The Many Pros and Cons of Freelancing

What is your talent? What are you good at?

Chances are, if you’re working a job that you love but you don’t love having a boss, you can do it freelance. Whether you’re a makeup artist or a photographer, working for yourself definitely has its perks.

At the same time, it can be hard to work as a freelancer–just ask any of the 15 million of them in the US. While you consider this tough decision, take a look at our ultimate list of the pros and cons of freelancing to help you decide.

For some, freelance work means a welcome respite from annoying coworkers interrupting you and interfering with your work. For others, this kind of alone time means you feel isolated.

Freelancers can combat the loneliness by finding someone to talk to. Renting a co-working space or joining a networking group are also good strategies.

There’s a huge learning curve when you’re running your own business, which can be both a pro and a con. If you love to learn, then this is for you. You can read tons of books and use what you read to grow your business.

Consider the negative side, too. When you spend all your time learning and growing, you don’t have as much time to do the work you love. Be careful to balance the promises you’ve made to your new clients with the desire to learn and take your business further.

Here’s another pro/con: you get to be your own boss. This allows a huge amount of freedom, including setting your own schedule and deadlines. Yet you also have clients to please, and no boss means no one to help you stay on track with those client orders.

With freelancing comes the unpredictability of your work. You may have several commissions all in one week, and then a dry spell the next.

Build the skill of saving money and budget for the times when you don’t have as much work. You have to be willing to put in extra hours when you have more than you know what to do with, or risk losing clients. While getting to make your own schedule is great, as a freelancer you still sometimes have to put in more personal time to get work done by the deadline.

Don’t like working with those annoying clients? Some people say that 10% of your clients take up 90% of your work time. If that’s true, then when you do freelance work, you have the best job in the world. You can fire whichever clients are nitpicking and bothering you, and focus on the others.

At the same time, you have to worry about whether you can afford to fire a client or whether they will badmouth your company.

Considering freelancing is a brave step. When you work through the pros and cons of freelancing, you’ll discover the freedom that comes with being your own boss. The future is bright!

Sometimes we all need a little help along the way. If you’ve decided to start your freelancing career, there’s more you need to know.

We give readers like you the information you need to succeed. Apply to School of Freelancers today!