And I have been a part of it for years.

It was in the beginning of the last one that I took part in discussions and visited lectures on the topic of proper pricing in my sphere and that helped me immensely realize how much experience I had lacked and what it had lead to by that time. The thing is, it is practically much easier to start a business than to survive in one.

Everyone can start with a dream. Open up a firm. Become a freelancer...Drown...

They say about 95 % of the businesses in my country do not survive to be 5-year-old. About 2.5 % die after that, too. Many close after the first year alone. When reality hits where it...where it can. Easily. You know where that is?

The lack of financial education. Yup, we're becoming entrepreneurs without education. With intentions only. With the wish to imitate those success stories. And with the noble ideas to give much, receive what we need only. Only, we don't know what we need. Plan? Like...what?

So, let me break down a simple list of aspects that our pricing should take into account...

And tell you what I had been missing based on that list up until I was taught about it.

Let's talk about the case of Freelance Photography and the things we, as amateurs in doing business, omit when coming up with our pricing:

Logistics

— I basically used to accept it was an expense that was not to change the price for my customers, i.e. an acceptable loss;

Clothes

— I knew I needed them from time to time but they were also not to be included in the pricing since they were my own problem, not the customers';

Marketing

— Who pays for that? Pro finance and marketing people say it should be at least 10 % of our expected income but who follows that? Not freelance wannabes;

Web

— Wasn't that cheap enough to neglect? ;

Software

— But you only buy once...unless they make it a subscription service...Oh, wait...;

Office space rent

— we all do it from home, don't we? ;

Last, but not least...

Emergency Funds!

Six to Twelve months in times of crisis — who can think about that when things haven't gone that serious yet? Well, after a certain crisis hits, one would think serious companies like airline giants would know about that and be able to survive such events without them crying for bail outs that small freelancers wouldn't ever see...It turns out we're not alone in that mistake.

All I knew about was...

Salary.

Sure, Money to live with;

Accounting and taxes;

Equipment plus maintenance and replacements;

Education

All right, some marketing...

sometimes...

...

And where do you go like that? Any development? Ah, skills and contacts, yes, experience...good. My photographs certainly got better over the years.

Not my financial statement.

Until I learned of blockchains, that is.

...

Cheers!

And don't neglect what you should not neglect. And you should neglect nothing.

And everything, if you're going to be Zen about it ;)

Yours,

Manol