7 Realities You Need to Understand Before Working as a Freelancer

The freelancing industry enables talented and hard-working people to cash in their skills and abilities. Nothing similar to it has ever existed. However, people have many misconceptions about what it really is and how it functions. Some believe that it’s a source of quick and easy cash, while others think of it as if it were a promised land for artists. The only way to truly know what’s going on in the world of freelancing is to experience it first hand, but I believe I can get you a bit closer to the truth.

You Won’t Have One Boss, You’ll Have a Ton of Them

The first and the most popular misconception is that, as a freelancer, you’re your own boss. Technically, this is true, but in reality you need to answer to each one of your clients, because you have a responsibility to deliver a certain amount of material in a previously set time frame. To be precise, you won’t have one boss, you’ll have a ton of them, and each one will require you to be available 24/7, answer absolutely every email, and make as many corrections as they find necessary. Building a professional relationship with that many different people may be tiring at first, but it will help you develop your people skills. The secret is in being persistent and putting your best effort into satisfying your client.

You Are in Charge of Your Free Time, of Which There Will Be None

When you’re a freelance newbie, this part can be particularly overwhelming. Sure, you won’t have to mind the clock (except when it comes to deadlines), and you’ll be able to arrange your tasks however you find suitable, but – and this is one big but – this usually leads to doing no or very little work until you really have to. Once you realize that you can pull an all-nighter only so many times, you will either give up being a freelancer, or your organizational skills will go through an amazing change.

You’ll Have a Decent Income, but You Need to Get There

You have probably heard or read about those unbelievable successful freelancers that don’t know what to do with their money anymore. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a lie, because finally consolidating your student loans thanks to freelancing, and making some serious money is possible, but not when you’re a clueless beginner. You should allow for a period of adaptation before your master plan of becoming a millionaire can be set in motion.

You Only Need a Website, but It Needs to Be Great

Another misconception about freelancing is that you only need a website and the offers will come flying in. The first part is true – you do need a website, but it needs to be properly maintained, created according to the latest trends, mobile-friendly and updated regularly. Unless you’re a developer, this is going to cost you. All sorts of new age professions, like making a living out of blogging, seem so simple to learn and easy to do, until you actually start doing them. The success rate of online jobs mostly depends on how much you invest in your portfolio, which obviously requires dedication to passion projects, lots of experience and a desire to grow. The fact that you can direct your career by yourself and develop exactly the way you want is liberating, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t have to work really hard.

You’ll Do What You Like, but You Won’t Like All of It

As a freelancer, you can be as selective as you want when it comes to jobs. This obviously means that you can remain strictly in your area of expertise, which is pretty great, but it also means that you will have to deal with a repetitive processes, and similar tasks that simply can’t be avoided. Loving what you do gives you an amazing feeling of fulfillment, but freelancing is based on completing various projects, and all of them have similar stages, so be prepared for a bit of grunt work.

You’ll Be a Freelancer, but Also an Accountant, a Lawyer, a Project Manager and a Creative Director

Becoming a freelancer differs from everything you did so far. Your job description will include using all your previous knowledge to create some kind of content, but it will also imply that you handle your own transactions, making sure your rights aren’t violated, managing your projects, and being in charge of brainstorming. If you pay attention to unemployment statistics, the fact that one person needs to take on multiple jobs at once during a time when so many can’t even find one may seem daunting, but no one said that freelancing was easy money. Anyway, you better be prepared to do some serious research and expand your knowledge of some areas that you aren’t the least interested in.

You’ll Be Finally on Your Own, but You’ll Be All Alone

Being a loner might be fun at first, but once you realize that you didn’t change for the last five days, and that you haven’t talked to a real live person, will come as a shock. When people turn to freelancing, they believe their social life will flourish. We already mentioned how managing your time can be overwhelming at first – have no doubt, it will reflect on the way you spend quality time with your family and friends. Also, that lack of gossiping and annoying colleagues might seem like a great thing at first, but after a while you’ll be surprised with that feeling of nostalgia, which will undoubtedly appear. However, once you get the hang of it and truly start understanding your new job description, I’m sure you’ll get right back on the social track!

Freelancing comes with many amazing perks, but you’ll encounter more than a few things you didn’t expect. It’s just a matter of practice really – the fact is that you’re changing your lifestyle radically and, consequently, you’ll need time to adopt and accept everything that comes with it. If you don’t give up easily, try really hard to develop your skills and work on your tolerance, you’ll get the hang of it.

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