The Pros and Cons Of Becoming a Freelancer

The Pros and Cons Of Becoming a Freelancer

Freelancing is a growing industry. Day by day many people are becoming a freelancer to enjoy their life and to be free. There are so many things which you can explore as a freelancer. This is the era of online marketing and everything is moving into digital so it's our time to change. As a freelancer, you get the opportunity to work from your own space. You just need a good smartphone and a laptop or PC and an in-demand skillset to become a freelancer. If you have a skill or solution that you can sell in the marketplace you are all set to go.

Truth being acknowledged; everything comes with its own set of merits and challenges and freelancing is no different. At the end of the day, it is always ‘what suits you and what doesn’t. So if you are planning to quit your job and turn freelancing into a full-time career, and this little thought quietly crept into your mind, take a look at this article and find out for yourself. Below we have listed some of the pros and cons of freelancing.

The Pros of Freelancing

Pros of Freelancing
Pros of Freelancing

You Get to Be Your Boss

What can be better than not having a boss standing at your desk all day? The big ‘pro’ here is that the freelancing market in India allows you to learn to make independent choices, manage your affairs and decide what is to be risked and what not. You are your manager, lawyer, supervisor and financier. Freedom is both addictive and self-exploratory.

Choosing Your Work

One reason why more and more people in India are switching to freelancing is the monotonous nature of the regular desk jobs. Not all projects are interesting or a skill-enhancing experience. One of the major pros, hence, is that being a freelancer, you get to choose what projects to work on and what people to work with. Freelancing gives one the freedom to explore, try new work genres, adopt new techniques and keep learning as you progress further. Every project is a fresh challenge.

Flexible Work Hours

You can work anytime and anywhere as long as the results are great. That is all the client cares about. This is especially a boon for young parents or especially those people who can’t leave their house or work under a rigid schedule.

Unlike 9 to 5ers, you get to prioritize your daily tasks, work in your own time and manage your schedule as per your needs.


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Explore New Work Genres

This is probably the best of all the freelancing ‘pros’. With its versatile work schedule and open business culture, Freelancing lets you experience work cultures from across the globe, build networks with people from all over the world and explore new work genres. Freelancing is simply the best way to earn while getting a chance to constantly improve your skills and add more feathers to your hat.

Travel While Earning Money

Many people are choosing this field because it offers you to travel the world at the same time you can also make money. This also helps freelancers to build a network and get more clients. Of course! You can also travel the world if you are in the corporate field but you will not get the freedom.

Learn New Skills

Freelancing means using your skills to make money. When you get any work there are so many new problems or tasks that you will discover, you have to learn new and unknown skills to complete that specific task. This one of the most interesting part of freelancing because you can explore more new talents you have.

There are so many websites available which offers online courses for freelancers to improve more and learn new skills. You can also become a part freelancers community to build your network and become a better freelancer.


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The Cons Of Becoming a Freelancer

Cons of Freelancing
Cons of Freelancing

Working Alone

This sounds wrong since one of the major reasons why you had quit your job was your desire to work independently, and alone. Turns out it doesn't hurt to have a team, behind your back, who support you when an assignment is becoming too hard and keep updating you with their feedbacks as you progress.

Unless your profits are great, you can’t even hire an assistant and once you accept an assignment, there is no backing out. You are all alone in this, and without the securities, a regular job would provide.

The Empty Desk Syndrome

One of the major cons that come with freelancing is an erratic work-flow. Owing to the dicey nature of the freelance culture, sometimes you have more work than you could have asked for and other times your hours run at an empty stretch. Ask any veteran freelancer and you will get to hear a vaguely similar story.

With time, you eventually get used to the irregularity of paychecks and schedules. The first brush with the empty desk syndrome, however, is the hardest.

Managing Your Private and Professional Lives is Hard

If anything, your stature as a freelancer blurs the line of distinction between your private and personal lives. Sure, the independence and the flexible work hours are nothing less of a piece of cake. And yet, if not managed well, it doesn't take long for your professional life to start getting disturbed owing to the randomness of work schedules.


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Not Getting Paid for Work

Being a freelancer also means not getting paid sometimes. This practice is notoriously common in the freelancing community. As you gain experience you eventually learn to protect yourself from non-paying clients. But in the interim, you might even find yourself running after your client to pay you for what you deserve.

Also, you get paid after the project is finished. So if a certain project requires 3 months, it translates to two months without a paycheck. This can be hard, particularly if you are running tight on budget.

No Fixed Income

As a freelancer, you won't get fixed income because it's really hard to get regular work. Compared to a full-time job in freelancing there is no security that you will get regular work from clients. Even many freelancers are leaving this platform because of this problem. To sum up, for survival you can't depend on freelancing if you are a beginner.

Time Management

As a freelancer, you work as per your schedule and this is the most difficult part of freelancing. Because a lot of time it will happen that while working on an assignment someday you will be energetic and the other day you will not be in a mood to work. While you are working as a freelancer you are not in an office and you don't have any boss, so you have to manage your time on your own.


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Conclusion

Freelancing in India can be fun and risky; enlightening and daring; oddly peaceful and yet stressful at the same time. The question is, as is with a lot of things, how well you manage it with your inherent skills? Stay put and eventually you will discover your own merits to stay or flaws to leave.

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