I’ve just taken the same decision and have taken the plunge and resigned. Something I’m doing is reaching out to my networks, and it’s already had positive impact.

Alongside this, I’m also meeting with a business coach - a few people who’ve made the transition have recommended getting a business coach and it might help me to think differently when “marketing” myself.

I wish you all the best with your decision and journey!

Hi Scott, What type of freelance work are you thinking of doing?. I am an ER specialist, and your specialism/experience is relevant to how you may source work as a freelancer. Your 20 years of experience should stand you in good stead; clients do not want freelancers who don't know their stuff. I took the plunge and went freelance 20 years ago and have never regretted it, but it is not easy and not for everyone. It worked for me because I already had some work lined up when I started and I was in a financial position to be able to cope with the inevitable quiet periods. A lot of my work in the early days came from people that I worked with when I was an HRD. I am not sure about networking with small businesses; the social side is good as it can be lonely, but they probably won't be able to give you any work. It is worth speaking to other professional advisers such as accountants, solicitors, recruiters and H&S consultants who may recommend you to their clients. You do need to be very self sufficient; I miss IT support, other HR colleagues to share things with etc. Best Wishes

In reply to Sian Penny Hughes:

Great responses - thanks Becky, thanks Sian.

Hi Scott, firstly wih you all the best with your solo journey. It's quite the ride. I regularly post on my social media about my journey as a solo business owner and so could probably write a book on this but I will keep it short-ish.;-)

* get your finances in order.
Think about what you need to survive and thrive, what your costs are and what you need in order to run your business (company set up, accountant support, insurance, software etc). Have enough reserves to survive lean periods and think about what you need to charge in order to break even and get into profit.

*have a strong network.
My network help me to survive, provide essential support and also help my brand and enable me to get work as they know people who might need my services. Network all the time not just when you need something. There are lots of communities and networking groups out there so look for ones that match your needs and invest time in keeping in touch with them.

*think about your offer.
What is it you are selling and how do you make it easy for people to buy from you. Knowing what you want to do, can do and what's needed in the current market is critical to make your business work. That can change over time but having a clear offer of what you do, again makes it easy for you to position yourself and also for people in your network to know when you might be able to help them.

I'll stop there or this will become a blog! Wishing you good luck an fair winds.

Hi Scott, I went freelance for a couple of years from around 2010. i was lucky enough that the local council ran week long courses for people looking to set up their own businesses and that really helped with developing the business plan, identifying potential clients and marketing my services.

My initial aim was to target small businesses, but doing the planning it was clear that to make enough money to be able to cover the bills, i would need a huge amount of small clients very quickly. I therefore decided to incorporate some self employed interim work, ideally on a part time basis, along with smaller clients.

That did work well, but i found that the interim work was more financially sustainable - with smaller clients, you need a lot of them to make enough money and you do have to give up quite a bit of your time for free, having the initial conversation and developing proposals, only to find that they really don't have the budget to cover the cost of the work.

I enjoyed having the freedom, and the income was higher than working for an employer, however, i did find it hard to force myself to take holiday, or have a gap in contracts - I worried that if i took a break, I wouldn't be able to get back into it.

In the end, I did a fairly long term interim assignment and at the end, they offered me a permanent role which I accepted as I did prefer the feeling of security that being employed provided.