THE ADVANTAGES OF FREELANCING AS A CAREER

This pandemic has resulted in a lot of people getting laid off and loosing their jobs. Each one of us has a skill or two which can be in demand for a business who may not have the money to hire a full-time employee but does need someone to complete a job. Enter the freelancing option which gives you an opportunity

to market your skills and offer them on a case by case basis for a fee. Here are some of the advantages of being a freelancer.

FLEXIBLE WORK HOURS – One of the best advantages of being a freelancer is that you get to decide when you want to work and when you want to rest, sleep, take a break, watch a movie, etc., etc. – as long as you complete your work on time as committed when you accept a freelance project.

“CHANGE

how you are paid, change YOUR LIFE.” ― Richie Norton

COMPLETE CHOICE AND CONTROL OVER WORK – You get to choose who you want to work with and what kind of project or assignment you want to do based on your passion and interests. After having an initial meeting with a potential client, you can choose not to work with them if you don’t get along or don’t agree with their thought process, a far cry from being stuck with your boss at work.

WORK ANYWHERE - You can say goodbye to long traveling times to work. No more spending hours in traffic trying to get to the office on time in the morning. Your office is now where you want it to be – home, client’s office, coffee shop, park bench, beach side restaurant or your favorite place to hang out. The more time and flexibility you have, the more productive you become.

BEING YOUR OWN BOSS – You no longer have to tolerate your bad boss, no longer have to do what they tell you to do and you no longer have to please anyone. You finally get to take your own decisions and be completely responsible for them. Being in complete control can be very empowering.

YOU GET TO KEEP ALL THE MONEY – Say goodbye to working for a flat salary in which you have to work overtime and do large projects which are very profitable for the company but you get the same salary at the end of the month. How would it feel to finally get full payment with no deductions based on the amount of work you have done? You also get to write off some of your business expenses which automatically means paying lower taxes, While you are considering the advantages of being a freelancer, I have some good news for you, the Internet has come to the rescue and there are some great websites through which you can pickup freelance assignments. Here are a few of them:

Upwork.com – The world’s largest freelance job site. Every year it publishes millions of jobs with over 5000 skills in more than 70 different work categories.

Fiverr.com/gigs – this is another great website where you will find projects for voiceover, video editing, animation, photography, music mixing and even astrology.

Truelancer.com – this is one of my favorites. Projects areas include software development, design, sales and marketing, language translation and accounting.

If you do decide to take the risk and are not afraid of failure, freelancing will let you experience the challenges and uncertainties of self employment. You will have the opportunity to taste professional freedom while doing something you really like and are good at doing and it will also give you the opportunity to build your reputation and reach your goals. All the best.

Rajula is an entrepreneur, international business coach and newspaper columnist with the OHerald in Goa, India. He has an extensive background in business development and marketing and in his spare time like to cook and travel.