How To Handle The Feast-Famine Cycle As A Freelancer

When you start out as a freelancer and then even later on in your career, there might be some noticeable financial cycles, and they are referred to as the feast or famine cycle. While the focus should always be on looking for more steady sources of income, the feast-famine cycle is very common. 

How to get through Feast

Having so much work that you are going to make a lot of money from it and get a lot of experience is an amazing thing. But the work that goes into the Feast period can be excessive. 

Anything that can be outsourced and will still see you in profit can go out to either other freelancers you know or check boards like Upwork and Fivver to get the task completed. 

Make sure that during a feast period, you are saving money, little and often; saving will mean you can get through the famine cycle if it comes around again, and if it doesn’t, then you have started your savings pot. 

Don’t take more work during the Feast; instead, see if you can negotiate with the client to wait until you are almost finished or completely finished with the work that you have. Taking on too much work will mean that you are overloaded, working excessive hours, and eventually, the quality of the work will go down. 

Both feast and famine have their own issues when you are the only person working on specific projects. For many people who are making a move to freelance, having some savings to fall back on or a supportive partner or friends and family that can help is great, but for those that don’t, small personal loans can sometimes be enough to see you through. 

How to get through Famine

Famine is tougher than Feast because you will still have bills to pay and need to live day-to-day. You might be in a famine cycle before you manage to hit a Feast, so you’ll need to be extra strict on your finances. 

Contact old clients, and speak to any current clients and refresh them on what you can do for them and what you have done in the past. Have a note in the email to say you are happy for them to pass your contact to anyone who might be interested. 

Marketing with no budget can be difficult, but instead of money - spend time. Create content that will speak to your audience, and make sure to use trending sounds. Try TikTok if you have never tried it, and offer to write guest posts and collaborate. 

Refresh your portfolio, and spend some time looking at portfolios of other freelancers and see if there is anything you could add or improve. If there is anything lacking in your portfolio, you have the time to do a side project to fill that gap.

Look for new ways to monetize what you do, and if there are any platforms and job boards you haven’t checked out, start going through them. 

The feast and famine cycle can be tough, but ultimately, using the time wisely in both will mean that they don’t hit so hard in the future - and over time, you will create a system that is more conducive to a steady income. 

One thing that more freelancers are investing in is looking at changing how they view the cycle, and here are some excellent tips to change your mindset for good: Three money mindset blocks to release in 2023.