Today, I am here to debunk some of the myths and misconceptions that folks have about being a freelancer. So if you are a freelancer, please do add on to the list in your comments below.
1. We have a lot of time Totally true if you fail as a freelancer. Because that means you don’t have much work incoming to you.
2. We can work our time around your needs A shoutout to my friends and my family! I can’t push back my clients’ work just to run errands for you. A promise is a promise and deadlines have to be kept strictly.
3. We are just hanging around We don’t wait for jobs to drop from the sky. We have scout for leads and network among our friends to get leads. Even you are a top freelancer, there is lull period which you have to fill in the holes by generating interest in your work.
4. We are Cheap Well, you can hire lower fees freelancers to work for you but you can’t expect high quality from them. As the saying goes..”You pay peanuts, You get monkeys.”
5. We work in our Pajamas May be true for some but not for me. While I don’t deck out in office suits and makeup, I do dress up at home. This because I do get clients wanting to do Skype video calls sometimes to discuss the ongoing of the task assigned to me. Besides, it makes me truly feel that I am working and this more productive.
6. Freelancing is easy Whoever said that, have never been a freelancer before. We manage our time, we clock in our hours, we monitor our own accounting, we juggle between clients and tasks. In short, we are running a one man business, managing everything ourselves. And who says doing business is easy?
7. Freelancing is not a real job How do you ever define a real job? By salary? Then a banker can always tell a Starbucks barista he is not having a real job and a millionaire investor can tell the banker, he is not having a…the cycle goes on. Or do you define a real job by time input? I worked from 9am to 9pm every weekday, that’s 4 hours more than an average worker.
8. We can work anywhere To some extent it is true, however, not everywhere provides good and stable public wifi. Sometimes I handle confidential clients’ information and I need to be careful that these information does not leak out. Hence, a conducive work environment is crucial to productivity. I am lucky to have a home office build in for me that I have dedicated 100Mbps internet bandwidth and I work on both my Mac and my Lenovo with a display screen.
9. I get to turn down clients True to a certain extent. However, in the beginning, there is no such luxury unless the client is being ridiculous and demanding. I just have to work harder, smarter and input longer hours. Now I can pick my clients but only because I want to ensure the quality output is worth my clients’ money.
10. Being a Freelancer is better than being employed You’ve got to weigh in the pros and cons. Being a freelancer will only make you rich in knowledge and not in the pockets. Although you’re in control of your fate, but being employed means you are more secure in terms of monthly income.
Do you agree with the above? Or you have more to add on? Share with us in the comments below.
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