Pursuing a career in freelancing is an individual’s choice. However, you cannot deny the fact that freelancing has a ripple effect. Getting income while working from the comforts of home with full flexibility and freedom is always quite alluring. And with the growing advantages of freelancers, companies are offering endless freelancing opportunities, making it further difficult to deny this lure.
Is freelancing good for everyone?
We have all heard about its benefits but everything comes with some challenges too and this is also not an exception. It has its own risks and downsides.
So, let’s delve deeper into the pros and cons of freelance so that you can decide whether freelancing is a good option for them or not.
Pros of Freelancing
Recently, a lot of people have entered this gig economy as freelancers because of its flexibility of working whenever and wherever. As long as you meet the deadlines, you can continue freelancing forever. If you are thinking of getting into this job trend, here are some pros of freelancing:
1. Create Your Own Flexible Schedule
Everyone wants flexibility while working and that’s the best part of freelancing. You can work in any hours you want, be it day or night. Also, you can take work based on your free hours. This flexible working schedule is best for homemakers, digital nomads, and students.
2. Unlimited Income Opportunity
For those who think “does freelancing pay well?”; let us tell them that this field has unlimited income opportunities.
Unlike a full-time job that has a fixed income irrespective of your working hours and hours, in freelancing, you can set your own charges. With growing skills and experience, you can demand more money. Freelancers can always ask for rates according to market rates and the demand for their skills and services. Further, depending on your capacity, you can take on more projects for more income.
3. Choose Your Own Clients
Picking the clients and projects of your choice is one of the best perks of freelancing. If you are not comfortable working on a particular project or don’t like the attitude of your client, you can stop working anytime. Further, with every project and every new client, you strengthen your portfolio; so, you always remain excited to work for new clients.
4. Stay Away From Office Politics
Interpersonal conflicts with employees and bosses are unavoidable with full-time jobs. However, this is not the case with freelancing. You are working alone, on your own terms here. In freelancing, you can cancel or avoid taking projects from clients that put unnecessary work pressure or unreasonable demands before you. Here, you simply focus on your work.
5. Work Whenever and Wherever
As you are working remotely and freelancing, you are free to work on your own terms. It doesn’t matter if you are traveling or not in the city, you only need to have a digital device to work and stay connected. Also, if you have any commitments during the day, you are free to take up your projects at night. You definitely don’t get any of these benefits in your full-time employment.
6. Unlimited Time Off
If you are a freelancer, there is no need to apply for leave for your planned vacation. You can create your own schedule and decide when to work and when to take time off. You only need to complete the tasks and see if they are not affecting your income expectations.
7. Build Your Own Reputation
Even after working full-time for years, you don’t have any personal identity. Your work is often identified with the company in which you have worked. However, in freelancing, people know you as an individual. Clients contact you based on your positive client reviews. As you build more and more clientele, you build your reputation as a successful freelancer in your domain.
8. Work With Diverse Clients
As a freelancer, you do not have any limitations. Working on different projects with different clients helps you build a strong portfolio, which later helps you get more lucrative offers.
Cons of Freelancing
In freelancing, you are the boss but an employee as well. You make your own rules, but you have to abide by them. So, freelancing does not only have everything brighter on its side. Sometimes, you have to go through some challenges to stay at the top. So, let’s know some cons of freelancing:
1. Variable Taxes
One of the major reasons people are skeptical of freelancing is independent contractor taxation. You have to handle complex self-employment taxes and do not have any employer-provided benefits. Taxes are not cut from your freelance earnings, but you need to save and pay them off when reconciled during tax season.
2. No Paid Leaves
It’s true that freelancers can take days off as per their choice and convenience but unlike full-time employees, their leaves are not paid off. So, you need to plan how many days you can go without a day and all the vacation expenses must come from your savings.
3. It Takes Time to Build Reputation, Clients and Money
When you start freelancing, people may not know you. You have to build trust and confidence among your clients with your skills, professionalism and work quality. You may also need to struggle to get good returns in the beginning. As a freelancer, it's entirely your responsibility to find clients, grab projects, deliver on time and build contacts over time. Patience and professionalism are the keys to getting on the top success ladders of freelancing.
4. No Guaranteed Work
Not all freelancers are lucky enough to get work all the time. You need time to submit proposals and reach new clients, which results in some lean periods, too. You need to be mentally prepared for that time.
It may be possible that, over time, your reputation and skills will build a steady income stream, but that, too, is not guaranteed. So, “how much does a freelancer make?” can never be determined with assurance.
5. Payment Issues with Clients
For freelancers, there is no finance department to handle their payments. If you need to create bills and invoices. Sometimes, there can be some issues on the client side, which may result in missed or late payments. This can affect your budget and earnings.
If you are working with some offshore clients, improper invoicing can also lead to payment issues. However, thanks to platforms like Ruul, you can get access to easy invoicing solutions. Ruul can create invoices for you and collect payments faster than ever with all additional fees automatically added based on your client’s location.
6. No Work-life Balance
As freelancers can work anytime and from anywhere, they do not have any structured work routine. Sometimes, you fail to deny some alluring and lucrative offers, affecting your personal life. For freelancers, it is often difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Conclusion
Having known the freelance advantages and disadvantages, it must be clear to you that this job is suitable for people who love freedom and flexibility and want to diversify their portfolio. But you need to be prepared to handle challenges like unpredictable income and job security issues.
Whether freelance is good for you or not depends on your individual situation. You must know what questions to ask before freelancing. Choose this career opportunity wisely based on what you want, what you like and what you already have.
