[leepowers]

Shopping malls have this thing called "anchor tenants" - usually a big-box retailer who pays for massive square footage, which in turn stabilizes the mall's cash flow.

Looking back, all freelancers should probably wait to start until they can secure an "anchor client". A company or individual with a solid business who can provide consistent cash flow to the freelancer. One anchor tenant won't pay for a whole shopping mall, and neither will one anchor client meet all the freelancer's needs and goals. But it definitely helps stabilize the situation, and empowers freelancers to be more selective about their other clientele.

Aside from that - having enough savings on hand to pay for 6-12 months of all expenses (business and personal) is also a necessity. Otherwise you'll start taking on poor clients (and I mean "poor" literally, as in they don't have additional budget to spend, even if they wanted to), which in turn will make you more desperate, taking increasingly shittier jobs. The freelancer death spiral is brutal but can be avoided with careful planning.

[manachar]

It's not just freelancers, agencies need them too. Most agencies exist and die on a relatively small handful of anchor clients, if for no other reason than stable cash flow so they can make payroll.

By-the-way, these anchor clients usually aren't exciting or fun. In fact, they're usually creatively boring and predictable.

[bigiain]

Agencies need to be careful though - when your relationship with your "80% of the billings" client sours, you've got a _big_ problem.

https://insolvencynotices.asic.gov.au/browsesearch-notices/n...

[CodeWriter23]

I can attest to this. Thing is, once you have an anchor client, you need to be reaching for the next one. You never know what might happen to their business...I can attest to that, too.