Are you considering diving into the world of freelance work? Before you do, we’ve put together a list of the top four things for you to consider…
1. You set your prices and your salary
If you think you deserve more money, you can increase your rates. If you are snowed under with work and customers are fighting for your attention, you can hike up the prices. You have full control over where the profits go, how much salary you get and how much is invested back into your work. You can assess each project as an individual and price it as such, charging more for particularly time-consuming ventures. With a handy invoice maker, you can easily create your own invoices with costs broken down exactly how you want them – creating professional invoices is essential for keeping track of your finances and will be necessary once tax season comes around.
2. You are your own boss
If you have ever worked in an office, I’m sure you have some experience with clueless management – superior staff with no idea what exactly their employees do. This can mean you get dumped with tons of work and given a completely unrealistic deadline which will require you to work overtime with little to no appreciation or recognition. Sometimes you can even be lumped with tasks without an idea why you are being asked to do it.
Big office environments are notoriously bad when it comes to communication and this can cause you to waste your time on a task that will later need to be redone or completely scrapped altogether. These are just a few of the problems you might have to deal with when working as an employee for a company. When you are self-employed you have full transparency – you are in control. And although you may not have a manager breathing down your neck, you do have to answer to your clients, but they can often be much easier to appease.
3. Flexible working hours
You will not have to stick to the strict 9 to 5 routine, which can have a lot of benefits. You can work whenever you need to and take time off whenever you can afford it. If you would rather work weekends and have time off during the week, you can. If you want to start your workday super early or maybe you would rather work in the evenings, it is completely up to you. Your clients or customers will likely set deadlines for the work, but you decide when to do it. If you have good organizational skills, then freelancing would be perfect for you as you could plan your time perfectly and maybe even afford yourself a bit more time off.
4. Work wherever you want to
As a freelancer, you do not have an office to go to every day. You don’t have to clock in and clock out. Most freelancers will work from home but there are no rules when you’re working for yourself, if you want to sit on the beach and reply to your emails or relax in a cozy café while you work – there is nothing stopping you. You can work from whatever environment is more conducive to your own productivity.
