When the 2020 pandemic completely demolished the global workforce, all left to do was rethink our working manners and open up to the new, remote working conditions. This resulted in the rise of freelancing, making it more in-demand than ever before.
So, if you make up your mind to become a freelance website developer, we assure you that the future will be yours!
If you’re here, reading this article, you probably already know the general concept of freelancing. But to make sure we’re on the same line, and you don’t confuse it with remote working in general, let’s clear out the meaning of the term:
A freelancer is a person who is self-employed and does not necessarily commit to a single employer. Instead, he works with different, usually short-term clients, on project-based conditions.
So if you’re working for your X company remotely but have a long-term contract and are a full-time employee, you cannot be considered a freelancer, even if you work from a different location each day.
But if you manage to get engaged in short gigs, in the late evening hours or during the weekends, and work for different clients, you could be considered a freelancer.
Most of the time, freelancers would combine freelance work with their full-time jobs, but there are also many who choose to freelance full-time. Freelance web developers, for instance, usually have so many gigs that they do not even have time for the standard 9-5 work.
This said, let’s now understand how and why:
Freelancing is the future of work
There are multiple reasons why people predict that freelancing will be a more popular working style in the near future. Here we will list just a few of them:
1. The concept of a secure job has disappeared
Those who speak against freelancing or disapprove of it are usually the ones who believe in the concept of secure jobs.
You know, we all got that advice from our parents or grandparents, telling us to get a stable, secure job that would bring us a steady income and allow us to maintain our family.
This is one of the reasons, so many of us go for that 9-5 works, never change the office, and prefer to die in safety rather than live a risky but more adventurous life.
However, 2020 proved to all of us that there is no such thing as a secure job. One day, you might wake up to a global pandemic, a big disaster, or an economic crash, and your most financially stable work will disappear.
How many of us have lost our jobs during the Coronavirus? And the worst of it is that no one could predict anything like that coming. So, when the “secure job” title leaves our dictionary, it turns out that freelancing is equal to any other “permanent” work.
Today, freelancing can be considered even more secure as here you are the only asset you need (and maybe a computer, internet connection, app… but we don’t count it.). If you are looking for an organizer of your events and dates, you should try Bloom Scheduling.
So you are the one responsible for finding clients and doing the work, and no one else can take it away from you. You can’t wake up and learn that you’re fired from your freelance job.
Yes, you can lose a client, have a bad deal, choose to stop freelancing, but still: you will never be fired.
2. One-off projects are gaining popularity
One-off projects are the projects that are being carried out only once. Maybe you need to design a quick landing page for your upcoming offer. Or maybe you need to develop a mobile app that you won’t have to change much after the launch.
Whatever it is, for these types of projects, it is way more convenient to hire a freelancer than to find an employee, train him and give him a full-time salary with benefits and insurance.
So as the number of one-off projects increases, the demand for freelancers grows. And once you find your best-matching freelancers, you can continue to offer them your following one-off projects in the future, being sure that the quality of the work will be high.
3. There’s no limit on how much you earn
The main reason why so many full-time workers leave their job and switch to freelancing is that you don’t have to wait for a half year to get a small promotion here. You’re the owner of all your promotions and salaries. You earn as much as you can.
Freelancing is a truly liberating experience as it allows you to manage your income and decide how much you can earn. The only reason why some do not push their finances too far is that they choose not to work too hard.
But if you dedicate enough time and manage your projects accordingly, you will be amazed how much you can earn in a very short time.
4. Freelancing offers endless flexibility
Freelancing stands for Flexibility. The best part of freelancing is that you can work from any location you wish. It can be the cafe at the top of the Eiffel tower, a cozy corner at your own home, or a fancy restaurant at the beach. As long as you feel comfortable working there, you can!
No one asks you to attend the meeting room at a specific hour: the most they can ask you is to join the Zoom call. And with the pandemic, thousands of remote working tools have been created or improved, which offer very convenient solutions for freelancers.
This flexibility allures many workers, as no one wants to be tied up to their desk all day. It is more pleasant to be your boss and to escape the 9-5 life, which is a true nightmare for some. Ask the freelance web developers, and they will all tell you how nice it feels to work from a hotel near the pool rather than in that dark office corner.
That was it for today! So if you were considering leaving your 9-5 job and becoming a freelance web developer, this is your sign to do so.
You may be interested in: “Top 5 Benefits of Being a Freelancer.”