The Life of a freelancer

The rise of Freelancing

The Industrial revolution is coming to an end, the information age and ease of communication systems has created lots of freelancers than the world has ever seen before.

Automations are on the rise, thanks to AI systems and companies are reducing in size shrinking the human workforce.

Employees laid off from these huge co-operations enter the world of freelancing where they offer services remotely. We see this on platforms like upwork where you can order services remotely of any profession.

Infact, I have made a presentation recently for a residential that I worked on. The client is in the UK. And I visited the site within my home country Uganda and made a proposal based on the discussions we had online.

Why is freelancing in the rise?

1. Autonomy;

The self directed approach and flexibility to work from anywhere and anytime you want without anyone overlooking from your shoulders dictating what you should work on.

2. Control;

The Ability to choose you next assignment and work on your own terms. Setting your own pricing model. You basically take the driver’s seat and enjoy the ride.

3. Free Space and time

At the heart of freelancing lies freedom from binding contracts of a job. This frees up time and space for personal development, health and relationships in your life.

4. High Profit Margins

Most freelance work is consultancy based and this work requires little to no initial investment in terms of the capital. This means you get to keep all the upside on every project you undertake.

Regardless of these and more benefits of freelancing, there are disadvantages that come along that must be adressed

What challenges come with freelancing?

1. Landing clients

When you enter the world of freelancing, no one knows you at the beginning and you have to work your way up. It is quite a journey to find your ideal client who needs your expertise.

2. Work, Life Balance

It is easy to find yourself always working or struggling to start working. As such, it can take a toll on your health and relationships.

3. Long periods of scanty work and uncertainty

There exists an endless need to prove yourself to the clients and new people coming in for your services. In the process, marketing your product/service suffers. Because you are not constantly before the market, there are periods when you have no prospects especially when existing projects are also stalled (on-hold).

4. No Security

You do not have Job security as a freelancer. So incase you have an emergency, you do not have a bail out. You may be trapped to work even in sickness.

5. One man battle all 

Accounting, marketing, sales, the actual work, all need you as the solopreneur or small freelance team. Of course, you do not have funds lying there to cover these necessary costs.

Basically, freelance takes on the downsides of employment without all the upsides like job security, mentorship, access to large pool of resources.

To escape the trap laid by freelance, you want to zoom out: Identify the need of the client and offer them a full package of what they want.

For example instead of making them architectural drawings only, you want to move up the chain and offer to make them approved drawings with a full set of Architectural, structural, Mechanical and Electrical drawings.

At this level, you probably charge more for the responsibility you are taking to deliver these… assemble a team that can deliver the drawings and then you are in business

This is Entrepreneurial thinking. If all goes well, you can expand into Design and build. This is a higher level and compensation is definitely higher because of the added responsibility. Beyond this is real Estate, where the client comes and pays for the finished product in your Estate

While am not there yet a Real Estate manager, this helps me zoom out and design an ideal future disconnected from selling time in freelance work and taking on more responsibility that will inevitably lead to higher compensation.

Hope you this was helpful, in shading light on the emerging trends and how you can stand apart and grow your business model.

-Namara Allan