In a perfect world, we would all be our own bosses. There is nothing quite so liberating as having nobody to answer to and to be 100% in charge of your destiny. What many ‘wage slaves’ don’t realise, however, is that it has never been easier to make this dream a reality. The information age has brought with it lightning fast internet and the ability to work anywhere and do anything at any time. This has led to a major boom in self-employment.
Of course, there will always be downsides [chief amongst which is always the lack of paid holidays] but there are more benefits to being your own boss than there are drawbacks, as we will see below.
Control - With your hands on the wheel, you get to decide where to go and what decisions to make. Of course, this ultimately means that you are responsible when things go wrong too, but ultimately, more control means more being able to set your boundaries. You also get to choose who your clients are and that can have a major impact on the kind of work you’ll be doing.
Options - If you are a freelancer you can literally be whatever you want to be and can wear as many hats as you like. Want to drive a taxi in the evenings and work as a copywriter in the morning? Easy - hook yourself up with a licensed cab from Cab Direct and sign up to a Freelancer website and start sharing your portfolio. Want to offer video editing services and also play as a session musician for hire? Nobody can tell you not to!
Ease - If you want to work from home then work from home. The lack of a commute might very well be a game-changer for you. The average commute is around 60 - 90 minutes. Imagine getting those 2 or three hours a day back! There’s a reason why self-employment and freelancing are both on the rise amongst UK IT workers.
Flexibility - Being able to work where you want to work and how you want to work is truly special, but working when you want to work is the real USP of freelancing. It’s important to be realistic, of course, but the freedom to turn work down when you feel like you’d prefer a day with the family is truly something you’ll relish and is the major reason you’ll probably never go back to ‘regular’ work.
Lifestyle - There have been countless think-pieces written about ‘company cultures’ and how they can have a positive and/or negative impact on a business. As a freelancer, you are the culture. The means you can set the pace of work, decide when lunch should be and decide upon the kind of image you want your ‘brand’ to portray. And you won’t have to sit in a conference room for hours on end debating about it.
Would you consider going freelance & working from home?
*Collaborative post - for more information on what this means, please see my Disclaimer
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