Is Freelancing a Viable Career Option? Pros and Cons

With good, high paying jobs hard to come by these days, it makes a lot of sense for a talented young person to take up freelancing as a career option. Indeed, according to the Freelancers Union there were 55 million freelancers in the U.S. in 2016, or 35 percent of the U.S. population.

Why take up Freelancing?

Freelancing sounds enticing enough: freedom from the usual 9-to-5 grind, no boss hovering over you, no fixed timings, work from home, from a coffee shop or a beach.

But it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Not everyone can be a successful freelancer. To earn a good income from freelancing is not easy, especially now as the competition is so intense.

It can be a viable career option only as long as you’re willing to work hard for it, have a marketable skill and are very good at what you do.

And yes, you have to exercise great self-discipline.

Freelancing gives you all the freedom in the world to do as you please with your time. But too much freedom can be a dangerous thing.

Remember, as a freelancer, you’re exchanging your time for money.

It’s so easy to get distracted as a freelancer, lose your focus and waste time, with so many things around you – Facebook, Twitter, social media, CNN, Fox News, etc.

That is why you should have excellent time management skills.

You must be self-motivated too.

When you’re working at a regular job, you have a manager watching over you and sternly admonishing you when you do a poor job. So you are always motivated to do your best, out of fear of losing your job, or because of the incentive of being promoted or given a raise.

As a freelancer, you have dozens of clients, not managers or bosses. So you’re not under the same kind of pressure. If you lose one client, you will find another. But when you lose too many clients, this can be a problem and potentially put an end to your freelancing career.

Ultimately, whether you succeed or fail as a freelancer will depend on the value you provide to your clients. This means being willing to commit yourself to a project once you take it up and over-delivering every single time.

How much money can you make from freelancing?

That depends on how good you are at what you do. A skilled freelancer can make a very good living, just the same as they would, had they been working at a regular job.

If you’re a skilled professional from the banking or financial industry, for example, you will find many opportunities on top-rated freelancing platforms such as Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr and Guru.

A freelancer who works as a data analyst, financial analyst, financial advisor or financial consultant can easily make a six-figure income, provided they are good at what they do.

Skills matter in freelancing. If you have no skills, you’re never going to make much money. What’s also important is continuous learning. You have to update your skills constantly.

…Which is why you should consider joining one of the online courses at SKILLFIN Learning.These online courses are conducted by Ashish, a business consultant and finance expert with over 10 years of experience in the industry.

All courses at SKILLFIN LEARNING are market oriented and based on specific industry requirements. You will pick up critical skills that you probably didn’t learn in college.

The following online courses will be useful to someone who wants a freelance job in the banking or finance industry.

Is Freelancing a Viable Career Option? Pros and Cons