27 Sep Freed Up: Reasons You Should Be a Freelancer
Maybe you always considered yourself the “straight job” type – working for a traditional company with a regular job. Whether you really believe in a company’s mission or products, or just want subsidized private health care, there are lots of reasons to be a so-called “normal” employee. But for some, being a freelancer is a great opportunity for those who want to have more autonomy, get bored easily, or just want to keep their options open.
Reasons why you might want to be a freelancer:
Change is good. One of the advantages to being a freelancer is that you’re always getting new clients, for different organizations, with different styles and needs. On the one hand, that can be maddening. But for others it’s exciting.
Some companies are very traditional, some want to be disrupters, some are highly organized, while others…well, not so much. But if you thrive on constantly adapting and learning new things, it could be a lot of fun, and push you intellectually to meet very different needs.
Self-control. You also get to decide a lot about how you manage your career. You can decide how much to work, which clients to take, how much you want to charge. While this also means a fair amount of uncertainty (what happens when that project ends, can you take on more work and still get some sleep), it can be very satisfying to be your own boss.
You can sweat the small stuff. Being a freelancer is not the same thing as being an entrepreneur. The latter suggests you want to start a company, a growing enterprise, eventually with multiple employees, and maybe even world domination.
But being a freelancer usually suggests you want to do your own thing, but only your own thing. As a solo worker, you’ll take on a variety of employees and jobs, and then move on to the next, but you’re not trying to build an empire.
You’re a one-trick pony (in a good way). Freelance work tends to be work that lends itself to being executed by just one person, and doesn’t need a whole support team. Examples include things like web designers, graphic artists, bloggers and IT assistance. Often it’s work you can do remotely, even from home, and doesn’t require a multi-person team.
Experienced. Freelancing careers don’t require that you have experience, but it helps. If you want someone to trust you with their needs, they probably are assuming you can be let loose and figure it out yourself.
They might even be relying on you to help them figure out what they need. If you’re looking for on-the-job training, it might be best to start off in an environment where you have a chance to work for someone who can teach you the critical skills.
If you want to be a freelancer, getting started is pretty easy.
There are so many resources for those who want to go it on their own these days that perhaps the easiest part of a freelancer life is the getting started. Online billing, online booking, social media marketing and simple, affordable websites means it’s super easy to hang out your own virtual shingle, quickly and inexpensively. Being a freelancer definitely is not for everyone, but if it’s for you, you might love it.
