Not everyone guesses what awaits them on their complimentary bread. Is it possible to work and travel? Do freelancers lie under palm trees all day? And what does self-employment represent? Let’s talk briefly and clearly about all the nuances.
More and more people are choosing freelancing as their primary income. Of course, there is an opportunity to make money at casino India, but it is not a full-time job. Today, project work can be found in IT and any industry, and this form of cooperation is more convenient for many people than hired work.
What is freelance in simple words?
Freelance is project work. A freelancer cooperates with different clients, and he does not have one permanent employer. Analysts at the consulting firm McKinsey identify three critical characteristics of self-employed people that distinguish them from salaried employees:
- A high degree of independence. Freelancers determine their working hours and workload, as well as make their own decision to work with a particular client;
- payment for the project. Unlike salaried employees, freelancers do not have an hourly wage or a fixed monthly salary. They get paid for a completed task;
- a short-term employee-client relationship. Freelancers are generally not bound by permanent employment with the same company. Once the project is completed, the working relationship with the client is also completed.
Why freelancing is becoming more and more in demand
First of all, the advantages of freelance work are related to the free schedule. However, there are also many advantages to this employer’s employment type. For example, the company can attract temporary employees only to work on specific tasks. Moreover, freelancers allow companies to save money – the fact that this type of cooperation helped to reduce staff costs, said 51% of respondents surveyed by PwC consulting and auditing firm.
The pandemic has also increased interest in freelancing. In the first two and a half months of the pandemic crisis worldwide, 3.5 million people were officially laid off. The number of those wishing to find project work has increased.
The pros and cons of freelancing
Statista surveyed U.S. freelancers to find out what attracts them to freelance work. The most common answer was flexible schedules, with the opportunity to be their boss coming in second.
Other perks of freelancing, according to respondents, are the ability to plan income, work from anywhere, do what feels good and seems necessary, and spend more time with family.
The main factor that stops people from leaving a salaried job to work independently is unpredictability. It mainly concerns money: freelancing can not guarantee a steady paycheck every month. Another frequent fear is the constant worry of finding clients to make a living.
Who will and who will not be suited to this kind of work
The social network for finding business contacts, LinkedIn, has compiled a portrait of a freelancer. It turned out that people who like freelance work at home have several qualities in common.
Purposefulness. 97% of those who choose freelancing as their primary employment prefer to be focused on one project. “Our research shows that the professionals who are most satisfied with freelance work feel they have a mission and their work makes a meaningful difference,” says Togori Carago, senior project manager for LinkedIn’s ProFinder freelancer project.
The ability to keep things under control. Freelancers decide when, where and how much to work. They also have to look for clients, negotiate with them, and allocate finances.
Understanding that a hobby does not necessarily become a good job. People in the creative professions – musicians, writers, designers – turn out to be the least satisfied with switching to freelancing, even though they are the ones who make the most money per hour working “for themselves.” So perhaps a passionate hobby is worth keeping as a hobby.
They are aiming for long-term work. Freelancing is best enjoyed by people who value stability over the long term while being okay with the need to take risks in the here and now. People who grasp one-time, part-time jobs end up with fatigue and burnout.
How to become a freelancer: step by step instructions
First, it’s worth deciding on your field of work: whether you want to change it or stay in your industry as a freelancer. You can provide legal or accounting services, make repairs or take pictures – these are all types of freelancing.
The next step is to put together a portfolio. It’s worth including all the work you consider successful. After that, you can register on freelance exchanges and respond to suitable jobs.
To protect yourself when working directly with clients, you need to draw up a sample contract in advance and sign it with each new customer. You can work both on partial and full prepayment, but not every client will agree to this without an agreement – customers need guarantees that the work will be done on time and following the task.
It is also essential to think about the financial cushion – it should suffice for at least a couple of months (ideally – six months) of a comfortable life. Many professionals begin the transition to freelancing by taking on a manageable number of additional projects without quitting their day job. This is a way to expand their portfolio without losing their regular income.
Where to look for freelance work
One of the most popular and reliable ways to find a freelance customer is through recommendations from satisfied clients. Social networks also work well: you can publish a post with a story about your skills, the tasks you are interested in, and the projects you have already worked on.
Another method, which is suitable primarily for beginner freelancers, is specialized exchanges.
How much freelancers earn
According to a study by PwC, on average, freelancers in the U.S. earn 18% less in a year than salaried employees. Yet, at the same time, freelancers make higher hourly earnings than those on staff.
Freelance earnings depend primarily on the field. According to the freelancing exchange Freelancehunt, the highest income among its users is mobile application developers. The top five also included programmers, those involved in architecture and engineering, specialists in consulting, working with clients, and designers.
List of professions for remote work
According to experts, the high demand for freelance services in the long term will be in several areas: it is design and multimedia, IT, content and translation, as well as finance, management, and HR.
Analysts of the platform for finding remote and project work have studied which industries most often require freelance employees. It turned out that IT, finance and accounting, administrative work (secretaries and assistants), project management, and customer service are already mentioned.
Is freelancing an official job or not?
If you pay taxes, your activity is legal. However, a freelancer does not work under an employment contract and is not a company’s full-time employee. In this respect, the status of a freelancer is very different from a salaried professional.
Freelancers usually have contracts or other forms of agreements. But this is not a work-for-hire, and your relationship with clients is not regulated by the Labor Code.