A lot of people are taking the big leap into freelance work. There are many reasons for this; it could be that the contract that they had at work was zero hours and this was reflecting a lack of job security.

It possibly may be due to realizing that they are being underpaid for the work that they’re doing and have realized that they can get a lot more charging clients direct.

There are some who keep up freelance work while still working their regular job as just a bit of a top-up to their current income. So what’s all the fuss about?

Why go Freelance?

Going freelance offers you the opportunity to manage your own time, your own workload and, once you’ve worked out the logistics of it all, how much you could earn. Working freelance is for the most part a source of active income, i.e. you’ll have to put in the hours to receive remuneration, rather than passive income in which you receive payment for the work of others.

It doesn’t mean that you will never get to the stage of passive income with freelance; it is just a whole lot less likely in the beginning.

The Nitty Gritty

You will have to manage your own finances, workload, accounts and so much more. There is accounting advice for contractors available, and this covers freelancers as well. In many cases, especially when you are selling products for consumption or personal use, you will need to take out some form of insurance to cover you should anything go wrong.

It’s not nice to think about, and certainly there are many people who have gotten away with a pinch of luck and no insurance to date, but it’s a risk that shouldn’t be taken.

Securing Work

This is one of the hardest parts of being freelance that those who have chosen that option struggle with. Sometimes it can feel like you are completely overloaded, and other times you can have a quiet time that lasts for much longer than you would want.

It’s a sort of swings and roundabouts type of thing – like waiting for buses – and something that is to be expected. If you keep busy and are able to go out and put yourself forward and make a name for yourself, that’s the best thing that you do. Without somebody watching over you, such as a boss at a company, it’s hard to find the motivation to keep going with what you’re doing.

It’s often this that is seen as the downfall of many people who have gone freelance, a sense of complacency and that everything will be fine/pick itself back up again.

The Benefits

Apart from getting to pick the hours you work and taking as much holiday as you like, there are many more perks to going freelance. If you have children, you are able to care for them in times that suit the both of you. Your pay rate is what you set it, and you can take your earnings from strength to strength if you put the effort in. It’s up to you to make that happen.

This post has been contributed by Ryan Gatt, it may contain affiliate links.