2024 In Review: These Were the Most Important Topics
The year is coming to an end and we're taking the opportunity to review 2024: it was full of exciting topics for freelancers, the self-employed and companies. In this article, we take a look back.
Business Risks: Everyone Can Be Affected
Anyone who runs a business has to deal with potential risks right from the start. Working in an agency is particularly varied and complex. You can read what you need to be prepared for in the article Business Risks For Agencies: These Are The Threats You Should Be Aware Of.
Social media is also a permanent fixture in the area of risks. Hardly any business can do without Instagram, Facebook and the rest. That's why we've taken a close look at cyber risks in social media.
When it comes to cyber risks, companies need to keep an eye not only on their own IT infrastructure, but also on their entire supply chain - as a freelancer, you are part of it. To prevent cyber criminals from using your business as a gateway into your clients' IT, you should also arm yourself against attacks. Our article Supply Chain Attack: How To Protect Yourself Against Attacks On Your Delivery Network will help you with this.
All in all, crises can affect any business, regardless of industry and size. If the worst comes to the worst, one thing is crucial: The right crisis communication.
When Risk Management Fails: Our Damage Events
Sometimes, despite all precautionary measures, what can go wrong goes wrong. The result is an instructive damage event and a job for Professional Indemnity Insurance. This is what happened, for example, to a media designer who was supposed to create an annual calendar. Unfortunately, the wrong public holidays got into the document and caused a lot of chaos. Written warnings due to trademark infringements are also a classic example - as a portal operator found out after the unauthorised use of a logo.
Especially those who work in digital professions often underestimate the probability of property damage. A mistake, as this damage event proves: Water Damage In Rented Office Space.
But the festive spirit has not been forgotten either. To mark this season, we didn't miss the opportunity to come up with a few damage scenarios ourselves. So, on Star Wars Day, chaos strikes back and a turbulent party awaits us in our Halloween damage event.
Professional Indemnity Insurance: Is It Worth It?
Professional Indemnity Insurance helps in the case of a damage event - we keep writing about it again and again here. But does everyone who works as a freelancer or self-employed person really need such coverage? We clarify this in the article Professional Indemnity Insurance: Who Needs To Be Insured? However, taking out Professional Indemnity Insurance is of course also a question of cost. We answer this here: What Is the Cost of Professional Indemnity Insurance?
New Laws: Security and Digitalisation
Legislation is constantly coming up with new ideas to make various aspects of self-employment fit for the future:
- More efficient, secure use of data: This is the aim of the Data Act, which came into force at the beginning of the year.
- Artificial intelligence also continues to be relevant. To take account of this development, the EU has launched the AI Act. After initial trials with various tools, many people are now asking themselves how they can use AI effectively in their day-to-day business. In the article AI In Business: How To Use Artificial Intelligence As a Freelancer, we have given some thought on how this can be achieved.
- The EU also wants to bring the issue of product liability into the modern age with a Product Liability Directive.
- As many things now take place in the digital space, the legislation aims to create a secure digital environment for everyone involved - with the Digital Service Act.
- The necessary cyber security must be guaranteed in order to implement all of these projects. The requirements of the Cyber Resilience Act serve this purpose.
Knowledge That Pays Off: Our Service Topics
Once again this year, we have set ourselves the task of providing our readers with practical tips on various business topics.
If you run your own business, you rarely have time to create all the content yourself. Fortunately, you can use content from third parties - but there is a risk of falling into the copyright trap. To make things easier for everyone involved, the organisation has developed Creative Commons licences. The aim is to combine ease of use with legal security.
If you decide to produce your own content, you not only have to find the right platform for it. You are also forced to take their peculiarities into account. To make this easier for you, we have taken a closer look at two important networks:
- YouTube For Freelancers: Using the Online Platform For Your Business
- Instagram For Freelancers: Establishing a Brand and Attracting Customers
However, the best offer is useless if it doesn't reach anyone. You can change that with a good offer letter. We'll tell you what's important here: Writing Your Offer Properly - How To Convince Potential Customers. But this is just one of many tools you can use to draw attention to your business. If you succeed in building a brand around your person, you can acquire new orders regularly and put your business on a stable basis. In the article Personal Branding For Freelancers: How To Build Your Personal Brand, we reveal how to do this.
If you want to survive in the market, you not only need to promote yourself well - your expertise should always be up to date too. This is only possible with regular further education. Read our article to find out how you can fit this into your busy everyday life Further Education For the Self-Employed: How To Learn Successfully.
But even when a new project is realised, the uncertainties do not end there. Because where different parties work together, rules are necessary. This creates security for both sides and allows everyone to concentrate on the project at hand. What helps here? A well-drafted project contract.
No matter how much you enjoy your work - sometimes you just long for a change of scenery. With a workation, this is possible even with a full order book. In this article, we summarise how to combine work and travel.
Preparation Is Everything: How To Set Up a Successful Business
Do you have a business idea? Very good! If you want to turn it into a successful business, you need a suitable concept. We can help you finding the right one: Finding a Business Model: Which One Is Best For Your Business? But remember: a business idea does not finance itself. In this interview, lawyer Dr Georg Schröder gives tips on various sources of financing and reveals how to handle a bank interview with confidence. If you want to keep an overview of your finances for the duration of your business, it is best to open a business account sooner than later. We clarify which factors you need to consider.
By the way: If you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket when setting up your business, you can also become self-employed alongside your main job. Read here to find out how to make a success of your sideline start-up: Start Up Successfully Alongside Your Main Job.
Let the New Year Begin: Here's To an Enlightening 2025
2024 was full of interesting content. We immersed ourselves in new topics, dealt with current developments and learnt a lot. Let's continue to grow together in 2025!
Vivien Gebhardt is an online editor at exali. She creates content on topics that are of interest to self-employed people, freelancers and entrepreneurs. Her specialties are risks in e-commerce, legal topics and claims that have happened to exali insured freelancers.
She has been a freelance copywriter herself since 2021 and therefore knows from experience what the target group is concerned about.
