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Making the switch from employee to self-employed is a tough job. But it doesn’t end there–there’s plenty that can go wrong once you’re in the big chair. Here are ten of the most common mistakes that freelancers and entrepreneurs make so that you can avoid them.

1. Working Too Much

You can make pretty good money as a freelancer if you make the right plans and execute those plans correctly. But when you get a taste of that success, it’s easy to start telling yourself, “If I only worked a couple more hours each night, I could be making another two grand a month!”. While you might fatten your wallet temporarily, it’s a good way to burn yourself right out of the game.

2. Allowing Scope Creep

Especially when you’re starting out, it’s easy to make exceptions to do “just that one extra thing” for a client for free. You feel like annoying the client by refusing to do a bit of extra work within the original quote could mean less work in the future, and you can’t afford the loss of income.

Truth is it’s important to hold your ground from the get-go so that scope creep doesn’t haunt you for the rest of your career. Good clients will respect you for it, and those who don’t will inevitably lose you more money than they make you. When clients want more work done, give them a bill for it.

3. Charging Too Little

Most freelancers are afraid to increase their rates, or even set them at a decent price point to begin with, out of fear of losing or not attracting clients.

There was a time when I was suffering from mistake number one–working too much–and I wanted to fix it. So I increased my rates. Substantially. After that, I had even more work. I’m not the only one to report this–it’s fairly common to experience higher demand when you increase your price. It’s a matter of creating the perception that you have the expertise to do the job well.

If your rates are low, hike them up!

4. Failing to Market

Referral business is the number one source of business for most freelancers. How often do you encourage your clients to refer people to you, or give them an incentive to do so? How often do you follow up with clients who you haven’t worked with in a while?

A freelancer should also be consistently looking for new business through job boards and networking. Cold calling and direct marketing can work, too. But when you’re making enough to pay all the bills, how much time do you really spend marketing your business?

5. Not Screening Clients Thoroughly

Always check your new clients out, whether they were referred to you by a fellow freelancer with a full plate or you’re applying for some work on a job board.

I can think of a few times when I dealt with clients from hell and suffered consequences that could’ve been avoided if I’d asked the referring friend more questions or Googled the client a bit. It’s not particularly hard to check them out, but it could potentially save you a world of trouble.

6. Burning Bridges

When you realize your screening process failed and you agreed to work for a dud, you’re going to want to get out. Be careful how you do it.

Even if they are bad clients, they might be great networkers and friends with all the people in who might hire you in your niche. Don’t tell them what horrible clients they’ve been and how you’re going to tell all your friends not to work with them. Wrap the project up cleanly, professionally and politely, and move on. Unless their problem is non-payment, complete anything outstanding. You don’t want them to tarnish your reputation just because you couldn’t handle the nuisance long enough to finalize commitments.

7. Depending On Too Few Clients

Freelancers get asked all the time: isn’t freelancing far less stable than just getting a real job?

And I usually respond that it’s much more stable because your sole employer can fire you and put you in a real pickle, but if one out of many clients drops you, you’re only slightly worse off, and it’s easier to make up that smaller portion of income, too.

But if you fail to distribute your eggs amongst enough baskets, Mr Condescending Employee is right–you’ll have serious trouble when one of your top two or three clients fires you.

8. Failing to Use a Contract

It might be a nuisance to get a basic contract either drawn up by or reviewed by your lawyer, but it’s an investment you can make once and protect yourself with repeatedly. There are so many ways a client can screw you if you don’t have a contract. It also means there are no uncertainties about the things left unsaid in negotiations.

Do you know how the transfer of intellectual property occurs? Do you prefer to license rather than transfer the copyright? These are just two examples of the many variables you can control with a contract that would otherwise be up to the law.

9. Not Saving Enough for Tough Periods

If you’re not well established as a freelancer, you might be forced to make mistake 7: depending on too few clients. You need to have the savings to make ends meet should one of the clients who pay your bills have to let you go. Don’t hope for the best–get the savings in place before you quit your job, or if you’re forced out of your job for whatever reason, make it top priority with your first client payments.

10. Forgetting Why You Freelance

And the worst mistake a freelancer can make: forgetting why they became a freelancer in the first place. This is when you start to make the compromises that made you hate your old job in the first place–like the first nine points in this piece.

What Are Your Biggest Freelancer Mistakes?

If you’ve made freelancer mistakes I haven’t listed here, tell us about in the comments–and perhaps save another freelancer from doing it themselves.