There are 28 million small businesses in America – 21 million of them are businesses of one. They’re self-employed or freelancers. Many of these folks aren’t necessarily trying to start a business. They just want to follow their passion, whether it’s baking, writing or landscaping. But the fact is you have to think like a business to succeed. So, here are my five foundational rules for freelancers, in tweet-sized takeaways.

Rule #1: Work ON your business, not IN it.

This rule comes from Michael Gerber’s fantastic book, “The E-Myth,” which should be required reading for all entrepreneurs.

If you can’t get away from your business, you don’t really own that business, that business owns you.

Step outside of the day-to-day, so you can work on the business and not in it, so you can free up time to live the life you really want.

Rule #2: Spend a third of your time getting new customers.

New customers are the lifeblood of any business, whether it has 100,000 people or 1 person. Customers equals revenue.

If most freelancers or entrepreneurs work a 10-12 hour day, many spend next to none of that time really focused on getting new customers.

Make a daily habit to spend a few hours doing nothing but prospecting for new customers. It’s going to pay the biggest dividend over time.

Always strive to have slightly more customers than you can handle, which is the best problem for any business to have.

Rule #3: Leverage tools to systemize tedious tasks and save time.

Beware of “urgent” tasks that don’t help you serve a customer well or get new ones. Everything besides those two things are distractions.

Distinguish the urgent stuff from the important stuff. Focus on the important stuff.

Find ways to automate “tasks” like your bookkeeping and taxes (Quickbooks Self Employed), so you can focus on meeting “goals” that really drive your business.

Rule #4: Be willing to sacrifice money in the short-term for more revenue and time in the longterm.

Being a business of one doesn’t mean you need to do everything alone. It’s not a sustainable way to grow your business.

Time is your most valuable asset. Be willing to spend money so you can buy more time so you can focus on the business.

With more time, you’ll be able to work on the most important thing for your business. Often the most important thing leads to new customers.

Rule #5: Think of freelancing as a business.

It’s hard to think of your passion as a business. But if you don’t, you won’t have the life you wanted in the first place.

Find structure. Get organized. Meet deadlines. Know the most important metrics for your business and hold yourself accountable for them.

Be methodical about building the foundation for the business. Then you can really build something you can work on instead of work in.

By treating your passion as a business, you’re actually going to make more money, have more time and be more rewarded in the end.