Month: August 2020

Freedom is “the power or right to speak, think and act as one wants”. How is that related to working as a freelance?

I spent the first 2 years of my working life working as employee in very boring and exhausting jobs… I was forced to go to work from 9 to 5, to follow orders, receive a paycheck that barely payed my expenses and got my famous 1 months holidays per year. But I never took it as an example of how my future would need to look like. In fact I learned the basics on how the employee lifestyle looks like and motivated me to get out of these loop asap.

If you look at the definition of freedom and the three main elements, I wasn’t free at all. I didn’t have the the power to speak as I wanted, when I complained about things not being fair or things to improve I was asked to shut up and follow orders… I was free to think, because that occurred in my own brain, that is true, but I didn’t have the power to act as I wanted, I basically had to act based on the “procedure”, on a fix guideline, I wasn’t free to change things when they could be improved or be creative, I was hired for a job.

Actually, I was always free to choose, but I didn’t know it at that time.

The freelance way

It is true that freedom in the work life is kind of an utopia. You are always working for someone, which has some expectations, being your employeer or your customer. But freelancing allows you to decide who you work with, what you do, how you do it, what are the conditions in which you want to work. You basically have way more freedom than an employee.

They hire you as a freelance because you have some expertise which they need, they don’t know how to do something, so they ask you how, and you have you guide them, you are free to decide how to work. In fact many countries implement laws to guarantee that the customers keep you free in the way you deliver your work, they can decide what they want, but not how you are going to deliver what they want.

Furthermore, being a freelance allow you to work with different customers during the year, this means that you are not dependant on a single organization or person for your income, this makes you more free because you have more choices to choose.

Quitting my job back in 2008 was one of the best decisions in my life. At that time I wasn’t aware of where I was entering into. Many years of hard work taught me that being a freelancer is not easy, but is possible.

Dealing with selfish customers and workmates or not getting paid for what was agreed was one of the hardest situations to deal with.

The best of the rewards come when you are able to find highly paid projects quick. This gives you a feeling of confidence and survival that is hard to describe, you know that no matter what, you can find a project in weeks.

To make this happen you have to develop a series of skills which only the experience can teach you. You don’t only have to learn the skills that people is paying you for, but also you have to learn how to find opportunities, to negotiate your contracts, set the right hourly rate, work with other people… basically you need to learn how to survive as a freelance.

And there is no better way to learn those skills than practicing, like everything else, practice is what makes the wise man.

If you are an employee, you are probably working on a fix schedule, fully absorbed by unlimited random issues, with no more than 1 month of free time per year and with little savings. You are forced to work harder and harder but you don’t see your bank account making a difference.

You want to become a freelancer but you have fear to make the step. Let me tell you something I heard once and got stick in my brain: fear is overcome by knowledge and skills. And you can get that! Let me give you my perspective.

If there is only one thing you need to become a freelancer is:

A good skill that is highly demanded

With this skill you will be able to find a freelance contract, and with contract you will get the money, the money will be then the fuel for your freelance business, allowing you to have time and resources to continue learning and become better at it.

Obviously, you need to have savings in order to have some security in case things go wrong. What can go wrong? Well, your contract might be canceled, you might not get paid, anything can happen… There are ways you can minimize this risk but the risk is there… So I would have at least 3 to 4 months of savings to be able to survive with no income.

And that is basically it to start:

– A good skill that is highly demanded
– Savings for 3 to 4 months
– A decision to become a freelance

Of course the best prepared you are the more chances you have to succeed. That is why I have created some free training in which I will teaching you the basics to start your freelance business today.

If you want to start, join me now and let’s make a new future as highly paid freelancer.