Pros and Cons of Freelancing

A freelancer is someone who sells his or her service to an employer without a long-term contract. They are independent workers serving multiple consumers on a short-term basis with their own terms and conditions. Freelancer is a self-employed or independent contractor.

ADVANTAGES OF BECOMING A FREELANCER

• Self-employed: Unlike working for a company, here you are the boss. No one can ask questions to you and you are not answerable to anyone except your clients.
• Not obliged to work for any person: You have your own terms and conditions of work. You can deny working. When you’re a freelancer, you can choose with whom you work.
• Fixes his own schedule of work: When you are a freelancer you fix your own hours of work. You provide time to clients upon your own suitability and availability.
• Can serve more than one person at a time: No one can bind you to work only for them it is subject to your own discretion. The freelance agreement is not a binding agreement like a contract. You may provide services to more than one client at the same time. Providing services to more than one person will help you in increasing your profits.
• All profits are yours: If you work under a company then you have a fixed salary and the profit earned by the company is not yours but if you are a freelancer then all the profit earned through clients is yours. It helps in enlarging your business.
• No need to go to the office: When you are a freelancer you can work from your home. Your bed may also become your workplace. It depends on you from where you want to work.

DISADVANTAGES OF BEING A FREELANCER

• No fixed salary: When you are a freelancer you don’t have a fixed salary i: e one month you earn 1 lakh but another month you may not be able to earn anything this may affect your personal life and business. Also, Freelancer's don't get the same benefits and ‘perks’ that permanent employees receive.
• Legal work: As you are the boss you have to do all the legal works on your own. Unlike working in a company here you are responsible to pay all the taxes, VAT etc.
• Hard to distinguish between personal time and working time: Generally, when you are a freelancer you work from home so it is very difficult to distribute working time and personal time.
• Accountability: Being an independent contractor you are the bottom line of the business; its failure and success depend on you. You must have the quality of working alone without the support of co-workers or a manager.
• Lack of Job Security: In freelancing job security is too low as the statics show that in the first two years most of the businessman fail. So, in the early years, you may have to find an alternative way to earn money.