5 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE JUMPING INTO FREELANCING:
Freelancing is a contract-based profession where instead of being recruited in an organization, the person uses his skills and experience to provide services to a number of clients. It is a popular trend this time, and the idea of being your own boss and earning as per your own rules can really be charming. Freelancing provides a lot of perks and possibilities – autonomy, control over your work, flexibility, self-scheduling, etc. are some of the major benefits enjoyed by freelancers.
It is just that many of the jobs that freelancers perform can be delivered over the Internet without their presence at the company or clients place.
If you are someone who is contemplating to take a leap of faith and get going as a freelancer, then here is a list of four extremely important factors you need to consider before jumping into freelancing.
1.) YOU WILL BE WORKING ALONE
This is not a typical work from the ones that were used to. Working with colleagues in a wide area where you can see people working, walking around, writing, typing and doing their kinds of stuff. Here, you will be working alone and may feel lonely sometimes. But you have to be ready for it and make sure to have other alternative when things like this occur.
2.) YOU NEED TO HAVE SELF DISCIPLINE
Working alone at home can be very tricky sometimes. Or most of the time rather. You will be tempted to do other things, to procrastinate and enjoy prioritizing things which are not important, and before you know it, another day has passed.
So you really need to know how to manage your time and be able to do a lot every day, and have more time to enjoy as well.
3.) LEARN A NEW SKILL
As the technology evolves, so as the client. They also prefer those who can do a lot of multiple jobs together, so they won't find it difficult to look for different people to do it. Thanks to widely available free tools and courses available online, there are tons of skills you can learn to compliment what you already do as a freelancer, not to mention the possibility of creating new opportunities to make a living. Especially because so many projects have room for overlap—for example, web design and copywriting, or coding for Android and graphic design—there is so much potential to increase your earnings and marketability by mastering additional skills.
4.) MANAGE YOUR TIME WELL
Aside from being able to have self-discipline as you start your freelancing journey, it is also important to be able to manage your time very well. Learn to prioritize the tasks, especially when working from home. On your freelancing career, you will be overwhelmed with a lot of things sitting in front of you. That also includes chores at home and tasks that your client will ask you to do. Balance is always the key.
5.) NOT ALL DAYS ARE GOOD
It is starting to be known to many the good things about working from the comfort of your own home or being a freelancer. Be able to work on the desired schedule, and anywhere you feel like comfortable to finish the tasks the client has asked you to do. But it is also important as someone who starts to enter the world of freelancing, that there may days that are not always rainbows and butterflies. There may be times that loads of work will be given to you, and payment is delayed for some reason. Some tasks are hard to do and to understand and you need to do your own research. Some clients are hard to please. And also some might take a long time before getting a client.
Be patient, as this is also the same with other work, is just that we're doing it at home. It also has ups and downs, but as long as this is what you really want, then this is the best decision you have.
