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5 Disadvantages of the Freelancing Life
Freelancing is equal parts advantages and disadvantages. You just have to decide if you are prepared to take the risk that almost always complements it. Below are the top 5 Disadvantages of the Freelancing Life.
Disadvantages of the Freelancing
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Financial Insecurity
Easily the biggest disadvantage for many people is that the ocean affects the bank balance. Money tends to come in and go out with an ebb-and-flow cycle, especially when you’ve just started out. One week you’ll feel rich, reveling in your self-made status; the next you’ll be wondering how you’ll put gas in the car.
Disadvantages of the Freelancing
THE SKILLS REQUIRED FOR BEING A GREAT FREELANCER
This problem can largely be avoided by understanding, controlling, and being acutely aware of your cash flow. However, for many people, the unpredictability of finances becomes the reason they return to full-time employment after a period of freelancing.
Disadvantages of the Freelancing
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Loneliness
It’s not uncommon for freelancers to feel absolutely cut off from the rest of the world, especially if they’re single and working from home. This can be alleviated by joining local freelance or micro business networks and making the effort to socialize after work hours with friends and family. If you’re busy, it can be all too easy to feel that you can’t justify spending time on such frivolity.
Disadvantages of the Freelancing
Establishing Goals and Milestones
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Blurring Of Home and Work Times
Flexible work hours can be a double-edged sword. Without a high level of self-control and a strict understanding of when you’re working and when you’re at leisure, you risk burning yourself out by working around the clock.
This can, of course, also become an issue when your clients start thinking they can call you anytime. It mightn’t seem like a problem at first, but those early Sunday morning calls will soon make you feel otherwise.
Disadvantages of the Freelancing
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Wearing All Those Different Hats
Not only do you find that you don’t have as much free time as you’d hoped, but those tasks that absorb a lot of your time you probably don’t even want to know about: selling, marketing, bookkeeping, dealing with legal matters, debt collecting, and the like.
What Do Your Clients Really Want
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Loss of Salaried Benefits
These benefits are often overlooked. Freelancers are susceptible to letting themselves down when it comes to health benefits, holiday planning, superannuation, and insurance. Other “soft benefits” you may have taken for granted, such as the gym membership, a vehicle allowance, or even use of the company car, can be sorely missed when they’re not there anymore.
With the tightened purse-strings of the starting phase of your freelance life, it’s tempting to put these essentials aside—and risk being caught short when you unexpectedly need them.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
This post contains the content of the book The Principles of Successful Freelancing By Miles Burke below is a link to the complete book The Principles of Successful Freelancing