Essential Goals Every African Freelancer Should Set for 2025

With 120 million self-employed Africans and a $28 billion market, the gig economy is expanding and changing. As a result, among the African youth, freelancing has become an increasingly popular career choice. From social media managers to web developers to customer care representatives, the diverse talent pool among freelancers signifies a diverse talent pool among freelancers. Like in every other field, success doesn’t happen by chance. Setting goals with actionable steps is what brings success in freelancing.

Why goal-setting? First off, focus. When you have a goal set and written down, it helps you to stay focused and organized. Goal setting is regardless of the level of freelancing that you are at. Challenges, success, and failure are all events that can happen to anyone whether a newbie or an experienced freelancer.  Setting goals is what sets the successful African freelancer apart from the unsuccessful one. This article explores goals every African freelancer should set to maximize opportunities and have a thriving career.

Goals Every Freelancer Must Set For 2025

In this section, we will highlight some of the goals necessary for every freelancer to set in 2025. Also, we’ll discuss a guide to help you set achievable goals.

Make Your Freelance Goals Smart

In case you don’t already know, an important aspect of goal setting is making your goals S.M.A.R.T. This means that your goal must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. So, for example, if you have a goal to make more money than you did the previous year, making your goal SMART will result in your goal being like this; “I want to make $3,000 monthly from at least three different gigs from Upwork by the end of 2025”.

The goal above is SPECIFIC (make $3,000 monthly from at least three different gigs), MEASURABLE ($3,000 monthly), ACHIEVABLE (depending on your skill set, it is possible to make this amount from different gigs), RELEVANT (you’re an African freelancer so this kind of goal is highly relevant to you), and TIME BOUND (by the end of 2025).

This template is how you can make the best and achieve most of your goals for the year

Financial Goals

Using money alone as a metric to determine success for a freelancer might be wrong. However, it will not be wrong to assume that the amount of money a freelancer earns may to an extent determine the level of their success. Setting financial goals is important because it determines how much work you can put in, the number of pitches and proposals you send out as well as the kind of skills you can get in pursuit of that goal.

To get started, you need to define how much you want to make. Come up with a specific number. Remember our SMART goals. The number shouldn’t be too ridiculous. It is not expected that as a newbie freelance customer care agent, you want to make $10,000 from one gig before the second quarter of the year. That’s not an achievable goal. You can break your total yearly goal down into monthly goals and even quarterly goals. This helps you focus more on what’s possible at the moment and what you can do immediately to achieve that goal.

Also, you might need to offer different services if you see that the current ones you offer are not as high-paying as you wish. Upskill, take courses, and get certified. You can also diversify your offers on various platforms. For African freelancers, platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, LinkedIn, etc are quite relevant. Optimize your profiles on these platforms and diversify your earnings. Consider raising your rates to hit your earnings target. Read this article on how to raise your rates without losing clients.

Skill Improvement Goals

The world is moving fast and you shouldn’t be left behind. The skill you started with might not be in demand anymore. Rather than insist on one skill, find one that is highly sought after both locally in your country and across the world.

As you learn a new skill, also position yourself as an expert by building a portfolio that showcases your best work to attract clients. Your portfolio shows prospective clients what you can do. You don’t need to have had an experience in that area, to create a hypothetical problem to a hypothetical situation related to your particular service. Solve that problem and simply add it to your portfolio.

Branding and Visibility Goals

“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”

Seth Godin

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As a freelancer, what your online presence says about your brand is very important. You don’t need to be Nike or Apple before you can have a personal brand. Position yourself to tell stories about yourself, how you ended up freelancing, why you offer the services you offer, etc. These stories are what make your personal brand. This total of your experiences is what distinguishes you from your competitors.

Set goals that relate to what you want your brand to be. Your goals should reflect on your posting schedule on social media and what kind of content you put out. Put out positive reviews and feedback from successful client relations to boost your social credibility. Take a look at some of these practical ways to build your online reputation as a freelancer.

Work-Life Balance Goals

It is uncommon for freelancers to find a find a perfect balance between work and life. This could be linked to the fact that freelancers work from home, and the work-life balance line can easily be blurred, creating the illusion that there is a perfect work-life balance. Many freelancers neglect their personal and social lives while chasing their career goals.

Work-life balance goals might require you to set a time of the week to hang out with family and friends. Sometimes, you could plan out a solo vacation or one with friends. Ensure that whatever you do works out for you. It should be something relaxing that you truly enjoy. Take care of your health and ensure to enjoy yourself while you work.

Final Thoughts

Your finances, your skills, and work-life balance should be prioritised this year. Ensure that you set goals that align with your priorities. Consider your needs before you get started. If need be, you might need to do a little research to find out what’s best for you. It is important that your goals reflect your priorities and your immediate needs. There’s no need to get technical about your goals, so long as they reflect what you need, you are good to go. Write your goals down and put them where you can constantly be reminded of them.

As you set those S.M.A.R.T. goals, remember that you can do everything you set your heart to do. As you hit the ground running, remember to join our community of like-minded freelancers like you and also keep yourself updated on our blogs for more useful information.