In general, the concept of “change” has always been something challenging for humankind. People tend to avoid change in their life, as an instinct. However, the idea of “change” is an indispensable part of human life. We change our address, hair, telephone number, and our preferences, etc. We also change our job, workplace, and even how we work.
With the emergence of the pandemic, the traditional way of work has changed, and it is here for good. People seem like they will not give up on freelancing because, in general, it is a better option than the traditional working environment. Today, we will share the details of transitioning from a full-time job to freelancing.
How do you balance full-time work and freelancing?
One of the main benefits of freelancing is that you can have a perfect balance between your full-time job and freelancing. If you are transitioning from a full-time job to a freelancing career, that’s also perfectly fine regardless of whether that means you are quitting your previous job or will do the same thing as a freelancer.
The nature of freelancing gives you excellent flexibility, where you decide the times you will spend on your full-time job and freelancing tasks. İt really doesn’t matter whether you want to do the freelancing stuff in the middle of the night or as the first thing you wake up – it is entirely up to you.
The only thing that is crucial here is to manage your time. Believe it or not, 24 hours is more than enough to have time for your full-time job and freelancing. And if you are quitting your previous job, it means that you have all the time on earth to focus on freelancing.
Charging as a Freelancer: Hour-Based vs. Project Based
There is a significant debate on whether a freelancer shall opt for an hour-based rate or a project-based rate. Let’s learn about both concepts with their pros and cons.
Hour-Based Pay
In this method, the payment only depends on the number of hours a freelancer has worked on a project instead of being paid a predetermined price for the whole project. And, this payment is mainly made as a weekly payment.
The most outstanding hourly payment is that it does not matter whether you were performing well or poorly on that specific hour. Your hourly pay is fixed. And also, hourly payment methods allow you to have a personal schedule to meet your weekly objectives.
On the other hand, the hourly pay rate is generally fixed, and clients often get used to it. If you want to change the price, you need to have good bargaining skills. And most clients would reject to pay higher fees per hour as the number of hours you will spend on a project is not precise.
24 hours in a day sounds quite good when you multiply the number with your hourly pay. Nevertheless, nobody works for 24 hours a day. The usual work time for part-time workers is generally between 4 and 5 hours.
Project-Based Pay
Project-based pay is another payment method freelancers use. In contrast with the hourly-based payment, the project-based rate mostly depends on the complexity of the project and the quality level of your service.
The price of a project is often known by both parties. You can have a general idea about the price if you do your research in advance. So, before the start of the work, the price paid at the end of the project is determined. However, in contrast with the hourly-based pay, if your level of service exceeds the expectations, you probably will have more substantial bargaining power in the project-based payment method.
For easy tasks, you will probably earn less in an hourly-based plan than the amount you would make in a project-based program, as with your experience, you will complete your work in a concise amount of time.
On the other hand, if you need to spend more time doing research or other preparations, the time you spend will not be relevant since the price is fixed. So, it’s crucial to estimate how much effort you’ll put into a project in order to avoid overworking.
Work-Life Balance as a Freelancer: Challenges & Advantages
The freelance work option is now a trendy choice for most people as pandemics have changed how things work in real life and business life. People choosing to move on their careers as freelancers become self-employed individuals, and they offer their skills, abilities, and services to businesses or clients. Primarily a freelancer works with multiple clients at the same time. Freelancers primarily work as writers, designers, digital marketers, social media managers, and developers.
Advantages of Freelance Work
Here are the advantages of the rising freelance work:
1. The Flexibility
Freelancing comes with a flexibility advantage. It simply provides more flexibility compared to traditional office work. Instead of working at a specific plan scheduled by another person, you can set your own schedule and work accordingly. For instance, you can postpone your work if you have any other priorities. In the end, you are your own boss when freelancing. This would also help you sustain a well-balanced work and life.
2. The Mobility
In addition to flexibility, most freelancers work wherever they want. You can do your work at home, in the city library, or in a coffee shop near your house. Therefore, you may save some money as you do not have to pay for transportation.
3. The Opportunity To Choose Your Clients
In a traditional workplace, you mostly don’t have any say on your assignments and tasks. Your manager or supervisor tells you what to do. On the other hand, when you work as a freelancer, you are free to choose the project you want to work on. At the very beginning, freelancers aren’t very selective to gain experience due to the number of projects matching their skills and expertise. Yet, as they gain experience and learn from their former projects, freelancers get to be pickier. Besides that, as a freelancer, you also have a chance to pick which firms and clients to work with. Therefore, you can work with firms and clients if they do not conflict with your interests and preferences. For instance, you might want to work with a brand with cruelty-free products, and to avoid working with other brands, the decision is yours.
4. A Good Pay
The pay rates are often higher in freelance work options than the permanent jobs as freelancers compensate for the risk of not being employed permanently with higher pay returns. The amount a freelancer makes heavily depends on how many projects they choose to work on. If you decide to have a heavy workload for a month, your payment will be relatively higher.
Challenges of Freelance Work
If there were no challenges of freelance work, it would be too good to be true. Here are the main challenges of freelancing:
1. Inconsistency of Workload
During some weeks or some months, the workload of freelance work might be inconsistent. There might be dramatic inconsistency in workload density for successive months or work periods. The unpredictable workload of freelance jobs might be a problem since it makes budget planning difficult.
2. You Have to be “Go-getter”
To be a successful freelancer, more importantly, to not experience difficulties finding clients, you better be motivated and outgoing. If you are passionate about your job and act like an extrovert when working, you have a better chance to maintain your workload for the upcoming months.
3. The Trust Issues…
Also, make sure that your clients are reputable. Most firms make their payments on credit, so you record the payment as a receivable account. Most of the time, reputable businesses pay the service price within the due time. However, some unfortunate cases may also occur, and you have difficulties collecting your payment.
4. Handling Tax Management
In a traditional job, the tax burden is carried out by the company or the employer. You can clearly see the tax deduction on your paycheck. However, as a freelancer, you are self-employed. So, it’s important to make sure that you track and manage your taxes.
5. Have To Pay For Benefits
Freelancers do not receive benefits. Firms provide perks such as health insurance, retirement funding, time-off or sick leave payments. However, as a freelancer, you are on your own as none of your insurances or other social benefits will be paid by a third party.
Can you freelance when you have a full-time job?
Does it make sense to quit a full-time job and become a freelancer?
Can freelancing be a full time career?
How often are freelancers paid?
There are also some clients who prefer to pay per project. In this case, freelancers would only be paid once the project is completed.
How to become full time freelancer?
How much to charge for freelance writing per hour?
Originally posted on November 27, 2021 @ 8:53 pm
