If you ask a freelancer what the greatest benefits are, being a freelancer, the most common answers you will get is being your own boss and freedom. Only a fraction of work while earning a full time income is also another answer you'll hear quite often.
I'll debunk some myths for you and give you the reality.
- Being your own boss. Yes, that is true. You are your own boss. You decide who you will work with or who you will work for and you decide whenever you want a break etc. Based on that, it sure sounds tempting, right?
The reality is a bit different though. First of all, the clients you decide to work for is, no matter how you see it, your new boss. Your clients, personal or not, are ultimately your new boss and you'll probably end up having several of bosses along your freelancer career, as it's often difficult to make a living by working with only one client. (That obviously depends on the client.)
- You decide whether to work, taking breaks or spend your time doing nothing. Being your own boss and being a freelancer, working from home or an office doesn't matter. You decide these things by yourself. As Rocky Balboa said: "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows." and this fits perfectly. (Yeah, I'm a true Rocky Balboa Fan. You can find another article by me here: The TRUTH About Success Stories: MOST Newcomers Aren't Aware of it. -Are YOU Aware of it?! I made a quote there as well.)
Anyhow,
In reality you'll have to work hard and fulfill all the tasks you've been hired for. That ultimately leads to the first point in this article. Clients = Boss. They decide how they want things done, when they need it etc. You'll need to agree on their terms and you'll need to do the work they requested.
- You will need to provide your service or product at huge discounts to overcome any competitors prices. There's a lot of competition in the freelancing-world, I won't lie. Several buyers are looking for the cheapest deal they can get and by setting your prices too high might hurt your business.
In reality this is true, but only half true. An established freelancer with good reputation and credibility might actually hurt their businesses by providing too cheap services. There's a lot of clients who are looking for high quality and they might assume that you provide services of low quality if you offer them services for nickels and dimes.
- You'll work a few short hours per day and you will make a full time income. Or perhaps even millions!! - Some people have managed to pull this off and you can do it too.
The reality is, that you can but you probably won't be able to pull this off. Most freelancers (at least most of the freelancers I know personally) are working their butts of for at least 12 hours per day on sketchy orders, with deadlines to meet. This is a true stress factor and you will always need to keep an eye out for new clients to accept so you can make even more money. You will probably not launch a million dollar affiliate program the first years of your freelancing career, so you better be prepared. It's easy to become a freelancer but it's much more difficult to keep working as one.
In case you liked this, feel free to take a look at this one too:
How To Build Reputation, Credibility And Make Money On Steemit?!
Best Regards,
hitmeasap