7 Reasons Why It Sucks To Be A Freelancer

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I came across a blog post recently entitled “10 Reasons Why It Rocks To Be A Freelancer”

I thought it was a pretty decent article. However, I also thought the post maybe over hyped freelancing a little. Just a little. Believe it or not, there’s a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding freelancing. So, I thought I’d step in, and shine a little ‘realism’ on things. I’m good at that

If your considering becoming a freelancer, I want you to know the whole story. From someone who’s right there, freelancing with the rest of them. Because, the grass usually is greener on the other side! And when you get there, well, you might want to go back. Or, as you’ll hopefully see from this post, you’ll be so happy you never look back!

1. You set your own hours

The post’s first point, “You set your own hours”. That’s pretty true. However, clients, will expect you to be available for a good majority of the week, throughout normal office hours (8-6 or 9-5). In theory, yes you could get up at 12 in the afternoon, but I’m sure several client calls will wake you throughout the morning. Then again, it depends on your clients. They also forget to mention you’ll end up working lots of overtime. Sometimes, it just needs to be done, and it could mean you miss out on sleep or weekends occasionally.

2. You set your own pay

Whilst this is also true, you can’t charge what you like, as many people believe. You have to be realistic in your pricing, or you’ll end up with too many cheap, demanding projects, or even none at all. Pricing is governed by your skill level, your workload, the project and the current economic climate. That means pricing will potentially fluctuate from time to time, and you can’t charge $1000’s per hour, because people won’t pay that.

3. You do something you enjoy

Again, this is true, however, do be aware that something you enjoy today as a hobby or pastime, could become a chore when you rely on it for your livelihood.

4. Setup Costs Are Low

Yes, set-up costs can be low. However, they can also be huge. Most people choose to incorporate, which is an expense in itself - with accountants and taxes costing more than you might think. Then there’s all those other things like hosting, web and logo design (if your not a designer) and even furniture or office supplies. You could quite easily spend several thousand dollars before even getting your first client.

5. Freedom to balance work and personal life

Again, sort of true. Yes, you have the flexibility to switch the odd afternoon around to pick up your kids, or have a cup of coffee with your partner. But, at the same time overusing this benefit is a bad idea. Here’s why:

- Family and friends start to think your not serious about freelancing (which most people seem to think is just messing around with a computer all day to start with), and begin to call round during the day - really messing up your work time.
- You could become less productive.
- Clients start to notice your available less and less - or at weird hours.

Not forgetting, that there will be times your so busy, you work 16+ hour days. its frustrating knowing you went freelance to have more time, to be closer to your family, and yet you seem to spend even less time with them. Freelancing is something that is hard to switch off from, unlike a 9-5 job, where you leave all the work in its place back at the office. So try not to overuse your freedom (and yet, enjoy it at the same time, its a perk remember ) If you find homeworking really hard, consider getting yourself an office to work from, you’ll feel the benefits far outweigh the outlay.

6. Laid Back Lifestyle

I know every freelancer will back me up here. When the work piles up, or you start running dry, it can be even more stressful. Caffeine and long hours make for a very stressed freelancer. Not knowing where your next pay cheque is coming from can cause even more stress. You might go somedays where you feel constantly nervous, your stomach in knots, just because its getting on top of you. Then you lose sleep. Then you feel worse, and things spiral from there.

A strong character is needed to be able to freelance. You need to have self control with your finances, a back-up of atleast 3 or 4 months wages at any one time for a rainy day, and a smile for those days when you feel like you just want to cry (or shout at your most demanding clients). Speaking of clients, prepare to deal with people who leave a project on their desk for months, until it becomes urgent and they turn to you to do it in 10% of the time. Look out for clients who need serious hand holding to even decide what domain name they want for their site. Don’t even get me started on slow payers… they become your latest bug bear, trust me.

7. Be Your Own Boss

Yes, you are now your own boss. But you still have responsibilities. keep those in mind, and don’t abuse your freelance position, its a gift to be enjoyed.

I’m not trying to put anyone off freelancing here. No, you see, despite all the above, and more, you’ll love it. If someone offered me a job 5 times the salary of my freelancing, I wouldn’t do it. Once you get the chance to work for yourself, and experience that liberation of been able to cut out your super annoying boss, you’ll never go back.

Please, if you disagree, or agree with anything, feel free to comment, or share the post link