Freelance stories #3: Grid and the graphics

Maybe you as freelancer can nod in recognition to the above sentence. For many, a flexible working life and the opportunity to be your own boss is exactly what motivates you to take the plunge into a working life as a freelancer.

We spoke to Gitte Brinck, who is a freelance graphic designer, to find out more about her everyday life as a freelancer, how she makes things work, and in what way Factofly helps make her everyday life easier. 

Because what are the advantages and disadvantages of the freelance career? And how to solve them error and challenges that may arise along the way?

Becoming independent – a natural choice

Gitte is educated Multimedia Integrator from the media school in Viborg and, with his 20 years as a graphic designer, has by now a wide range of experience and a nice portfolio.

In addition to experience as a graphic designer, Gitte can also look back on 17 years as a self-employed person, where she has chosen to branch out as a freelancer within the last few years.

"Becoming independent was a very natural choice for my personality. I love being part of the entire process from start to finish and having a hand in all decisions myself,” says Gitte, who after just 2 years as an employee of a multimedia publishing house in Aarhus chose instead to embark on life as a self-employed person.

Although she makes a living by communicating and designing everything within the graphic world, it is primarily printed media such as catalogues, brochures, magazines and books that are her core competence.

Life as a self-employed person and freelancer can offer many ups and downs, a busy everyday life and the calm before the storm, but also a huge freedom, flexibility and independence that very few wage earners get to experience.

"Being self-employed is one long roller coaster ride. It goes up and down. When it comes down to it, you have to be willing to work all hours of the day. And when it goes down, you really have to have ice cream in your stomach,” says Gitte to paint a realistic picture of being an independent freelancer.

A flexible everyday life and greater freedom

Despite the challenges that can arise when you choose life as an independent and freelancer, Gitte would not trade it for anything.

Although at times she may miss the security and stability of being employed, the freelance life gives her enormous freedom and flexibility in everyday life, which is all worth it.

"I will never compromise on flexibility and independence, which is why I will always prefer to be independent. It is a lifestyle that grows on one and becomes one's entire DNA.” – Something that most self-employed people can probably recognize and reflect on.

Because after all, self-employed people are perhaps made of a special substance and a special courage when it comes to solving challenges, developing and daring to jump into something new.

One of the solutions to Gitte's challenges as a freelancer was FactoFly, which is now – along with lots of coffee and the adobe package – a regular part of Gitte's everyday life.

"Being self-employed is one long roller coaster ride. It goes up and down. When it comes down to it, you have to be willing to work all hours of the day. And when it goes down, you really have to have ice cream in your stomach!"

Thoroughly tired of the administrative stuff

After 17 years as a freelancer, Gitte was, to put it mildly, well and truly tired of the administrative work that inevitably comes with it.

In everyday life as a freelancer, you usually juggle all the balls at once, where, in addition to the chosen work area of course, you also act as a salesperson and administrative rope-holder, where both customer contact, sales, VAT and annual accounts, tax, invoices, etc. must always be balanced.

Especially in the beginning, it can be a jungle to navigate the administrative, creation of CVR no. and tax matters.

"It is time consuming and takes focus away from what I should be spending my time on,” says Gitte, who saw it as a great relief when she came across FactoFly by chance.

For Gitte, Factofly was an opportunity to instead spend more time on what she is good at. Now she has more time to concentrate on her clients and work:

"It is extraordinarily liberating to be associated with Factofly. Now I can concentrate on what I am good at without worrying about the administrative side. I dropped my CVR no. and now go the freelance route with Factofly by my side."

Gitte explains that in addition to FactoFly being incredibly easy to deal with, it also gives her extra security. When describing FactoFly, she explains that it is a bit like having a little helper in your pocket with an extraordinary level of service.

"Getting a net salary paid, where you don't even have to remember to set aside for VAT and tax, it releases energy,” says Gitte, who, ever since the day she came across Factofly, has escaped most of the administrative work. 

Keeping track of the salary as a freelancer can be quite a task.

Economy, economy and economy

It is clear that the economy as a self-employed person matters a lot. As a full-time freelancer, it's your livelihood, and it's important that there are customers in the shop to keep it all running.

For Gitte, the economy has also been a focal point and something that has taken her focus:

"You never quite know whether you have bought or sold, or when the next order will arrive."

Today, Gitte has taught herself to set aside time for outreach sales every single day to get clients as a freelancer. For her, it is important to continue to reach out, even in the periods when things are going well and when there is a lot of work.

Think ahead and spread your risk

It is important to constantly think and work ahead to secure the revenue in the long term, and this is usually another thing that takes time away from working as a freelancer.

Therefore, it can be a great relief to free up time where you can, and for most people it is obvious to save time and energy on administrative matters:

"I came across FactoFly by chance and almost had an epiphany. One phone call and I was off and running,” says Gitte, who immediately saw the idea of FactoFly and decided to try it out.

When it comes to finances as a freelancer, she also has good advice, which she uses herself:

"I make sure to spread myself out more, so I don't put all my eggs in one basket, because it's far too fragile."

By not having to worry about both tax and VAT, Gitte has more time and money to deal with finances, clients and her work as a freelance graphic designer, which you can read a lot more about on her website.

Factofly – a relief and extra help in everyday life

Although Gitte has been self-employed for 17 years and therefore has administrative experience, FactoFly has been a great relief and an extra help in her everyday life as a freelancer.

With the extra time and energy that has been freed up, Gitte now has more resources to focus on what is her passion and means something to her – namely graphic design.

With an eye to the future and a sharpened focus on the work and the customers, Gitte now has extra profit and time to help with the many tasks within graphic design.

Because as Gitte herself describes it, she has a high level of accuracy and aesthetic sense and always goes to great lengths to ensure that the task is right in the closet - And this is where she will have extra time to put her energy as a freelancer in the future.