I’ve been at this freelancing thing for 6+ years. I used to think I needed to figure out the “right” way to build a freelance business and then execute on it.
Conventional advice often portrays a business as something we can optimize toward a predetermined ideal. Like a machine. But lately, I’ve been thinking of it more like a living organism that evolves.
Which has led me to think of my freelance business as gradually evolving around my natural skills, preferences, curiosities, habits, and ways of working.
Better for me (obviously). But I think it’s also better for society as a whole — ‘cus when we force ourselves into standardized ways of working, we flatten the differences that make our contributions uniquely valuable.
Maybe that’s a hopeful idea of what work can evolve into — giving more room to individual differences, because different people notice different things, care about different problems, and have different contributions to make.
Understanding how other people have built their businesses is still incredibly useful. It gives you more possibilities to test, borrow from, and learn from in your own business.
And evolution needs variation and feedback. You try things, notice what fits you and what the market responds to, keep what works, discard what doesn’t, and let the business slowly take shape from there.
One practical way I’ve started applying this philosophy is through something I call a Freelance Field Journal.
The idea is simple: treat your freelance business as an ongoing experiment, and yourself as both the subject and the observer.
Start by documenting what you know about yourself, your work, and your market. Then, each week, record what you tried, what worked, what drained you, what energized you, and what you learned.
Over time, you start noticing patterns that can help you make more intentional decisions about how your business evolves.
Instead of trying to build someone else’s ideal freelance business, you’re gathering the evidence to build one that actually fits you.
Get instructions for building your own Freelance Field Journal →