Freelancing has been a much-sought profession by many nine to five office workers. So, are you are one of the full-time salary people and thinking of making a switch to freelancing? You must have come across some advantages of freelancing. If I tell you there are disadvantages of freelancing, will you revert to your decision?
In this post, we will share the pros and cons of freelancing that might be helpful to you in making the right choice before you altogether leave yourself to freelancing or corporate jobs.
Corporate Job v/s Freelancing
For some people, freelancing might be stressful and demanding. On the other side, another group sees freelancing as a career option that assures them of making twice the money as they make in corporate jobs. To make a long story short, freelancing can be stressful and demanding, but it is equally liberating and rewarding.
It has both positive and negative aspects. It is more of a personal decision whether they want to make themselves their boss or feel safe in corporate jobs. But, working under someone or in a team is nothing compared to working alone; being your boss is thrilling and exciting. Freelancing is great to know what your skills are and be a professional in that.
So, comparing freelancing to corporate jobs is like comparing apples to oranges.
So, we have done the work for you by making a curated list of the pros and cons of freelancing.
6 Advantages of Freelancing:
- Be Your Own Boss The first advantage of becoming a freelancer is that you get to do work as per your wish. You get to wear anything, and no one can give orders to you, no fixed time to enter and leave the office. In fact, you can call off a day. Being a freelancer, you get the chance to choose your projects in which you are passionate, not by some dimwit.
The best part is you can work remotely, either in a washroom or in a park or anywhere, anytime. In addition, you might work on something of your own, as long as you don't miss the deadline. - Get Control over Clients and Projects The client's behavior can, sometimes, be very pathetic, rude, and unprofessional. Being a freelancer gives you direct control over some dimwits. You can reject the proposal if you are not interested in it. It's effortless, and you don't have to deal with rude clients.
- Profits are in your hand Many say that they only get meager earnings after working hard on a project. They do know that the content in that project is worth a lot more. This makes an employee feel depressing. There is limited earning potential in full-time jobs.
But, as a freelancer, you keep the profits of all the projects, either small or big. You get all the funds directly transferred to your bank account without giving anyone a single penny of your hard work. - Broader chance to increase income Freelancing has been very rewarding for individuals who have prior experience and expertise in a particular field of work. Freelancers make fast money if you have great marketing skills.
Freelancers work from home that gives them an advantage of keeping their income levels high as they don't have to spend on commute. During the initial days, it might be challenging to gain momentum. - Fewer business meetings Often, corporate jobs hold meetings to discuss one topic. These meetings are considered boring and stupid by individuals.
In freelancing, you don't have to justify yourself to anyone for taking small or big decisions. All you care about is yourself and your business. - Freelancing gives you a more creative approach Freelancers are often considered to be creative in marketing their brand or making themselves a brand. It means you might end up getting a single task from a client, and there might be another client who asks for all your services. So, you develop the inner skill to accomplish both tasks efficiently and as per the customer's requirements.
5 Disadvantages of Freelancing
- No fixed income It is a bitter truth that being a freelancer is a tough job as you don't have a consistent income and workload. You might work for a month and sit for the next two months. It is a real tough job to retain yourself in the initial days with all the depressing moments and thoughts of quitting as a freelancer and start again with a corporate job.
- Being alone in business Though you are your own boss, you have to do everything alone. You have to make every decision; every responsibility is on your head. You don't have to report to any boss, but there is a much more demanding person: your client. Even if he is rude or annoying, you might want to go with his work as your business depends on the payment.
- Risk of not getting paid Sometimes, being a freelancer puts you at risk of corrupt clients who don't give your payment. They take the work from you and keep your payment to themselves and tell you to come around after few days. Some websites protect you from this, but this is pretty much common in the freelancing world.
- No employee benefits As in a traditional office, you get health benefits, sick leaves, insurance, or vacation leaves. You will not get all these as a freelancer. You have to take care of your family or your time by managing the client's project. It's hard to distinguish between your work time and personal time. One day's leave might cost you an arm and a leg.
- Isolation Humans are social animals. If you work alone, without any employee or staff, you might feel low and depressing. Connecting with people through social media platforms like Facebook, Linkedin, might relieve you and get you in touch with more professionals.
Best Freelancing Platforms
In today's modern era, everything is pretty much dependent upon technology. So, technology has made certain advancements through which freelancing is made more accessible and much more happening. There are many platforms to find work as a freelancer. Some are listed here; visit them and try to grab a client.
- Fiverr
- Upwork
- Rozgaar India
- Toptal
- PeoplePerHour
- 99Designs
Freelancing Stats
According to research conducted by the Freelancers Union, approximately 57.3 million people work as freelancers in America, which is about 36% of the working population. According to TIME magazine, that number will skyrocket to 50% in the year 2020, rather it passed that percentage with great assistance from the COVID-19 pandemic. The numbers say it all.
SummarizingHang in there; you are not the only one who has eager to know this. Many professionals are wondering about the pros and cons of freelancing. Even the corporate world wants to know the advantages and disadvantages of hiring freelancers.
