Advantages vs. disadvantages of being a freelancer

Many people barely dream in a single day of their life to escape from the tutelage of their bosses and start on their own but only a small part realize the importance of taking this step. A freelancer is the individual who makes a living by working alone; usually he works in the field that allows such possibilities, meaning design, development, writing, SEO and so on.

As in any trade, freelancing supposes many advantages but there are also disadvantages, it’s awesome to do whatever you want, whenever you want, but it also means that you have to fight against old mentalities built around the idea that it isn’t a job or that a freelancer is lazy folk who doesn’t want to work. Anyway, the great majority of people are tempted to try it for some months to see for themselves what freelancing is really all about, but before trying, it is better to know that a freelancer must have some special traits to succeed in this kind of activity.

Freedom lover

First, any freelancer must be a great lover of freedom. Without this passion, it’s hard to survive in such a challenging world. Loving what you do is the fuel that allows one to enjoy the risks of being on their own, if someone considers himself a conservative person, then it’s better not to take freelancing into account.

Self-disciplined

Second, but it’s probably just as important as the first trait, is self-discipline. Working individually, with no boss to correct any small mistake is an unusual climate and the great majority of people have the tendency to become lazy. The temptations as laying into bed until late in the morning, the frequent small talks with friends, seeing the latest videos on YouTube are a great source of wasting time and few resist to them.

Industrious person

A freelancer must do the work of an entire team and only the active ones handle the multitude of tasks. In fact, clients request the services of a freelancer because he may realize the same work for smaller amount of money. Besides that, a freelancer gains money as long as he works, once he is inefficient the financial situation is in danger.

Obviously, many more qualities are required but these are mandatory. Supposing that someone passes all these “criterions”, is he ready to join the freelance community? There is the well-known answer, “it depends on,” but anyone who is still tempted should think twice and see the advantages and disadvantages of these main issues:

Work and family

Paradoxical, the biggest advantage of freelancing is the possibility to work from home but also the greatest disadvantage is that work and family are blended together.

Working from home is great, the costs on transport and the eventual rent disappear, and the flexible program could represent a visible improvement of one’s power-will. All these advantages are effective only when the boundary between work and family is well established; or else, this amalgam is toxic. A capital and widespread mistake of freelance beginners is to make the confusion between “working from home” and “staying at home.”

The financial perspective

Being a freelancer is the equivalent of gaining as much as you work, if someone is doing 100 projects per month it is highly probable that he is making a good living but there are times when freelancers did not have (there is no freelancer who did not have a client crisis) for a good period of time any inquiry from a potential client.

From this perspective, freelance activity is a sword with double meaning, you could gain enough money for some months and at other times have serious problems because you have no projects to do.

The evolution of the career

Working in a web design agency means that the employer will have a career, from “entry-level” to senior web designer and a lot of various stages. The community formed by the employers assures the beginner a climate that makes the career evolution easier and any problem is seen by many eyes and many brains are searching for a common solution. A freelancer can’t benefit from the help of other colleagues and he needs to find a solution on their own but at the same time he isn’t under the pressure of other people, there is no chance of personal conflict.

The free time matter

If someone may be inspired in a routine schedule, from 9 AM to 5 PM then working in an agency is recommended but in the case where it is considered annoying, the freelance alternative is available. It’s very true that as a freelancer you may work whenever you want but this isn’t equivalent to having more free time. The most active freelancers don’t have time but have many projects on the plateau and they often quit personal pleasures for work. However, the satisfaction of well-done projects is incomparable and many people are addicted to this feeling.

Steve Jobs predicated a quite useful idea, he said that it is better to try than dream and asking yourself if it’s a good decision or not, anyway, we all have the same end and it’s better to be content with what we are doing. Freelance is a modern hymn to liberty but at the same time it means more responsibility that, in the beginning, someone will believe.