Introduction
In today’s world, freelancing is ramping up, and more and more people choose it as their type of work. It affords freedom and distinctiveness in executing a job in addition to predicting financial gain. However, freelancing is not without its challenges, issues that need to be taken into account before opting to fully join the freelancing fraternity. In this article, I will focus on the benefits and drawbacks of freelancing so that it can be clear to you if you want to be a freelancer or not.
Pros of Freelancing
Flexibility
Thus, freelancing can be so beneficial today since one of the main benefits it provides is flexibility. Being a freelancer, sometimes work has its own schedule and time frame, so you can select when and where you start work. This means that not only can you work from home, but you also don’t have to work fixed hours to fit somebody else’s schedule or do shifts that tie you to a particular workplace. Having the sort of flexibility offered can be immensely valuable to many aspiring medical staff who may well have family or other commitments to attend too.
Independence & Autonomy
Independent contractors also have certain privileges, like flexibility in work and fewer supervision and interference from employers. You also decide which projects to execute, what services to deliver, and how to work through it. This means that you would not have the figure of the manager observing your performance. There is always the advantage of not having to answer to anyone, which is usually an appealing position for most people.
Variety
The range of the projects and clients you are allowed as a freelancer is actually very big and can be situated in different fields. This variety makes work fun and interesting. It also lets you proceed to the learning of other training in the course. It is very difficult to get consistently if one is working under a permanent employment in a single job description.
Additional Income
Freelancing gives one the chance to earn money other than doing a full-time job. That is why it can become an excellent additional income for people if they wish to save some money or make extra purchases. Freelancers working full-time have the opportunity to work for other clients and accept more work for purposes of increasing their income.
Location Independence
Freelancing has one enormous benefit: in most cases, it works from home and does not require to be in any specific location. So long as you have your laptop and connection, you can technically work from any geographical location that is connected to the internet. This means that the chances are there, for you to be able to go around the world and marvel at the world’s wonders and at the same time be making money. And, such location independence is a dream for many.
Cons of Freelancing
Inconsistent Income
There is one rather serious flaw in freelance work: its unpredictability and the tendency toward low and irregular monthly earnings. Sometimes you will be working on several projects and at other times probably be jobless for sometime. The erratic pattern of cash flow can pose problems to any strategic planning and management of finance. Managing is important to plan for months of low earnings in an effort to save for the other months.
No Employee Benefits
You have rights as an employee, which comes in the form of health/dental insurance, retirement benefits, life insurance, paid vacation, etc. But no benefits If you decide to go down this career path. These companies do not provide some of these benefits, meaning as a freelancer, you have to make arrangements for these on your own, adding costs to your income. There is self-motivation and self-discipline, which are highly needed in achieving the above objectives.
Obviously, freelancing implies a high level of independence, which means that you need to be self-motivated and disciplined. You require the desire to see your business expand, to constantly market your services, and an enormous amount of attention given to overseeing your own tasks and time. The presence of discipline to separate work and fun is hugely at risk due to imbalances between work and other aspects of life. Not all people have the personality and abilities necessary to become freelancers and make good money.
Unsteady Workload
Much like how a freelancer’s income can either drastically increase or decrease, the same can happen to your workload. Sometimes you may work for many hours to complete as many projects as possible within the shortest time possible. In other cases, it may turn around, for instance, you hardly get enough work or projects to work on in a given day or during the week. This can be so stressful having an experience of a roller-coaster, sharp workload.
Isolation
Aside from taking office jobs or arranging meetings with other colleagues, freelancing can be mostly a solitary job, limited to freelancing most of the time. Some people may find it challenging to interact with their colleagues and coworkers, they will miss the companionship and teamwork nature of the job, while freelancing they would rather be in an office building.
Conclusion
On balance, freelancing as a profession does indeed possess a convincing package of allurements such as flexibility and freedom from relevant hierarchy, but it is simultaneously close to being laden with a tract of disadvantages such as ineligibility for stable income and social loneliness. It is equally challenging to decide whether the pros significantly offset the cons; self-reflection is necessary. It is far more self-directed than freelancing, but it does give one so much more control over how they do their work.
However, self motivation, discipline, time management skills, and the ability to work independently are other qualities that work well with freelance jobs, and if one possesses all or most of these qualities, freelancing can be very fulfilling. This is so advantageous in that it has great flexibility compared to the other types. However, it means accepting a high level of income volatility. In summary, freelancing is a wonderful vocation that, if done properly; holds great potential, but one may have to make some commitments, such as the lack of job security.
