Freelancing gets a bad name and I’m never really sure why not. Possibly because of the kind of business culture that’s associated with it: yoga vegans munching on soy beans and saying things like “You’ve got to believe that you can be a freelance to really be a freelance.”
I can’t stand that culture – but if it’s your kind of thing, that’s OK too.
But that’s not the point. The point is that a lot of people are discouraged from freelancing because of that stigma. Unfortunately, I can’t change a stigma, but I can be a realist and weigh up the pros and cons. Here’s my experience of year one:
Cons
- No stable income – no matter how much the internet tells you otherwise, do not believe that you’ll ever have a stable income from freelancing. You will be sorely disappointed. Invoicing takes time and you might not get paid until after your rent day, water bill day, mobile day, family occasion. You might well have to pawn your grandma in order to pay off that credit card bill – don’t worry though, it will be an adventure for her!
- It gets mighty lonely sometimes – In my first year of freelancing, I’ve often got to times where I’ve been desolate with loneliness. Despite the fact that I live with my wife who comes home at 5pm every day and spends the evening talking with me, eating with me etc. it still got really lonely sometimes. That’s because you spend the majority of the day without any human contact if you’re working from home. My suggestion is to try to get out as much as you can and never work after 17h even when you’ve got tight deadlines. Be social whenever you get the chance!
- Crushing confidence blows - While you’re not ever going to be completely buffered from crushing blows to your confidence in a ‘normal’ job, when you’re freelance all of the ideas and initiation come from you. If you’re 100% sure that an idea works, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to sell it to a client. I’ve had experiences where I’ve though I’ve got a sure fire sell only to be crestfallen when a couple of minutes into a meeting, it’s evident that I’m banging my head against the wall. It’s tempting to resign yourself to failure at moments like that. But keep on!
Pros
- Free Schedule – Ideas person? Creative? Freelancing is the best career and possibly best life choice you will ever make. You are your own boss and as such you can plan your time around your passions. If you’re a journalist and come up with an incredible idea for say, a coffee shop, don’t even worry about it. Give it some time to mull over and if you’re still tempted by it, do it! You’ve got literally all the time in the world.
- Social Employment - My friends and family are often joking with me about my lifestyle. I spend an inordinate amount of time at restaurants and in bars, pubs and cafes working. What am I doing? Usually chatting with people and catching up – they’re mostly always people who I work with on a daily basis. Some are editors, journalists but the majority are also friends. I’m socially and economically gainful when I have meetings and drinks with colleagues. Plus, it saves me the crushing loneliness and self doubt that I talked about earlier.
- Never get creative block – Everyone worries that they’ll get creative block when they’re working freelance. It could be deadly for your business but actually, because you work for people in so many different places, you can just change your schedule and to do list according to your mood. Struggling to write copy, edit some copy instead. Bored of looking at a computer screen? Arrange a meeting. Simple!
- Be the coolest person you know – No one is cooler than a freelancer who knows he doesn’t have to work if he doesn’t fancy it. Some days, I get bored of working and decide to blow it all off and pop to the cinema or read a book or whatever really. Of course, I work extra hard on a different day to make up for it, but it’s OK – I’ll be nicely rested. Recently, I was able to stay on holiday with all my family even though the week had started. Today, I decided to take a long lunch and assemble a sofa we got given by our landlord. Last week, I felt like taking a break to write a book – so I did that. Sounds slobbish? No, not at all. I work ridiculously hard – I just work differently.
I’m pretty sure that I could go on extolling the virtues of freelancing until the cows come home or until everyone else’s work day finishes.
When it is good, it is very, very good. When it is bad, it is horrid.