20 Reasons Why You Should Go Freelance

As someone who worked and climbed the corporate ladder for over 8 years in London and Milan before going freelance, I think I now have the right perspective to share with you why you should go freelance. I wish I had found this article three years ago when I decided to completely change my life and that's why I am now generously sharing my tips with you.

From my own experience, freelancing is one of the most rewarding things you could do in your life. The word "freelance" already gives you a sense of what is all about: freedom. Being your own boss, in fact, brings a huge amount of freedom, independence and control over your own life. Hold on, it's also incredibly challenging, hard, time-consuming and nerve-wrecking but nothing really beats running your own business.

I’ve come up with 20 great reasons why you should go freelance that you might not have considered yet in order to help you decide whether or not to take the plunge. If you are already a freelancer and are feeling a bit stuck, this is also for you: to remember why you choose this way in the past.

1 - Hello Boss!

You. Are. The. Boss. That's right! There is no one above you from now on. No more appraisals, no more remarks on you being late, no more scheduled holidays or control freaks, incompetent managers (hello Tom!). You are the only one in control of your own destiny and as empowering as it is, it also includes a heavy responsibility tag. Keep reading for more.

2 - No more commute

In most cases, you will start working from the comfort of your own home. I always wondered what was the point of having a mortgage for most of your life, but only be able to use your home at weekends and nights. Now, your home is your office, so you'll really see the advantage of such an investment!

3 - It costs less

Now walk to your closet and count the outfits you only use for work. Can you remember how much you spent for them? Well, as a freelancer you won't need expensive suits and dresses or shoes. Another massive expense comes from your commute. For example, if are using the London public transport system that can take up to 10% of your yearly salary. (WHAAAT?) Oh, I almost forgot about lunches, you'll be eating cheaper and much healthier. How about that?
All in all, your life will get cheaper which means two things: A) you can earn less and therefore stress less B) you will have more money to invest on the things you really love. Sicily anyone?

4 - Goodbye Mondays

If you ask me, Mondays is a day that should be taken off the calendar. Or at least, I thought so before going freelance. Nowadays, Mondays are my Sundays. Why? Because whilst the rest of the world is suffering on their Monday morning commute, I stay tucked up in bed or go out for an adventure without the weekends' crowds. I'm da boss and I do as I like!

5 - F%!K the office politics

Hell yeah! If there was one thing I couldn't stand in my previous life, was the due bullshit I had to face every.single.day of my office life. Having to deal with bitchy colleagues, annoying people, incompetent bosses (hello Tom!), stupid competitions...all with a smile on my face. But today, oh guys, it's just me. Of course, there are some equally annoying clients, but I'm free to let them go, for the rest, it's just me, the dog, my coffee, sometimes the ocean or the mountains and my laptop.

6 - You can work from anywhere

Yes boy. Since I've gone freelancing, back in 2015, I've worked from beautiful campsites in Australia, on top of the mountains in New Zealand, in gorgeous cafes in Thailand, lying on the poolside in Cambodiaand amazing co-working spaces in Bali. Being a freelancer allows you to take your office anywhere you wish, that might be the comfort of your home, but also a beach, the countryside or on Mars.

7 - You manage your own time

As mentioned above, Monday can be fun days, but also while working you can actually arrange your days in a way that's more fun. For example, I work mornings, but most afternoons, I look after my nephews or go to the beach or read and maybe work a bit more in the evenings, if I feel particularly inspired. Also, if I need a break, I take a break, I take a nap, I check my Instagram or call a friend. What I always considered silly, was forcing people to be in an office for +40 hrs a week, when they could actually get stuff done in much less time if they were allowed to work in their own terms.

8 - No more power games

Hate your website? You can change it. Want to earn more? You choose your rate. Want to take a long holiday? Do it. As a freelancer, you can make all the decisions (and take all the consequences too). But you're the only one in control. No more power games.

9 - Forget the 40-hrs week

You might want or have to work 40 hours per week or more. But going freelancing, you will definitely regain a better work-life balance and you might even discover that you only need 20 hours to sustain yourself and cover your basic expenses. So once you set up your monthly target and the amount of work you need to reach that, you can choose to work more or dedicate some time to your passions, family or friends.

10 - Productivity is your friend

As soon as I started freelancing, I realised how quick I was at getting my job done. Why? No more endless meetings, no more coffee chats about the weekend and no more useless emails. Time allocated to work is spent working This ultimately means that you can work even fewer hours to get the job done and have even more free time.

11 - Develop and shape yourself as you like

Once again, I bring my own personal experience. When I started freelancing I played it safe doing the same job I was doing in my corporate life. Then, tired of that, I decided to take a little risk and actually Spotahome was my first ever writing gig. Soon after, I picked more and more writing projects and then I decided to push more on my social media experience and become a strategist in that field. Along the way, I tried and tested many things (I now also have a stationery business), some worked, others didn't (full-time photography for example), but being in control of my time and life allowed me to push myself beyond my safety line and take additional risks to really understand what I really wanted to do with my own life.

12 - Make your own weekends

I'm a crowds hater and I always leave places if the queue is too long, I never go on holiday when the masses go. I prefer to work on Saturday and Sunday but go out to museums, attractions or take a weekend getaway during the week.
Additionally, unless you are doing a customer service or similar job, your clients don’t care when you work, they just care that the work gets done!

13 - You can pick your own clients

When you start working for yourself, you'll take every bit of work you can get. Once you're established, you'll be able to pick and choose who you work with. And in those early years, you'll soon learn to recognise the signs of who will and won't be good to work with. When you're your own boss, you can have the luxury of choosing your clients.

14 - You have greater earning potential

Ok, so a salary might be safe and comforting. But when you work for someone else, your earning potential is never as good as when you freelance. As a business owner, you pretty much have an unlimited earning potential. It's down to you how much money you make.

15 - You're lining your own pockets

When you work for someone else, it's easy to feel like you are lining your employer's pockets. But that doesn't happen when you freelance because all the money you make goes directly into your own wallet.

16 - You'll learn so much more

Freelancing brings many challenges, there's no doubt about that. But these always offer some invaluable lessons. When you work for yourself, you'll learn so much from the people you come across; the mistakes you make and the clients you work for. You'll also learn plenty by always striving to improve your own skills.

17 - You'll build confidence

When you freelance, you only have yourself to rely on. You'll go to meetings on your own, you'll carry out work without any anyone else and you'll manage projects from start to finish by yourself. Along with responsibility, comes confidence. All in all, you'll become a stronger person.

18 - Be proud of yourself

Most people cannot freelance. The stress level you have to deal with at least at the beginning, the lack of all the benefits (health, fixed salary every month, no paid holidays etc) is a challenge too big for most humans. Which makes us, freelancers, very brave, ambitious individuals and we not only stand out from the crowds, but we should also be extremely proud of our own little achievements.

19 - You can take longer holidays

Yes, you won't be earning any money when you go on holiday, but you can also opt for half-holidays and bring your laptop with you and work halftime. You could never do that if you were in a normal job in London or anywhere else.

20 - Freelancing will free up time

When you freelance, you will soon realise that the sky is the limit and that ideas will pop into your mind every other day. It's only when I went freelancing that I realised that I could also do other things and built side business along with my freelancing career. It's because of this that I finally managed to turn into reality my childhood stationery dream.

Do what you love!!

Ultimately, why would you put yourself through the long working hours and difficulties of freelancing without doing what you love? I did that early on my freelancing career, but I soon realised that I didn't want to keep doing what I was doing in London, I wanted to not only change my style but the job itself. It's been the scariest but most rewarding decision of my life. Three years have passed and I never looked back thinking I made a mistake.
I'm doing what I love and I love what I'm doing.

Rebuilding your life to suit your needs is really a remarkable choice.

It can't really get better than this!

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