15 Reasons to Become A Freelancer (How to Do It Right)

Gaurav Upreti 28 February, 2024

When you are stuck with your regular 9 to 5 job, shackled within the chains of corporate mad race and relying upon pay check to pay check, freelancing could be your key to the mirthful side of life.

Yes! Freelancing is great for many reasons – you have the freedom to work from anywhere, you can set your own hours, and you get to choose the projects you want to work on. Plus, with more people freelancing than ever before, the freelance community is thriving and there are plenty of resources and support available to help you succeed.

2022 is going to be a great year for freelancers – so if you’re thinking of making the switch, now is definitely the time to do it!

Let’s dive into some of the best reasons to become a freelancer in 2022.

1. Be Your Own Boss

All of this sounds exciting and attractive, right?

Common then, let’s take a look at some of the irresistible reasons why you should strive to be your own boss.

Yes, you can certainly be your own boss by freelancing! There are a few things to keep in mind if you go down this route, though.

First, make sure that you have a strong work ethic and are willing to put in the extra hours to get the job done right.

You’ll also need to be proactive in finding and pitching clients, as well as networking with other professionals in your field.

And finally, don’t forget to set aside some time for marketing and promoting your services – after all, no one will hire you if they don’t know you exist!

But if you’re up for the challenge, freelancing can be a great way to call the shots and control your own career.

2. Freelancers can Work from Anywhere

Working from home is superb but it is not for everybody and doesn’t suit everyone.

These days, technology allows freelancers to work from pretty much anywhere – in hotel rooms, by the pool, in coffee shops, and in some really strange places.

If it’s sunny outside, and you happen to be a sucker for such days, for instance, you can go to your local park and soak up the rays.

Your clients pay for your work, and it’s not their decision where you work and how you work.

Freelancers can choose times and places in which to work.

Today, many freelancers become location independent. They choose to work wherever they like and can change location regularly.

You can work from anywhere and anytime but that doesn’t mean you have to.

The truth is, you can examine a place for safety and practicality, and, if it passes your checklist, you can make it a frequent spot.

Working outside in beautiful scenery or before going snorkeling or any activity in your work area gives an amazing sense of freedom, but it also takes a lot of self-discipline.

3. The End of Office Politics

That’s right! No more office politics, annoying people and colleagues. Just you and your slippers with a nice cup of coffee, all at home in your own home office.

Office politics have a horrible effect of making people and employees miserable.

Many workers say that it is the worst part of their job, having to play favor between competing teams or managers.

But when you start freelancing, you don’t have to worry about not getting noticed by your boss and competing with colleagues.

Fortunately, from the day you start freelancing, you can say goodbye to office politics. You will be on your own and that’s just great.

But in another perspective, it doesn’t mean that you will remove the idea of competition in the job world.

You still have to do a great job in getting and winning potential clients.

4. Your Time is Your Own – You Can Choose Your Working Hours

If you want to work 50 hours one week and take the next week off, you can. If you want to work 10 hours on Mondays but only an hour on Tuesdays, then, do that.

Need to hop out for some groceries or pick up kids from school? You can.

Or use the gym while it’s quiet, and you want to take a break when you want. No problem.

Sounds like a dream, right?

In all honesty, there are no set rules.

There’s no 9 to 5 unless you want there to be, it depends on you.

As a freelancer, you can choose your hours. You don’t need to pretend to be working anymore when you have nothing to do just because your boss needs you to be on your desk.

Work on your terms during the hours you’ve chosen.

In able to perform all of this effectively, learn to practice time management. If possible, list down all your activities in a day to become productive all day.

5. Freelancers Can Choose The Clients They Work With

Once you established your work, and when you start working for yourself and take every bit of work you can get, then you will be able to pick and choose who you work with.

Freelancers and entrepreneurs don’t have to work with people they don’t like or with clients who annoy them.

You are free to choose the people with whom you work. In addition, choosing a client means you can choose the projects you want to work with and that is a big plus.

You will be more motivated if you like and enjoy working on your projects. When you are running a business, you have the luxury of choosing what and who you work with.

If you are just starting in the freelance world, sometimes being so picky in choosing clients is not a good option.

Establish your experience and expertise first then sooner or later be able to recognize the signs of who will and won’t be a good client.

6. You Will Have Higher Earning Potential

As a freelancer, you are in control of your earnings. It depends on how high your rate is. Most of the time, this will be related to how many projects you decided to take on.

Building a spectacular portfolio for clients means you are not financially dependent on only one source.

You can take on as many projects as you can as long as your schedule and time agree to.

Work hard and earn more. The world is your playground and you can decide how many projects to take on this month and how much money you’d like to make.

The money you earn when you work with someone else is never as good as when you freelance. You will have pretty much unlimited earning potential.

Budgeting can make your life so much easier and wiser.

All your earnings should have a place for each expense – bills, food and groceries, clothing, and everything. A good budget for every penny you make will make a big difference and impact.

You will be able to achieve your other expensive goals such as buying your own house and lot or your next travel vacation.

7. Freelancers have an exceptional career graph

Freelancing brings so many challenges; every job does and there is no doubt about that. When you freelance, you only have yourself to rely on.

You carry out work without any help from colleagues, you will manage reports and projects from start to finish and you will go to meetings on your own.

But these always offer some invaluable lessons.

When you work for yourself, you will learn so much from the people you come across. You will learn from the mistakes you make and the clients you work for.

Make and remember this as an experience to grow. You will also learn plenty by always striving to improve your skills.

The whole freelancing experience will be the best thing that ever happened to you.

8. You Have 100 % Job Security

It may sound weird but freelancing offers you more job security than your full-time job. It might seem a ridiculous statement, but no job is ever safe, right? Specifically in these difficult times. Then what makes freelancing any different from your 9 to 5 job?

At least when you are freelancing, you control your destiny as it’s down to you whether you survive or not.No one can fire you when you are the boss.

Yes, freelancing and entrepreneurship have their ups and downs but surely in the long run as long as you keep track of it, you will have control over your future and earnings.

That is far better than working for someone then in the future will suddenly doesn’t need you anymore to work in their company.

You have to do your job with all your 100 % best and effort to ensure your future. Job security in freelancing depends on you. Doing your job right with patience and perseverance will give you the security you desire.

9. Your Efforts Reward You

Being motivated by company schemes or bonus scheme is quite deflating.

A regular employee can get an occasional bonus but it depends on how other people, your colleague, or the company work too.

On the other hand, you don’t often receive bonuses if your work brings in lots of money for your company.

On contrary, freelancers and business owners get paid and rewarded for the work that they put in and the results they create and make.

In the freelance world, the more you work, the more money you can get and be paid.

Every bit of effort and work you do benefits you and not someone else, only you – and not your other lazy colleague who spends all day talking about work without doing any and can still benefit through your hard work.

The money is all yours.

Freelancers get paid for their effort and hard work, not the efforts of other people.

So a piece of good advice is just to enjoy, sit back and relax with all that money you have earned with your hand.

10. You Can Do What You Love

Truthfully, not all successful freelancers or entrepreneurs follow their passions, but most do, and even those who don’t find themselves eventually come to love what they do.

In freelancing, it will give you pride in a job to make it well done.

And in addition, why else would you put yourself through the long tiring working hours and difficulties of freelancing without doing what your passion is and love?

Despite some disadvantages of freelancing, the main fact is you are doing exactly what you want for a living. And for that, you cannot get any better than that.

Make your customer and client one of your top priorities and make them happy, and offer the best customer service.

Seeing them come back time and again or rehire you for more work is incredibly and amazingly fulfilling.

You make things happen as a business owner and a freelancer and everyone comes to love that feeling.

11. You Are In Control

Do you want to change the way your website looks? You can.

You want to decide which clients to have? Obviously, you can. Duh!

There’s no debating which version of a website to use or what office dress code to wear, it’s all up to you.

If you want to work in your PJs or naked in your living room or if you want a suit with your laptop in cafes, you can.

Freelancers and entrepreneurs make their own decisions. You are in control and no one else.

Starting your business assumes multiple roles. You are the CEO, COO, manager the boss who runs the whole show.

That might be challenging and daunting for some but the positive side of it is you don’t have to wait for approvals, you don’t have to read those ridiculous corporate emails.

You will make your own decisions and you live by them.

Taking control means you are in the driver’s seat. So how do we take control? Just simply own every outcome you produce.

When a project starts, you should know what will happen from beginning to end. You have to build a relationship with your client and customers.

12. No Commute / No Travel To work

You will likely have the choice of working from home depending on your industry. This is another incredible advantage of freelancing.

Most freelance jobs allow you to work from home which is a big plus.

For those commuting to the office every day, a 9 to 5 can easily turn into 7 to 7.

Those additional hours of commuting can be frustrating and unproductive if you are driving a car. If you use public transportation, then perhaps you can relax a bit with music or read a book.

Either way, it still makes it a long day, that can be stressful and put you in a bad mood before you even get to work.

With freelancing, you can eliminate those long commutes to the office and just save time for another important thing.

Planning to get regular at the gym? Why not use those hours you’ll save from commuting for building some muscle?

The benefit of working from home is taking responsibility that you make sure to work productively and effectively from your home.

You have the freedom to use those extra hours as you wish. Perhaps a chance to pursue a new hobby and eventually can turn into another source of income.

13. It’s the future – The Trend

The freelance will be part of one of the biggest trends that have swept through the workplace around the world in the last few years.

This will shape how we work for many years to come.

Years later, the majority of the workforce will be made up of freelance workers.

However, not everyone can freelance. It takes a certain type of personality to be able to do it.

Take a gut to be able to do it so you will be able to get a wonderful sense of job satisfaction today and in the future.

You’ll achieve something that many people would find a bit too difficult.

14. Exposure

Freelancing opens up the possibility to work on a variety of projects and topics simultaneously.

Working for only one company may not provide you with optimum experience in other industries and career realms.

On the contrary, freelancing helps you to broaden your horizons.

This variety can help you create an environment that is less redundant and boring.

Plus, there is loads of work in freelancing.

From agencies requiring freelance support to small businesses needing affordable services, good freelancers rarely run out of projects.

There are plenty of works to go around and explore. Though, how you find it, is up to you.

Freelancing enables faster growth opportunities as compared to any full-time job.

It helps you nurture great interpersonal skills and the ability to deal with different kinds of situations.

No one else can win the job or work for you. So, make sure you prioritize your marketing game and get out to discover new people and opportunities.

Expose yourself to jobs that align with your passion and take a hit at something new.

15. Become A Better Human Being

A career in freelancing can be described as a little world of one’s whole life. It will help a person to evolve into a better individual.

This will automatically happen as a part of the process.

You will be able to view life as a whole something, much bigger than a single job or a client. You will learn to help others in the same industry.

You see fellow freelancers as a family, not a rival. Such a positive approach is nothing but rewarding.

You will appreciate the beauty of life, something that is uncertain, yet wonderful and worth living.