Benefits of a freelancing career

With the growth of the internet and websites like Fiverr and PeoplePerHour, freelancing has really taken off. For example, in 2020 the amount of UK freelance workers grew to 2.2 million, nearly half of all self-employed people. 

That number’s only set to rise, so have a look at these benefits and start building your freelance career now. If you’ve heard people talk about the benefits of being your own boss, you might be curious about what they mean. 

The main perks of a freelancing career include:

• No commute
• Work from anywhere
• Choose who you work with
• Variety
• Financial security
• Business owner benefits

In the past, we looked at some of the benefits of entrepreneurship. Now, we’ll take a deeper look at specifically being a freelancer. 

If you’re after a change of pace, check out the top benefits of a freelancing career.

For the majority of freelance work, you’re able to do it completely remotely. This means while your neighbour spends hours commuting, you get a little more free time. 

Being away from a dedicated office also means you don’t have to deal with various formalities, such as dressing a certain way. 

So by making the switch to freelancing, you can make the most of your extra hours each day. Whether you use that time to sleep in, exercise, take your kids to nursery or something else is up to you!

Hand in hand with not needing to commute is the fact that you can have more freedom to choose where you work. If all you need to complete your job is an internet connection, then in theory, you can work from anywhere. 

This can go a long way to improving your quality of life. If you move from a high-cost area (like London) to somewhere cheaper, it can be equivalent to a pay rise. 

Where most people are bound to a specific area because of their jobs, freelancers can go wherever they want. Some even choose to be ‘digital nomads’, and use that time to go travelling. 

Of course, you would still need to be able to deliver the same quality of work. 

When you’re employed, you get told which clients to work with and what projects to complete. Even if you really dislike the project, there’s nothing you can do except get on with it. 

Now imagine, you could simply say no to that client or project. 

As a freelancer, you can. 

You choose exactly who you work for, and accept or reject clients however you like. If a client keeps sending back a piece of work making micro-adjustments each time, they might be more trouble than they’re worth. 

Since you run your business, you can decide not to work with them anymore. 

Of course, that’s not to say you should stop working with clients the moment an issue arises. If to notice a client is difficult to work with, try to figure out the issue first. Speak to your client to see if you can:

• Find more clarity about what they want
• Set clear boundaries around what they can reasonably ask for
• Find a solution to the issue together 

Always remember to be professional. You don’t want to burn bridges and lose connections unless it’s absolutely necessary. 

Some people like doing the same job every single day, others prefer a little variety. If you live by the phrase, “variety is the spice of life”, you may want to consider freelancing. 

Why? Because freelancing gives you the power of choice. 

If you’re a freelance graphic designer, you might spend most of your time creating social graphics for businesses. If you fancied a change though, you could illustrate an eBook instead.

It’s important to enjoy what you do. If you feel yourself getting bored, freelancing can change up the type of work you do. It’s a great way to keep your passion burning. 

This might go against everything you’ve heard about freelancing, but the pandemic has changed the world. Salaried employees who thought their jobs were secure suddenly found they weren’t.

On the other hand, freelancers who had multiple income streams still had some money coming in. By working for multiple clients, freelancing can help limit the financial strain. 

The phrase “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” comes to mind. Freelance careers are the real-world examples of this, and there are no shortage of jobs either. 

So if you want to earn through multiple opportunities and spread the risk, definitely consider freelancing.  

As a freelancer, you run your own business. Even if there’s nobody working for you, you’re the boss and that comes with its own perks. 

One of those perks is that your taxes work differently to employed people. For instance, you can reduce your costs by claiming some of your expenses. The money will be taken off your profits instead, which helps save you money. 

We mentioned that having multiple revenue streams gives you greater financial security, because even if one disappears, you have backups. 

Of course, the other side of that is it can be difficult to manage multiple streams — but it doesn’t have to be.

By using the Countingup app, the two-in-one business current account and accounting software, it’s easy to monitor your revenue.  

You can even send custom invoices to clients straight from your phone, perfect for the freelance lifestyle. 

Download the Countingup app for free today.

If our article has left you even more curious to learn about freelancing, why not check out our other guides? 

If you regularly have several jobs to be completed around the same time, you might be struggling with workload management.

For ideas on how to combat this, check out our article: how to prioritise your workload as a freelancer. 

Being a freelancer isn’t easy, so if you’re interested in tackling some of the biggest difficulties, we can help. 
Try giving our guide ‘common freelancer challenges and how to overcome them’ a read.