Hi BusinessHack, I'm not a journalist but I have had lonely days working alone in my home office! Sometimes I enjoyed it but usually, it got to me after a few days. My solution these days (after 10 years of self-employment) is to work from a co-working space. You rent a desk and are automatically part of the community. They also often offer relatively cheap hot desks. Maybe you can find something similar where you live?

These things can be tricky if they are too broad - make sure it at least specifies the particular industry sector or product that you're not allowed to compete in. I would also look to add a clause that you can still work for company B in the meantime, as that's an existing relationship. 3 months seems reasonable to me too. Good luck!

Hi Jess3D, you asked this question back in March, did you get any extra money in the end? It's great that they are asking for more work, it means that they value (and need) your service. The rest is just sales strategy :)

I would do some small changes for free, part of good customer service. If they've made a spelling mistake or realised they'd sent the wrong picture, that sort of thing. You don't want them to be left in the lurch.

For anything else, I start charging straight away. I used to be worried about this too but it changed when I started to assume that they expect to be charged extra. It's a small psychological trick that you can play on yourself. Here's a standard email that I send out:

"Dear ..., thank you for your email. Yes, of course, I'd be happy to carry out the extra changes. I estimate it would take 2 days. Under our agreed rate that comes to £x. Please confirm that you would like to go ahead and I can get started straight away. Best regards,..."

This is a really positive approach, there are no obstacles in the way. It doesn't open up any questions about whether you're 'allowed' to charge. Quite often they ask for an estimate straight away the next time they ask for changes 🙂 Hope that helps!