The Secret Costs of Being Cheap

As freelancers, there are times when it is essential that we save money or spend it very economically. But there are other times when being cheap will wind up costing more.

I learned this the hard way when I set up my freelance writing business in January 2004. The biggest mistake I made, over and over again, was thinking of myself as having a home office, not a home business. I thought of myself as being small – and as a result, wound up spending money twice. Here’s how:

1. A Dinky Desk Won’t Do

When I worked at an advertising agency, I had a huge L-shaped desk. And I needed every inch. The phone, the computer, reference books, files, my own work habits – they all took up space. Yet for some reason, when I went to work for myself, I figured that cute little glass-and-chrome number from the chi-chi home furnishing store would be perfect. If I had walked into a job at an agency and been presented with a 3-foot wide desk, I’d have hit the roof. But that’s what I gave myself. And as a result, one year later, I had to buy another desk – one that was more suited to a home business, not a home office.

Before you buy a desk, look realistically at your work habits. Then pay once for the space you need.

2. The Little Printer That Couldn’t

My first printer was about the size of a toaster. If I had been a student who needed to print out only a couple of sheets a night, it would have been great. But I frequently needed to print out documents that were 40-60 pages and often had colour-coded print, such as Track Changes. My toaster couldn’t handle that. So I would email large documents to my local print centre, then drive over and pay to have them print out the doc. Yup. I sure was saving money. And time. Two years ago I coughed up the money for a real printer that zips out even the biggest doc, in colour if necessary, in a blink. I know we’re all supposed to be going paperless, but there are times when one simply has to print. If you do, do not skimp on the printer.

3. A Laptop Fit For a Student

The first computer I bought for my business was a 13-inch iMac. It was cute. It was portable. It didn’t have near enough memory to run the programs I needed. And its little screen just about made me blind. I spent $1,800 on it and less then two years later had to pay that and more again to get the right-sized computer for what I really do. My computer is the single most-important cog in my business machine. Now that I’ve got the right one, I can’t understand why I cheaped out in the first place. That was money wasted.

4. My Email. My Self.

This is one place where I got it right, but many of my freelance colleagues didn’t. When I launched my business I had a phone number just for business, a proper card, and my own domain for email. To this day I am shocked by the number of other freelancers who hand out their home phone number – and then allow clients to hear a voice mail greeting left by the family’s 8-year-old that says “Hi, you’ve reached Bill, Jane, Terry and Bunny the dog (woof!)….” Or they’ll go into meetings and write out their contact information on a piece of paper, which they then rip off and give to the client. And their email address will be something stupid like cutiepie or beerlover@yahoo/gmail/hotmail. Think that email address doesn’t matter? Think again. I had a conversation with a client once who was concerned about giving a project to a particular designer because she doubted his abilities based on his hotmail address. She was worried about having difficulties transferring large files through hotmail. And just could not understand why someone who was charging a substantial day rate did not have a “real” email – one that was either associated with an established ISP or a business domain. At one point she asked me if this guy really owned his own computer, or if he was trying to do her work while at another job. It doesn’t cost much to invest in your own image. And it pays off in credibility.

There are lots of ways and reasons to save money when you’re a freelancer. But thinking too small could cost you. To paraphrase some famous handy guy: think it through twice, spend it once.

Margaret MacQuarrie is a former associate creative director and now full-time freelance writer who still dabbles in advertising but also writes/edits documents, websites, articles and more.

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