The idea of investing in a freelance business very often ends on start-up costs. We take into account what we need to get properly set up, for example a computer, a chair, CAT tools, dictionaries, maybe a website, and off we go into the freelancing world. Later on we may need a software update or a training course, but these expenses are hardly ever planned, budgeted for or even less likely – treated as an investment.

What I would like to propose this time is to change the perspective from simply having business expenses to seeing them as investments. There is a crucial difference between these two. An expense is a necessary cost that running a business entails, for example buying a printer toner. It’s really hard to imagine working as a translator without having a functional printer. Investment, on the other hand, is money spent on acquiring something that is supposed to bring bigger return later. To give you an example of investment, going to a trade fair is a time and monetary investment and you’re expecting to find clients there. The key of investment is precisely this: return.

If you make this switch in your thinking and start considering the return of the money you spend, you’re much more likely to benefit from your investments. More.

See: WantWords

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