Should you consider Freelancing in 2023?

Did you know that over a third of the US workforce is already freelancing? Maybe it isn’t so surprising to some of you. But when you come from an upbringing where you are conditioned to go to school, then college, get an internship, find a job, and get settled, freelancing was never an option. But, over the last few years, many have been migrating to the new lifestyle of being their own boss.

The freelance lifestyle is alluring for its flexibility and it is expected that over half the workforce in the US would choose freelancing by 2027. Thanks to the internet, we can find gigs for our specific needs. With the rise of good delivery apps and cab services like Uber, anyone with a car can have a side hustle. Many freelancing job boards like Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer.com allow any of to find gigs easily online.

Before we delve deeper into why you should consider freelancing, I would ask you to take everything I say with a pinch of salt. Let’s look at all the reasons why you should start a freelance career.

Pros of Freelancing

Flexibility of Time

One of the most common reasons why full-time employees are turning to freelance is the work hour flexibility. When you are a freelancer, you get to pick your own hours depending on your schedule. If you are a college student with a few extra hours in the evening or a work-at-home mom with a few hours in hand apart from the time taking care of children, having a flexible time may be of the highest preference.

Also, having this flexibility will allow you to work with chunks of time that is most suitable for you to do your tasks around other responsibilities. If your current employment requires a bulk of your time taken out in a stretch which you aren’t able to afford, then having smaller chunks of time with breaks will be highly beneficial.

Be your Own Boss

Freelancing essentially means that you are working on your own. You don’t have an organization or a hierarchy making decisions for you. Most importantly, you don’t have a boss micro-managing your tasks or pressuring you to do things that you are not comfortable doing but have to oblige for the sake of duty. Here, you become your own boss. You make your own decisions - right or wrong.

Earn doing the things you love

Most freelancers begin for the love of their work - typically a skill they are already an expert in. When you start doing the things you love, you feel less burdened to put in those extra hours. You feel more passionate towards your work, which effectively boosts your performance in the longer run.

Flexibility of Location

Let us not forget the biggest change brought to the work culture by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the global acceptance of work-from-home jobs and remote working. Although in the end, many wanted to go back to their offices, a lot of employees especially women chose working from home for its convenience. This was because it saved a lot of time and money and allowed them more time with their families.

With most of the work enabled through the Internet, all you need to work is a laptop and high-speed Wifi. Now, anyone can live the nomadic life of working from their favourite destinations - be it along with beach or cold mountains or simply at home around family.

Potential to Earn More

When you are employed, you probably have a fixed salary and yearly hikes. But what about incentives for that extra work you put in over the weekend? I’m sure most of your extra hours of work go unnoticed. But with freelancing, you have control over what you earn.

You get to choose the amount of work, the number of hours you want to put in and the charges for it. With increased control, you can choose to increase your rates whenever you want and not wait for approvals and appraisals from your uplinks. Once you have an established freelancing business, you can even charge higher hourly rates than your salaried job.

Check out the new post How to make more money as a Freelancer?

You Get to Save a lot of Money

Have you ever considered your monthly expenses from just going to your workplace? When you begin freelancing, you save money with commuting, the fancy clothes you wear and sometimes even the unavoidable and boring (if you are an introvert, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about) team luncheons.

Furthermore, if you are self-employed, you will be able to take advantage of the tax benefits of owning a business.

You get to wear a variety of Hats

When you are a freelancer, you take on the responsibilities of multiple departments in your company - be it marketing, finance or IT. Your job doesn’t end with your offering your services. It needs you to play a lot of roles in creating a brand around yourself through social media and networking or managing your finances, creating invoices or building that awesome website for yourself.

Although sometimes this can be overwhelming, being a part of the entire process can help you gain experiences and learn new things that you otherwise wouldn’t find in your regular employment. Also, putting on different hats and interacting directly with clients is sure to lift up your confidence.

You become an expert in your Niche

With freelancing, you have greater control over the kind of jobs you want to take on. When you tune into a specific niche and gain experience, you eventually become an industry expert in that particular niche. You will also have a deeper scope for improvement.

If you are a content writer like me, you are probably writing on specific topics that you are already comfortable with or an expert in. Through continued efforts and experience in writing on those topics, you become a go-to person for that topic.

Cons of Freelancing

You might miss the Employer Benefits

When you are fully employed, your employer takes care of your health insurance, provides coverage for your family, 401k, leave compensations, paid vacation leaves and even retirement. But when you are freelancing, you have to plan all of this yourself. You will be responsible for getting your own insurance policies and planning vacations and retirements out of your savings. You might not be able to avail the advantages of sick leave payouts when you are freelancing.

Less Security

Although freelancing is empowering with all the control it gives over our time and efforts, it can also be very draining at times. Here, your income depends on your gig while your gig depends on the client. There can be circumstances where the client isn’t ready to pay on time or doesn’t want to renew the contract which can cause a lot of mental strain due to its unpredictable nature.

Also, with irregular workloads, it can be difficult to predict the average cash flow every month. This can cause trouble especially when you are budgeting or trying to invest your money. Ultimately, there is low security compared to salaried jobs that offer a constant income stream.

You are on your own

Whether you like being around people or not, you have to agree that it’s essential that we interact and collaborate with others. Ultimately, we are all social beings learning something new from each other. Yes, there is a benefit to being your own boss. But, when you are starting out, there is no one to show you the ropes. You probably end up feeling lonely or even feel like giving up.

Although, let me tell you a secret.

You are not alone in this. There is a whole community of freelancers collaborating with each other and sharing their tricks of the trade. If you are someone in the beginning stages, hiring a coach or enrolling on a relevant course can offer you guidance and also open you up to a whole community of similar thinkers you can possibly network with.

My Final Say on this…

As attractive as it sounds, freelancing has its own boons and banes. I’m sure it can be a difficult decision to make and it has to be. If you are considering freelancing, I would suggest you not to given up on your employment just yet. Keep up with your full-time job and start your side hustle in your extra hours - probably in your evenings and weekends. Once you have retainer clients and a steady income, you can probably consider moving into freelancing permanently.

One last piece of advice.

The world is changing rapidly and we’re all here with a dream. A dream of a happy, stable and content life - nothing more. So, make sure your choices do not affect the rest of your life.

Hi, I'm Niveditha.

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