The best thing about freelancing is you don’t have to ask for anyone’s permission.
You don’t need a degree, expensive qualifications or to pass a brutal job interview.
Taking the leap and going freelance gives you the freedom to work on your own terms, on projects that matters to you.
Even so many new freelancers – or people considering going freelance – are fearful that their lack of experience will hold them back.
The truth, however, is that you can go freelance, learn on the job and build your experience as you go.
In fact, I did exactly this over a decade ago. I went freelance straight after university, having never had a traditional full-time job.
So you can go freelance with no experience and still make a success of it.
Table of contents:
- You need to commit to building a strong mindset
- Define your skill set
- Find your Ikigai
- Build your portfolio with passion projects
- Remember that everybody has to start somewhere
- Check out our Freelance Bootcamp
- Related articles
You need to commit to building a strong mindset
The first thing to realise is that freelancing isn’t easy.
A freelancing lifestyle can be (and should be) extremely rewarding – but as the saying goes, nothing worth having comes easy. So it will take time, patience, resilience and a healthy dash of persistence to get to the point when you are reaping all of those rewards.
This is why getting a strong mindset in place right from the start is so important.

When I say mindset I’m talking about how you approach your work, and how you think about yourself and your business. Having a strong mindset means you approach freelancing as an adventure, seek out opportunities to improve and take feedback on board rather than getting defensive.
Many freelancers ignore mindset and self-development in favour of more client work or finding the next client. This is understandable – we all need to cover all the bills at the end of the month.
But one thing that really does separate the thriving from the surviving freelancers is not luck, skills, or experience – it’s the mindset.
Work on your mindset – a little bit – every day
Think of your freelancing mindset like a muscle – to make it strong, you need to work on it daily.
If you neglect it, it will regress.
So the best way to build yours is to create some kind of a routine that includes activities aimed at improving your mindset.
For many people, it’s best to do this in the morning and at the same time every day. For me personally, I do it in the morning, at the very start of my working day. It’s the first thing I do, so I never miss this time and it eases me into my day nicely.
This way it’s done and you can crack on with your work.
You can work on your mindset in many different ways, depending on what you want to improve.
Maybe it’s:
- Listening to a podcast with business strategy advice
- Reading a relevant business book
- Working through a course like Freelance Bootcamp
- Learning a new skill on YouTube
The great thing is once you’ve built a habit like this, you can start to add other habits on top of it. For example, I started working on improving my typing speed for 10 minutes every morning. I then decided I would also like to learn some basic CSS and HTML coding – so I now do another 10 minutes of learning that.
Because the habits are stacked like this, I never miss either and I don’t need to motivate myself. It’s just what I do first thing after turning on my laptop.
We have a full guide on how you can set up a mindset-building routine that will work for you – and don’t worry, it doesn’t include getting up at 5 am (unless you want to!).
It’s really important that you stick to your routine and keep monitoring it and adapting it to your needs. If you see that it’s taking too much of your time, make it shorter. If you don’t think that certain activities are helping you, take them out.
We know that life happens sometimes, so don’t worry if you skip it one day – but as James Clear says, don’t miss it twice.
→ Action item: read our guide on how to build a rock-solid mindset and create a daily routine that works for you.
Think like a business owner

When you go freelance, you become your own boss. While social media loves to depict this as being free to work from a hammock or on the sunny beach – it is, of course, more complicated than that.
As your own boss, you decide your priorities and where are you going to spend your time – on what projects, and for how long. Or the danger is you stop being conscious about these decisions, and so never develop your freelance business strategy.
We all have the same amount of time each day, so you need to manage yourself and make sure you are being productive, not just doing “busy” work like checking emails and scrolling social media.
You are responsible for getting the work in, staying on top of admin and finances, your pension, your insurance, marketing your services and getting new clients. You have to manage literally every aspect of your mini-business.
So it’s really important to take yourself seriously and think of yourself as a freelance business right from the start. Think, act, plan and make decisions as a business CEO would.
Nobody needs to know you don’t have experience
To be clear – this doesn’t mean you should lie about your experience. But you don’t need to shout it out loud if you don’t have as much freelance experience as you want.
I think we all have seen situations in which a more confident, but less skilled professional gets the job over others who have had more experience but lack the confidence to demonstrate it. This is another reason why you need a strong mindset to set yourself up for success.
If you are confident in yourself, act professionally with your clients, and are able to deliver the results, many won’t even ask you about your previous experience or be too bothered about it.
Of course, if it’s a particularly important or complex project you need to be careful not to bite off more than you can chew. But don’t be afraid to learn on the job and put yourself out there.
Define your skill set
As a freelancer, you have the freedom to create your own reality – and this refers to every aspect of your business life.
If you want to turn your hobby into a career, you have the freedom to do it.
If you want to combine multiple passions into one, you can find a way to make it work. To be a successful freelancer, it helps to love what you do, or you’ll struggle to stay motivated when things get challenging.
If you enjoy what you do, then it will feel a lot less like work – which gives you a big advantage over the competition.
Many freelancers are self-taught – and there are so many great platforms offering courses that can help you to learn and monetise almost any hobby you set your heart to.
So don’t feel like you need to offer services that you have a degree for. If you want to pursue something different, this is your chance to do it.
In my 10+ years of freelancing, I think I’ve been asked about my degree once.
Focus on solving problems for people and you’ll quickly build freelance experience and a reputation.
→ Action item: write down what you are good at, and what you would love to do. If those two lists don’t overlap, start by offering services that you can already do, while getting better and learning skills that you actually want to do, and then slowly transition.
Find your Ikigai
Others say, find your niche, we say find your Ikigai.
Ikigai is an amazing Japanese concept that’s believed to be the secret to a long and happy life. It comes from the Japanese island of Okinawa, where the people live incredibly long lives.
Ikigai is, put simply, your reason to jump out of bed each morning. It’s having a sense of purpose in life, and a reason for being. Something that drives you on.
But, the concept isn’t just the recipe for a happy personal life – it can also apply to your business life as well.
To discover your Ikigai, think about the intersection between the following areas:
- VOCATION – What you are good at
- MISSION – What the world needs
- PASSION – What you love to do
- PROFESSION – What the people will pay you for

If you can find a sweet spot within these areas, you have found your niche. But the difference is that, with Ikigai, you know that you have found a niche that aligns with who you are as a person and your values.
→ Action item: We have written an entire guide to finding Ikigai for freelancers, together with more resources on it and a free template included, so check it out here.
Build your portfolio with passion projects
Many people hold back from getting started with freelancing because they feel they don’t have a portfolio or any past freelance experience. A key thing to remember is you don’t have to display client work in your portfolio.
Once you understand this, the solution is simple – start working on some projects.
When potential clients are looking through your portfolio, they are doing that primarily to see your skills and expertise in action – not to see who were your past clients. Of course, having big and impressive clients can help, but most of the time it’s not really necessary.
Include projects that present your skills in the best light. Sometimes, freelancers who have plenty of client work behind them include personal/passion projects that showcase their skills in a better light than that specific client project.
So stop using this as an excuse. Create a brief for yourself, with all the specifics, and a deadline – just like you would for a client.
→ Action item: check out our guide on how to create passion projects and make the most out of them. Follow the guide, and start creating your first personal, passion project!
Remember that everybody has to start somewhere.
As we already mentioned – everybody has to start somewhere.
So don’t feel intimidated by more experienced freelancers, and most importantly – don’t compare yourself to them.
Be inspired by their success and motivated by the knowledge that if they could build a thriving business, there’s no reason why you can’t as well.
If you’re coming going freelance after having a full-time job, think about your experience in the world of employment, and whether you can tap into it.
Finally, don’t let the lack of experience stop you from starting a freelance business – you can learn everything you need along the way, as long as you are willing to put energy and effort into it.
→ Action item: sign up for Freelance Bootcamp
→ Sign up for Freelance Bootcamp and build a thriving, sustainable freelance business doing the work you love!
This is a 4-week, intense course where we take a deep dive into setting up a successful, long-term freelance business.
→ Get more information about Bootcamp here, and feel free to contact us with any questions you might have about it!
Related articles:
How to Start Freelancing in 11 Steps (free checklist included)
How to go Freelance Risk-Free
Experienced Freelancers Share Their No. 1 Piece of Advice
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