{"id":1141,"date":"2017-04-13T18:43:32","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T18:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/?p=1141"},"modified":"2017-04-13T18:43:32","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T18:43:32","slug":"hardtruthsfreelancing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/hardtruthsfreelancing\/","title":{"rendered":"Some hard truths about freelancing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"Who Knows What Lurks...\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/cogdog\/5895499389\/in\/photolist-9newju-2P3Dw-3Ksp2K-Pyw9dL-a6skbF-gKC84c-78Rsdz-pzHyHj-78Vmq9-G86bnG-ptaVxs-78Rtc2-pHo1UG-jn9ESB-9YXYzc-61sG4o-968VA1-4wV6yy-xZCFx1-vEmr6z-tWCqEu-QG7oFb\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/6\/5265\/5895499389_c1c1cabf65_b.jpg\" alt=\"Who Knows What Lurks...\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I have had about five years of very succesfully freelance. There was as much work as I wanted, people knew what I could offer and good connections bred better networking. Since stepping out to take on a very different project a few years back, I have struggled to get back to this flow. I now find myself in a less perfect situation, with work being far more of a struggle. For a broader view on freelance life, see <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dougbelshaw.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doug Belshaw<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dougbelshaw.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/04\/two-years-consulting\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reflections<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u00a0Following my post reflecting on <\/span><a href=\" http:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/freelance\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">why I became a freelancer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, someone asked me what the downsides were. So, warts and all &#8211; \u00a0here they are: full of bitterness, but maybe a few truths that might help someone else<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Insecurity sucks<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I used to be better at this (maybe this is a function of age?) believing that work will come and holding my nerve. Freelance is all about feasts and famines. When it is good, it is great! But when it is quiet, it will scour your confidence and push you back to the job searching process. You need a minimum of 6 months work ahead that will balance out the tough times. \u00a0Have faith but don\u2019t be afraid to step back into a regular job if freelance isn\u2019t working (yet).<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s lonely<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some people like working more independently &#8211; but, without more people to bounce off, get bored with, and have to compromise for, freelance life can be quite isolating. Yes, there are social networks and team messaging services for interaction (and of course friends and family) &#8211; but that is not the same as having colleagues who share the same purpose as you.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Domestic Discipline<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can you get the washing up done, pack the kids to school, put the washing out, make dinner and still get a full day of work done? Try it. Getting a cleaner\/nanny adds costs to your business\u2026 but many people find it essential. Having a study or space to work in will keep you away from distractions &#8211; but it won\u2019t be easy to do your share of the housework. Don\u2019t expect others to cover for you.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Mask<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The need to be constantly in a business development mindset means that it can be all too easy to drink from your own <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Drinking_the_Kool-Aid\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kool-Aid<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It\u2019s not all bullshit, but self-promotion is a draining and, too often, unsatisfying activity. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have a full time job, you only really need to convince someone to employ you once. As a freelancer, you are always on probation, and your \u2018game face\u2019 is always on. \u00a0Can you sell yourself in less than 10 words and look like you are worth it? Then rinse and repeat?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Valued added rates<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How much are you worth? Can you explain your rates, negotiate and make sure you get paid on time? Did you not get the gig because your rates were too high? Are there plenty of well established consultants mining the same field, charging more? \u00a0Do people know you are worth the money &#8211; and will they share that story? If you are too neurotic, these questions will weigh you down. Overconfidence will sink you. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The money<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Very few clients understand the business model of freelancers, and often baulk at what they see as high daily rates. It is hard to keep explaining that we pay our own NI, income tax through Self Assessment, travel, pensions, etc. It is even harder to get them to realise that, like a snake, a freelancer might only get one \u2018meal\u2019 every few weeks &#8211; so each one has to last.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Network<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a freelancer, you are dependent on the people you know and who know you. Be honest, generous and open &#8211; but don\u2019t do it because you expect this to come back you you. Chances are that it will &#8211; but there is never a guarantee. Do it because it is right, not because you think a RT will lead to a contract! Remember that reputations are easily lost if details are taken out of context. Be careful and be kind.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you still want to make a go of freelance life, I wish you luck. There are thousands of resources and blog posts to encourage you. My cynical view is not intended to put you off. I wrote this to reflect on my own situation and to answer the question of someone hovering at the brink of quitting a good job to go freelance. I felt it was the right thing to do to be honest. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0I have had about five years of very succesfully freelance. There was as much work as I wanted, people knew what I could offer and good connections bred better networking. Since stepping out to take on a very different project &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/hardtruthsfreelancing\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25,171],"tags":[222,20,177,220],"class_list":["post-1141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-eylan","category-thinking-out-loud","tag-consultancy","tag-consultant","tag-freelance","tag-freelancing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2vDki-ip","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1142,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions\/1142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}