Both Cheryl and I have been freelancing in our individual fields for over 20 years so we know what it's like facing the challenges that working on your own presents, as well as the benefits. Here are our top six challenges freelancers face. These will apply to you whether you are a pattern cutter, grader, designer or visual merchandiser. In fact, any freelance role in the fashion sector is likely to lead to these type of challenges.

Difficult Clients

Every now and again freelancers get a difficult client to manage and do business with. This difficulty comes in lots of guises too. These could be:

• Lacking clarity around what they want you to do leading to confusion and endless changes.
• Poor communication about projects you are commissioned to do. You need their help so that you can help them but they never respond on time or they are difficult to get hold of so doing business with them becomes difficult.
• Not paying your invoices on time or at all so it impacts your business,...