12 Sep 09 3 Reasons You Would Not Like to Freelance

Till now, everyone said to you that freelancing is fun, and it gives you a control over what you want to do and how you want do the work assigned to you. You do not have a boss, and no one is going to tell you when to work and when to sleep.

Well…

This is not far from the truth but there is another point of view on this matter, which I am going to share in this blog post.

You should not take freelancing as a career if:

You do not want a boss

Well, if you do not want a boss for yourself than freelancing is not a career choice for you, indeed, you do not have “a boss” here, but you have bosses here. Your clients are your boss and often they will be more than one in number, and everyone will be asking for your 100 percent attention to his or her work, so if you feel uncomfortable in working with a boss then look somewhere else, freelancers have more than one bosses.

You do not like late night shifts

If occasional late night shifts make you convulse then freelancing may not be a right career choice for you. You need to work day in and day out, sometime without a break for days, if you want to be successful as a freelancer. Freelancing is a business, not a fix-time job. It will require your 1000 percent contribution, not just your presence in the employer’s office.

You cannot add value

Contrary to what you think, freelancers are supposed to be more efficient than the regular fix-time employee. Your client is outsourcing his work, instead of hiring someone fulltime to do that work, because he or she wants more work done by paying less dollars.

I know, “how much is less and how many is too many” are relative concepts.

As a freelancer, you will have to make many decisions. Decisions related to work, finance, time, negotiations and what not. You are running a one-man show, if you are freelancing. Can you do it? Do you have it in you?

Write to me, if you think you can. Use the comment box below or mail me on Bikram [at] biksy [dot] com.

Tags: Bikram, Boss, Break, Career Choice, Contrary, Decisions Decisions, Finance Time, Freelancer, Fulltime, Late Night, Man Show, Negotiations, Night Shifts, Point Of View, Presence, Relative Concepts, Running, Sleep, Time Employee, Time Job, Truth

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05 Jul 09 Is Freelancing a Viable Option?

The current economic slowdown has made it difficult for companies to keep too many full-time or non essential employees to remain afloat in the turbulent water. Hence, the companies started downsizing by removing the employees who are engaged in the work that can be outsourced sitting in some other city, country or continent. Let’s use an example to explain this: for a marketing company, keeping a full time, in-house web designer or content writer will cost more than hiring a more qualified web designer or content writer from the online freelance boards to do their occasional web designing or content writing works. Hence, it makes business sense for these companies, if they fire their full time web designers and content writers and hire freelancers to do their works.

From a freelance’s perspective, doing a freelance work is indeed a viable option. This gives a freelancer an opportunity not only to earn but to earn doing something that he or she likes, and the freelancer is no longer required to follow the mindless guidelines and useless workplace protocols issued by senseless boss or management

Everything looks rosy so far, but this is not the case. Freelancing is a one-man show. To remain afloat as a freelancer, one needs to have entrepreneurial skills. He or she should be a good time manager, good negotiator and a good marketer. (Read Should You Freelance to know what it takes to be a successful freelancer).

You should also keep in mind that if you are looking for freelance works on the Internet then you are competing against the whole world, and hence you need to be really good in what you do to stand a chance. If we talk in terms of demand and supply then the demand for freelance worker is far less than the supply. Hence, not everyone will get employed. The competition is tough, and this market is driven by buyers. As we say in marketing, this is buyer dominated market, which means, the buyer has the power to pull the string, and thus the price offered for the work is always lower, but the situation changes when you move up the food chain.

People hire you based on the work you have done, and the reviews you got from your past clients (testimonials). Reputation is the key in this industry. Hence, do not risk it!

Tags: Business Sense, Content Writer, Content Writers, Current Economic Slowdown, Demand And Supply, Entrepreneurial Skills, Freelance Work, Freelance Works, Freelancer, Full Time, Man Show, Marketer, Marketing Company, Negotiator, Occasional Web, Perspective, Protocols, Time Manager, Time Web, Turbulent Water, Viable Option, Web Designer, Web Designers

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12 Sep 09 3 Reasons You Would Not Like to Freelance

You do not want a boss

You do not like late night shifts

You cannot add value

05 Jul 09 Is Freelancing a Viable Option?

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