Freelancing is one of the concepts that have emerged in recent years. Thanks to the huge technological revolution, the Internet is an integral part of our urgent daily needs, which gave us the ability to complete tasks that take time and effort to click a button.
Can we also make our online business from home in comfort without getting up early and spending a lot of time on transportation? The answer is yes... Freelance work guarantees that with more advantages and other details that we will learn about in this article
Definition of self-employment
- Self-employment means a person's use of his skills and experience in a field of work such as web design, writing, programming, and others, to provide services to some clients via the Internet for a fee.
- Without being restricted to a specific time or place to work, many jobs performed by freelancers are delivered online without their presence at the company or clients' location.
- In simple terms, self-employment is when you use your skills and experience to work with multiple clients and take on different tasks without committing to a specific number of clients or tasks, and the number of tasks you can do is determined by your ability to get them done as required.
A detailed practical example of the idea of self-employment
- You are a graduate of the Faculty of Commerce, Cairo University, but you, like most, were thrown into this college according to stupid coordination laws. You are in fact a design lover, and you are good at coordinating colors and choosing fonts, and you have the talent to mix them together to come up with a wonderful design in the end.
- You are talented in design, but that is not all, you are also serious and positive, so I did my research and learned about the world of design, and I participated in some courses as well.
- You follow popular YouTube channels, and on top of that you always try what you learn, and you already have some great designs... so cool.
- On the other side of the African continent and in Mauritania, there is a young man called Abu Al-Saad, he just created an Instagram account, he read the article about, profit from Instagram in the winners, and he wants to start implementing what he came up.
- Abu Al-Saad needs attractive designs for his account. This is the end of the thread for his success. Unfortunately, he is not good at design, but he has the money and is looking for a professional designer to do the designs for himself… Abu Al-Saad is looking for you, my designer friend.
- You and Abu El-Saad met in some way... Of course through the Internet.
Here are some possible scenarios in which you and Abu Al-Saad could meet:
- I met you on LinkedIn, a professional website that specializes in the practical aspect.
- You met on one of the Facebook groups, that specialized in design.
- You met through one of the freelance platforms.
It was agreed between you and Abu Al-Saad on the details of the work:
- the cost
- Re-delivery
- Online payment method
- Design details and sizes.
Who is the Freelancer?
- A freelancer is a self-employed person who earns money by providing services to multiple clients, these services are related to the person's skills and are not necessarily provided to companies only.
- Freelancers communicate directly with business owners to offer their services, or business owners communicate with them through their professional accounts on social media platforms.
- But most freelancers use special platforms to present their services, which are called freelance platforms, as these platforms serve as a common working ground between freelancers and employers... Guaranteeing the rights of both parties, one of the most famous of these platforms is the world-famous Fiverr website.
- Now you may be thinking how wonderful it is to be self-employed without being affiliated with anyone and being commanded constantly, at the time and place I like to work in. or you are wondering whether moving to freelance work is a good option… It’s okay. We will answer all these questions and others as well in this article.
Advantages of freelancing
1- Freedom and flexibility
Freelancing offers freelancers the freedom and flexibility to choose
when and where to work, as you are not required to attend at specific
times.
Rather, you can work at different times, continuous or intermittent,
in the morning or in the evening, and in the place you prefer.
It is at home or anywhere else, you can specify the vacation periods
to suit you without worrying about obtaining approval from your boss.
2- Diverse clients
The second advantage that freelancing offers is the ability to work
with clients from different countries, personalities, and cultures.
3- Selection of projects
Self-employment gives you the advantage of choosing only the projects
you want to work on and rejecting those that you do not want to work
on, which allows you to innovate and develop in your field, something
that the traditional job does not provide, as you have to adhere to
what you are asked to do only.
4- Access to global markets
In self-employment, there are no geographical boundaries to provide
your services, you can deal with local and international clients, and
thus you have a larger and larger client base, giving you more and
more diverse business opportunities than the traditional job.
Freelancing Challenges
1- Irregular workflow
One of the most prominent negatives of self-employment is the financial
risk of not having a stable source of income, as you may work only for a
few days in a month, and in another month you work on many projects, or
you may spend two months without getting any new projects to work on.
This is in addition to your inability to estimate the size of your
monthly profits, as it takes time in the beginning until you expand your
customer base and have an initial idea of your monthly income.
2- Financial regulation
Self-employment prevents you from enjoying the benefits offered by a
traditional job, such as social security, pension, and paid vacations.
You should take these points into consideration, and pay more attention
to your financial management and planning.
3- Multiple responsibilities
As a freelancer, you are responsible for all work tasks from start to
finish. No manager distributes roles to some people. You have to
prioritize those tasks and put them in the appropriate order.
4- The time factor
Time is one of the most important factors affecting the success or
failure of your self-employment. As much as the freedom that
self-employment gives you in determining working times, you must, in
turn, divide your time well between your work tasks, your life tasks,
and your free time.
If you are not familiar with the basics of time management, and you
cannot divide your time correctly, you will not be able to complete the
tasks required of you on time, which negatively affects the assessment
of the quality of your work.