
The report revealed that the top 10 search queries with the highest average number of searches per month were for “Freelance…
- Graphic designer
- Writing
- Copywriter
- Web designer
- Web developer
- Photographer
- Designer
- Accountant
- SEO consultant
- Social media manager
That said, those are the findings of one study and are not completely representative of the full picture. So, if your skills and expertise don’t fall under any of the categories above, don’t lose motivation!
Demand for specific roles can shift depending on other factors too, such as season, budgets, and the wider economy. Do your own research to establish whether or not there’s appetite for what you have to offer.
What are the best paid freelance jobs in the UK?
Freelance management platform YunoJuno published its most recent Freelancer Rates Report in August 2022. The research compared average freelancer rates across 16 different categories within marketing, tech and the creative industries.
Overall, the average day rate came out at £368 but this varied significantly across different sectors and industries. The highest average day rates were in market research (£512), strategy (£492) and data (£486), while the lowest were in marketing (£318), social media (£307) and studio (£281).
Other areas that sat somewhere in the middle in terms of average pay included:
- UX (£468)
- Project management (£382)
- Film and motion (£370)
- Photography (£362)
- Client services (£340)
- Design (£436)
- PR (£326)
While market rates are naturally going to be a factor for consideration, don’t forget to factor in your skills and experience when setting your freelance rate. Think about where you add value for clients, because this is what they’ll be looking for.
In YunoJuno’s report, for example, market research roles were shown to have the highest average pay. However, this sector also demonstrated the biggest gap between highest (£1,479) and lowest (£155) day rates. This proves that pay is highly dependent on a freelancer’s skills, knowledge and experience.
Can I freelance while working full-time?
If you’re already in employment and not looking to take the leap into full-time freelancing yet, you might consider setting up a side hustle. This is a secondary source of income outside your current employment that allows you to explore self-employment with the security of a PAYE salary behind you.
Unless your employment contract states that you aren’t allowed to work for anybody else while you’re in that job, freelancing on the side is perfectly fine. In fact, Henley Business School found that 1 in 4 UK adults have a side hustle on top of full-time or part-time employment.
Of course, if you do have an existing job to consider, this might limit what sorts of freelance work you’ll be able to do. Your full-time (or part-time) role will dictate what spare time you have to dedicate to a side hustle, so be sure to consider all factors carefully before you get started.
Another important thing to remember with side hustles are the added obligations around reporting and paying tax on your self-employment earnings. We’d recommend speaking to a qualified accountant who will be able to take any unnecessary stress and complication out of your bookkeeping and accounting.
Looking for more freelancing advice? We’ve got a whole hub of handy guides designed to help!
According to research published by Henley Business School, 1 in 4 UK adults have some sort of ‘side hustle’ – an additional job or secondary income on top of regular employment. It seems like more and more people are looking into freelancing as a way of making extra cash on the side.
Before you hit the freelancing jobs boards though, let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of freelancing on the side, as well as what to look out for.
When you might NOT be able to freelance on the side
Before we delve into more exciting stuff like the benefits of freelancing and how to kickstart your new venture, let’s rule out any scenarios in which it might not be a viable option for you.
The biggest stumbling block you could potentially face is your employment contract. If you’re already employed, there could be something in your contract that legally prevents you from working for somebody else or having a freelance side hustle.
This might be particularly relevant if you’re looking to freelance within the same industry or for a competitor of your employer. For you, this might make total sense as your skills are easily transferable. However, in your employer’s eyes, this could be considered a conflict of interest.
It might be tempting to go ahead and hope you can keep your freelance work under the radar but breaching an employment contract you have already signed is risky business. Be sure to do due diligence before you steam ahead – or your side hustle might become your only source of income!
Before embarking on any side-hustle, it’s also worth pausing to think about whether or not you actually have the time. If you’re already super busy or have other commitments, could freelancing do more harm than good? Make sure you have the time and mental capacity for your new venture before getting started.
The benefits of freelancing alongside employment
Assuming your employer is happy for you to start a freelance venture on the side (or that it won’t be a disaster if they found out), and presuming you’re confident you’ve got time, there are some great reasons to get going. For instance, you could:
- Earn extra income to supplement your salary
- Explore an existing skill or passion that you’re keen to develop or put to good use
- Develop and practice new skills at a pace and level that suits you
- Get to experience the benefits of being your own boss and having professional autonomy over your work without the risks of full-time business ownership
- Expand your professional network and build relationships in your chosen field
- Do all the above, whilst protected by the relative security of your PAYE income
How to kickstart your freelancing venture
You’ve considered all the pros and cons, and given yourself the green light start your foray into freelancing on the side. There are some important steps you need to take next.
1. Decide how you want to structure your business
If the income you earn from self-employment is more than the tax-free trading allowance, you’ll need to register with HMRC as self-employed. For most freelancers this means registering as a sole trader, because it’s more straightforward, but you might instead decide to set up a limited company. There are pros and cons to each.
The main difference is that sole traders are not legally separate to their business, which means your personal finances and assets are connected to your business’s finances and assets. This can have consequences if your business owes debts that it cannot pay, because your personal assets will be at risk.
Limited companies, on the other hand, are separate from the owner, meaning any financial liability that the business has is also independent. However, setting up as a sole trader and paying tax is usually simpler.
Learn more about registering as a sole trader versus setting up a limited company.
2. Decide on your pricing structure
Working out how much you want to change for your services can be one of the trickiest parts of freelancing. In practice, it might be something you review and adjust over time. It’s important to strike the balance between earning enough for the value of your expertise whilst not getting carried away to the extent that you over-price yourself.
A general rule when it comes to calculating a day rate, for example, is to have an ideal annual freelance income in mind and divide backwards. Once you’ve got that figure, you can go from there. Use this as a starting point and then be as flexible (or inflexible) as you like with clients when they’re communicating their budgets with you.
3. Work out how and/or where you’re going to get work
How are you going to find work? Are you going to set up a website? Are you going to rely heavily on social media? Are you going to attend regular networking events to meet potential clients face-to-face and encourage word-of-mouth recommendations? It’s time to put a plan of action in place.
Tips to effectively manage your side hustle
Adding freelancing to your existing commitments is an exciting move but when it’s in addition to other employment, it’s vital that you manage it well. Below are some top tips to help you.
- Maintain professionalism in your PAYE job and a good relationship with your employer
- Establish and maintain strong relationships with your freelance clients too
- Avoid burnout and still leave time to enjoy life (it can’t all be about work!)
- Ensure all your finances and accounts are up to date and accurate
Be open, honest, and transparent with your clients
Let your freelance clients know you also have existing commitments so that you can manage expectations effectively and honestly. If a client isn’t willing to work with you because you have another job, it’s better to get that out in the open from the beginning.
Open a separate business bank account
Keep your personal and business finances separate to make things like budget management, spending and tax returns easier and more clear-cut.
Take strict measures to avoid burnout
Don’t cram your schedule with meetings and deadlines because you’ll only end up spreading yourself too thinly and, subsequently, underperforming. It’s important to take time to relax, rejuvenate, and enjoy the things you love too.
Work with a qualified accountant
With multiple streams of income and the added tax liability of self-employment, your bookkeeping and accounting naturally become a bit more complex. To save yourself time, trouble, and error, do some research about who might be able to help you.
It’s time to go out there and explore the opportunities freelancing has to offer!
