Share the article!
Puk Damgaard: "It's the first time I've been happy to get a payslip!"
Some people are made to be freelancers or self-employed.
One of them, according to herself, is photographer Puk Damgaard, who has been an independent photographer for almost 25 years.
First in collaboration with her husband and later alone.
We talked to Puk about the ups and downs of being independent. What challenges do you face when you suddenly don't have an employer, and how do you get back up when it's all a bit difficult?
Here we learn more about Puk Damgaard's life and convoluted path to a freelance life with loyal clients and time for family.
An easier freelance life with Factofly
Be a freelancer without hassle and get paid without your own CVR number with Factofly. We help almost 2,000 others with an everyday life without administration.
From employee to self-employed and back again
Puk Damgaard started his career as a draftsman in an advertising department at a newspaper.
And exactly that job became her door into a world full of photographs.
One of the customers at the newspaper was an independent photographer, and with a shared passion for photography, the way was paved for both a marriage and a joint company.
Puk and her husband opened a photography business just one year after they got together, which they managed to have for 13 years. Here Puk explains why they ended up closing the business:
"After 13 years, we chose to close the business, simply because children and long working hours did not go together, and then the financial crisis also began to knock."
When Puk and her husband closed the business, her husband continued as a photographer, but for Puk something new had to happen after working up to 70 hours a week for 13 years.
Puk therefore found a completely new career path and chose to become a disability assistant. But she still couldn't put life as a freelancer on the shelf:
"The job as a disability helper was good enough as such, but I lacked the freedom you have as a self-employed person."
So Puk stopped working as a disability helper and said goodbye to the secure life as an employee with an employer who was responsible for all the administrative work.
"I was always lagging behind with accounting, VAT, statutory liability insurance and I hated it. But I claimed I was damn good at it, but in reality I was really bad at it.
It was something that just had to get over. I was creative and that was where I had to put my energy."
Corona and accounting problems led to capitulation
However, Puk had several misgivings about starting up as an independent worker again.
When she and her husband ran their photography business, they had been constantly behind on the accounts, and it all came crashing down when they were declared bankruptcy.
Therefore, she had to also get a handle on the administrative work, says Puk:
"I was always lagging behind with accounting, VAT, statutory liability insurance and I hated it. But I claimed I was damn good at it, but in reality I was really bad at it. It was something that just had to get over. I was creative and that was where I had to put my energy."
But as fate would have it, after some time Puk's start-up of the company coincided with the fact that you could no longer have an IVS, entrepreneurial company, but instead it had to be transformed into a private limited company, ApS.
She therefore had half a year to invest capital, but then corona came, and her company was forced to close for the two years that the corona situation lasted.
It also meant that she had no income. She chose not to apply for support because, as she says herself, she did not have enough control over the accounts and did not have an accountant.
"When it was time to either become a limited company or be forcibly dissolved, I threw in the towel and capitulated. So what should I do now?"
"I happened to see an advertisement for Factofly and thought it must be a lie. It's a scam company. They take my ass."
The help from Factofly was crucial
When Puk Damgaard once again had to close a company, she was left with several good and loyal customers whom she did not want to lose.
And when the desire to let go of her freedom as a self-employed person and instead have to find an employer didn't show up either, she had to once again take a new path.
She therefore took on several project jobs so that she could manage her own time, but still have enough hours to work full time.
And when one of her big regular customers returned to her after corona, she had to find a way to make it work.
"It gives me an enormous amount of freedom to know that the money in my account is mine.
I no longer have to think about whether I have remembered to pay everything and whether there have been new rules. It all means I don't have to think about it."
Therefore, she wanted to start her sole proprietorship again, and here Puk came across Factofly:
"I happened to see an advertisement for Factofly and thought it must be a lie. It's a scam company. They take my ass."
Puk was skeptical at first, but decided to investigate the matter further:
"I tried writing to them and they responded within two minutes. So when I got an assignment from a customer, I thought it must depend on a sample."
Puk therefore contacted Factofly, was created in the system, and from there it just worked, says Puk:
"It's really what saved my business."
An easier freelance life with Factofly
Be a freelancer without hassle and get paid without your own CVR number with Factofly. We help almost 2,000 others with an everyday life without administration.
Freedom from the paycheck means everything
"How can you forget that, you know very well that tax returns and annual accounts must be sent. I could sit the night before throwing up over it because I had to get it all done, and then I could forget to hit send anyway."
This is what Puk says about her time as a self-employed person, where she alone or together with her husband was responsible for the administrative part.
But today things look completely different for her.
As a customer of Factofly, she does not have to lift a finger, and this has made her rediscover the joy of the profession, she says:
"It's the first time I've been happy to get a paycheck. I haven't had one like that in 20 years. It's just a relief that I don't have to think about an account at all."
"It gives me an enormous amount of freedom to know that the money in my account is mine. I no longer have to think about whether I have remembered to pay everything and whether there have been new rules. It all means I don't have to think about it."
You probably have to be a bit strange to jump into life as a freelancer or self-employed person, believes Puk Damgaard, who says with a smile in her voice that she would like to earn more as a bottle collector in a few months.
However, the freelance life suits her exactly, and now that she is free from all the administrative work, this is where Puk sees herself in the future.
An easier freelance life with Factofly
Be a freelancer without hassle and get paid without your own CVR number with Factofly. We help almost 2,000 others with an everyday life without administration.
Puk Damgaard: "It's the first time I've been happy to get a payslip!"
Some people are made to be freelancers or self-employed.
One of them, according to herself, is photographer Puk Damgaard, who has been an independent photographer for almost 25 years.
First in collaboration with her husband and later alone.
We talked to Puk about the ups and downs of being independent. What challenges do you face when you suddenly don't have an employer, and how do you get back up when it's all a bit difficult?
Here we learn more about Puk Damgaard's life and convoluted path to a freelance life with loyal clients and time for family.
An easier freelance life with Factofly
Be a freelancer without hassle and get paid without your own CVR number with Factofly. We help almost 2,000 others with an everyday life without administration.
From employee to self-employed and back again
Puk Damgaard started his career as a draftsman in an advertising department at a newspaper.
And exactly that job became her door into a world full of photographs.
One of the customers at the newspaper was an independent photographer, and with a shared passion for photography, the way was paved for both a marriage and a joint company.
Puk and her husband opened a photography business just one year after they got together, which they managed to have for 13 years. Here Puk explains why they ended up closing the business:
"After 13 years, we chose to close the business, simply because children and long working hours did not go together, and then the financial crisis also began to knock."
When Puk and her husband closed the business, her husband continued as a photographer, but for Puk something new had to happen after working up to 70 hours a week for 13 years.
Puk therefore found a completely new career path and chose to become a disability assistant. But she still couldn't put life as a freelancer on the shelf:
"The job as a disability helper was good enough as such, but I lacked the freedom you have as a self-employed person."
So Puk stopped working as a disability helper and said goodbye to the secure life as an employee with an employer who was responsible for all the administrative work.
"I was always lagging behind with accounting, VAT, statutory liability insurance and I hated it. But I claimed I was damn good at it, but in reality I was really bad at it.
It was something that just had to get over. I was creative and that was where I had to put my energy."
Corona and accounting problems led to capitulation
However, Puk had several misgivings about starting up as an independent worker again.
When she and her husband ran their photography business, they had been constantly behind on the accounts, and it all came crashing down when they were declared bankruptcy.
Therefore, she had to also get a handle on the administrative work, says Puk:
"I was always lagging behind with accounting, VAT, statutory liability insurance and I hated it. But I claimed I was damn good at it, but in reality I was really bad at it. It was something that just had to get over. I was creative and that was where I had to put my energy."
But as fate would have it, after some time Puk's start-up of the company coincided with the fact that you could no longer have an IVS, entrepreneurial company, but instead it had to be transformed into a private limited company, ApS.
She therefore had half a year to invest capital, but then corona came, and her company was forced to close for the two years that the corona situation lasted.
It also meant that she had no income. She chose not to apply for support because, as she says herself, she did not have enough control over the accounts and did not have an accountant.
"When it was time to either become a limited company or be forcibly dissolved, I threw in the towel and capitulated. So what should I do now?"
"I happened to see an advertisement for Factofly and thought it must be a lie. It's a scam company. They take my ass."
The help from Factofly was crucial
When Puk Damgaard once again had to close a company, she was left with several good and loyal customers whom she did not want to lose.
And when the desire to let go of her freedom as a self-employed person and instead have to find an employer didn't show up either, she had to once again take a new path.
She therefore took on several project jobs so that she could manage her own time, but still have enough hours to work full time.
And when one of her big regular customers returned to her after corona, she had to find a way to make it work.
"It gives me an enormous amount of freedom to know that the money in my account is mine.
I no longer have to think about whether I have remembered to pay everything and whether there have been new rules. It all means I don't have to think about it."
Therefore, she wanted to start her sole proprietorship again, and here Puk came across Factofly:
"I happened to see an advertisement for Factofly and thought it must be a lie. It's a scam company. They take my ass."
Puk was skeptical at first, but decided to investigate the matter further:
"I tried writing to them and they responded within two minutes. So when I got an assignment from a customer, I thought it must depend on a sample."
Puk therefore contacted Factofly, was created in the system, and from there it just worked, says Puk:
"It's really what saved my business."
An easier freelance life with Factofly
Be a freelancer without hassle and get paid without your own CVR number with Factofly. We help almost 2,000 others with an everyday life without administration.
Freedom from the paycheck means everything
"How can you forget that, you know very well that tax returns and annual accounts must be sent. I could sit the night before throwing up over it because I had to get it all done, and then I could forget to hit send anyway."
This is what Puk says about her time as a self-employed person, where she alone or together with her husband was responsible for the administrative part.
But today things look completely different for her.
As a customer of Factofly, she does not have to lift a finger, and this has made her rediscover the joy of the profession, she says:
"It's the first time I've been happy to get a paycheck. I haven't had one like that in 20 years. It's just a relief that I don't have to think about an account at all."
"It gives me an enormous amount of freedom to know that the money in my account is mine. I no longer have to think about whether I have remembered to pay everything and whether there have been new rules. It all means I don't have to think about it."
You probably have to be a bit strange to jump into life as a freelancer or self-employed person, believes Puk Damgaard, who says with a smile in her voice that she would like to earn more as a bottle collector in a few months.
However, the freelance life suits her exactly, and now that she is free from all the administrative work, this is where Puk sees herself in the future.
An easier freelance life with Factofly
Be a freelancer without hassle and get paid without your own CVR number with Factofly. We help almost 2,000 others with an everyday life without administration.
