10 Reasons Why It Sucks To Be A Freelancer
Posted on 18. Jun, 2009 by Web Design in Roundups
Previously on WebDesignDev we posted an article that featured 10 reasons why it rocks to be a freelancer. Today we have layed out the negatives and put on the table 10 reasons why it sucks to be a freelancer. Every job including freelancing has its ups and downs, so i think 10 positives and 10 negatives about the job sums it up correctly.
Cross Browser Compatibility Can Be A Pain
When freelancers are asked to design for all browsers, this can be a big pain, especially coding for internet explorer 6. This takes up more time, and you have to manually check it in different browsers. Firefox and opera are usually the same, but safari and internet explorer tweak little annoying things.
Picky Clients Can Waste Time And Loose You Money
Clients can be very fussy, and demand different things, redesigns, tweaks etc. This can waste alot of time, and therefore looses you money.
No Security
If you are ill and cant work, you wont get paid. If you have holiday leave you wont get paid. Its your work and you have to do it to get paid. Unless you hire someone else to complete your projects.
Can Be Long Work Hours
Freelancers usually never turn down work. I mean well money, is money, right? But when the workload builds up, freelancers usually tend to find themselves working round the clock 60+ hours a week. This can be very exhausting.
Always At Work
You should expect to be on call all day long which can be a strain on personal life. You can go to work whenever you like. If you are sitting enjoying the T.V and you get an email from a client asking for the deadline to be moved forward for extre pay, it can interrupt your personal activities.
Freelancing Isn’t Scalable
If you decide to go away for a month, you cant come back and find out you have earn’t more money that the previous month. You have to constantly work to earn money. You won’t earn from it in the future and it won’t be your retirement.
Pay For Your Own Problems
For example, if your computer breaks, it comes out of your profit to buy a new one. Where as if you were working for a big company, you personally wouldn’t have to pay for a new computer, the company would.
Clients In Different Time Zones Can Be A Nightmare
If you are working with clients from another part of the world, and they want to chat live to you on a 9am Monday morning, that may be 3am in the morning for your time zone, thus making it very annoying when chatting to them live.
Finding Clients
As a freelancer, you have to find clients when starting up, and as time goes on and you build up your online portfolio and gain exposure, clients will find you. This can take some time, and many people tend to give up.
Your success is in your own hands
This can be bad and good. If you choose not to put much effort in, then you wont survive as a freelancer for long. There are many other freelancers out there and your clients will just find someone else if your work isnt up to scratch, or if you cant meet deadlines.
22 Responses to “10 Reasons Why It Sucks To Be A Freelancer”
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goldfries
18. Jun, 2009
Cross Browser Compatibility Can Be A Pain <=– eh, this one is relevant to ANY web designer, no?
It's not something confined only to freelancers.
Any self-respecting web-designer would practice cross-browser compatibility, or at least have the site appear well with the common web browsers.
Webguy
18. Jun, 2009
goldfries is right! Any self-respecting web-designer practices good coding for cross browser platforms.
Many of these “problems” can be remedied simply by doing a bit more studying in the area of programming, as well as having a greater grasp on how things work in the business world.
For instance, don’t take on any clients who are unwilling to sign a contractual agreement stating the what the business agreement will be and how much the price will be. Even if you work by the hour a contract is a great tool to have on hand!
expenses come with any job, nothing in life is free… so deal with it, thats how I look at it. Having to pay for your own problems isn’t a big deal either; you provide good service you get paid good as well.
Honestly, I would have kept the 10 things that rock about being a freelancer and not worried about this one, cause they really aren’t downsides…they are only downsides if someone doesn’t know the ropes or hasn’t studied up enough on web-design to know the basics.
Rob
25. Jun, 2009
I disagree with you on every level! Not having health benefits or security is part of a downside of being a freelancer. There are never health benefits when you’re a freelance designer.
Plus, no matter what, you always deal with cross browser display issues. It’s inevitable with being a web designer. You can’t avoid it. It’s called working with CSS and IE. There is no escape. Sure, you can become better prepared and experienced with handling these issues, but they don’t go away.
Caitlin
02. Jul, 2009
I agree about health benefits. I moved to the UK from the US, and now I get free health care from the NHS–it’s still hard for me to believe! It sucks to be a freelancer in the US because you have to pay an insane amount of money to get health insurance for yourself. Or you go without, which is a really scary position to be in. I really thought this would have made the list.
iwpdesign
18. Jun, 2009
Man, i’m a freelancer and i’m happy.
Iaax Page. Software, Marketing and Sales
18. Jun, 2009
1) Cross browser compatibility can be easy if you use safari as your main browser
Clients In Different Time Zones Can Be A Nightmare: Not so much to here! So long this is the only point I will not argue about
2) Picky clients should be avoided, if you can not agree with the terms of service with your client from day 1, it would be better not to agree at all
3) Security is mostly a supertition – Hellen Keller. If you fall in the shower you may die!
4) Can Be Long Work Hours, it is always long work hours, until you are better at what you do.
5) Always at work. You are always at work anyway. Even when you sleep you dream of that, that is our curse.
6) Freelancing Isn’t Scalable, meet my friends: Web 2.0 Practices
7) Pay For Your Own Problems: Yo are making more money, it is an investment.
9) Finding Clients: Being social is the best part of freelancing.
10) Your success is in your own hands: This is only bad when you are not ready to be free lancer, I have but watch the michael jordan video on failing!
We need to encourage people with positive realistic articles. I love your posts most of the time they are great. This one, mhhh is quite negative. Encourage people in a realistic way, that is our goal as entrepreneurs.
Iaax Page. Software, Marketing and Sales
Rob
25. Jun, 2009
There is nothing negative about this authors post. He is simply stating the truth! As a web design college graduate and freelancer, I can relate to his experiences.
Why should we try to sugar coat everything? That makes no sense…we (as freelancers) need to know what the big world of freelance design is like. No job is a piece of cake or a trip to Cancun.
goldfries
18. Jun, 2009
Thanks dude, just want to add a few more thoughts………
“Picky Clients Can Waste Time And Loose You Money” <=– this applies to any web designer, Freelance or not. If you don't lose $$$ then it's your company losing it.
"No Security" <=– being employed also mean they could be dropped any time.
"Can Be Long Work Hours" <=– it happened to non-Freelancers anyway. Same goes to "Always At Work" – I'm sure you know there are clients that call you like 5 days before their SUPPOSED deadline and it's all rush for you!
———
Anyway – you can be both! I run my own Web Design company. Best part about that is I can be a FREELANCER any time I want too!
Andy
18. Jun, 2009
Great tactic! I have an interview im posting up on the blog tomorrow of a freelancer who also ownes his own web design company. Does both.
Stiv
18. Jun, 2009
Last Point, “Your success is in your own hands”, is the driving force in Freelancing!!…..Some of us cannot accept anything else other than success.
Webguy
18. Jun, 2009
@stiv I would agree… Freelancing is a success driven way of work. People who are goal oriented and self disciplined individuals do well as free lancers!
Melissa
18. Jun, 2009
Altho there are some negatives to being a freelancer, I think the positives FAR FAR outweigh them. I’ve been an independent for 10 years and I can’t imagine ever going back to a “real” job.
Andy
18. Jun, 2009
I agree, positives overpower the negatives!
Andy
18. Jun, 2009
@iwpdesign and @Iaxx Page
This is a very negative article, but that is why we wrote 10 Reasons Why It Rocks To Be A Freelancer…
http://www.webdesigndev.com/roundups/10-reasons-why-it-rocks-to-be-a-freelancer
Corey Freeman
19. Jun, 2009
The paying for your own mistakes part is a definite drawback. Oh to have insurance…haha. My biggest one is picky clients. I always seem to get the clients that change things last minute.
coderx
23. Jun, 2009
i find designing for all browsers a piece of cake
Rob
25. Jun, 2009
Oh really? So, I guess you’ve never worked with Internet Explorer 6 then? Most everyone has issues with IE and CSS, it’s a constant battle with browser display.
Debra Stamp
24. Jun, 2009
No need to apologize for shining a light on the challenges….tell it like it is. I’m all about encouraging the independent spirit, but it’s important to be honest and realistic. Freelancing, entrepreneurship, and owning/running a small business, is not for the faint of heart.
Rob
25. Jun, 2009
There is a lot of validity to this post! Freelance work is not easy by any means, and it’s MUCH more difficult than just a standard 9am-5pm job. You have to constantly market your skills and look for more work.
The downside to being a freelancer is that you have ZERO health benefits and not a dependable income!
I’m a web designer with a Bachelor’s Degree in Web Design and I’m currently a freelancer. I would MUCH rather have a steady hourly job that I could depend on.
Plus, in today’s economy you’re dealing with people who want work, but they want it for dirt cheap. At some point, if you keep turning down clients who want cheap work, then there is no work for freelancers. It’s a tough situtation to be in.
A.D.K.
28. Jun, 2009
Lol I can say some of this are so true
Enk.
29. Jun, 2009
Great point.. really lovely, informative and useful Post.
Point no. 9 i.e Finding Clients.. its really a big hurdle for me
Ryan Henson Creighton
02. Dec, 2009
How do picky clients “loose” you money? Did you mean “lose”? Those are two different words.