There are many reasons why you should not give up being a freelancer, even though it can sometimes be challenging. As we know it, the freelancing space has a lot of uncertainties, some of which I cover in the post “A general overview on freelancing in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges”.
In this post I will give you reasons why you should keep working on your freelancing career even when you have every reason to give up. Here are 6 reasons to consider:
- Flexibility: As a freelancer, you have the freedom to choose your own schedule and work on projects that interest you. You can work from anywhere, which means you can travel, spend time with family, or pursue hobbies without sacrificing your income. Yet it still remains important to keep you promise with your customer and over deliver where possible.
- Open to a variety of jobs: Freelancing allows you to work on a variety of projects that you personally decide to take, which can help you develop new skills and keep your work interesting. You can also choose to work with clients from different industries, countries and languages, which can broaden your professional network and lead to new opportunities.
Some of the jobs will come as a request from your customers. These increases your chances of making even more money and learn new skills that you can then sell to other clients.
- Control: As a freelancer, you have more control over your work and your career. You can choose the projects you want to work on, negotiate your rates, and decide how much work you take on at any given time. This then makes it possible to take high paying projects on a part time basis, which means you may still keep your day job while you do your freelancing jobs as a side hustle.
- Income potential: As a freelancer, you have the potential to earn more money than you would in a traditional job, especially if you have a specialized skillset or work with high-paying clients. Unlike in a full time employment set up, the harder you work, the more money you make and the smarter you make a selection of you projects to undertake, the more you enjoy what you do. If you prefer, you may take your freelancing career on a full time basis and increase your chances of making money even more.
- Benefit from digital money: While your local bank can give you the benefit of paying for service through global payment options such as the VISA or MasterCard options, there still are services that would be paid easier and safer with your digital wallet that you credit through your earnings from your freelancing jobs. Ordinarily, you’d save on bank charges that would probably include exchange rate and transfer fees. Depending on the digital payment option you use, the process of making payments may be faster with than the case is with your traditional banker.
- Personal growth: Being a freelancers indirectly trains you to grow some of your personal skills that you may not necessarily go to class for. For example, it can help you develop skills like time management, project management, and communication, which can be valuable in any career path.
These are points you may want to keep checking to maintain your momentum and zeal to pursue your freelancing career. Like all other businesses and jobs, there surely are some downsides to freelancing such as the need to constantly find new clients and manage your own taxes and finances.
I therefore encourage stay motivated and never give up on your freelancing career. If you try hard enough, you may become one of the many successful freelancers who have a lot to show for it and live a happy life.
