Pros and Cons Doing Freelance in Nigeria
As what we know, freelance is a common thing for current generation. A lot of people even has switched their full-time job into full freelancing. But have you known the pros and cons of doing freelancing? Knowing what is freelance is important, but you should consider the advantages and disadvantages of it too before doing it.
People usually choose to do freelance rather than working 9-5 due to its flexibility. But before starting your freelance career, do you know the other pros and cons doing Freelance in Nigeria?
Pros of Freelancing
1. Flexibility
Freelance has been famous for its flexibility in working hour. So if you are a night owl who prefer to work at night, you will enjoy freelancing more than 9 to 5 jobs. Freelance has flexible working hour, because the main goal is only to finish the project by the deadline. As long as you are good to manage your time, you’re good to go.
2. Choosing Own Client
Since you are managing all alone in freelance, that means you are free to choose which client you are going to take. Different with common full-time job where you have to accept any clients that company has taken. As a freelancer, you are free to choose who to work with and which projects you will take. This means you can really focus to take projects that are truly you love and you want.
3. More Money
Since you are working alone, that means all profits will be yours. You do not have to split the money anymore since it is all yours alone. While if you are working under companies, the project’s earning is required to be split between all workers who worked under those project. So if you are freelancing a project alone, you will earn the money more for yourself.
4. Work from Anywhere
Freelance flexibility is not only limited to the working hour but also the place. You can literally work from anywhere. You can still work even if you are travelling.
5. Control of Workload
The other pros of freelancing is you can choose to work as much or as little as you wish since there will be no supervisor that is going to watch over you. Freelancers have much more control over their workloads so they can create more work-life balance that suits their needs.
As for the clients, you are free to choose how many clients you can handle per time. You get to decide of accepting new clients or even taking a break for a vacation instead.
Cons of Freelancing
1. Less Security
The biggest downside of freelancing is less security in terms of earnings. Freelance means there is a possibility you will face inconsistent workloads. There might be a time where you might have no clients at all. Comparing to full-time job where you will earn consistent salary per month, in some situations, freelance will not earn consistent amount of money. You will only earn based on how much projects you take and the rate for each projects might be different as well.
2. Tax Worries
When you work under companies, keeping track of income tax is your employer’s responsibility, and it’s usually automatically deducted from your paychecks.
However, as a freelancer, it will become your responsibility. It means its your responsibility to pay your income taxes, the amount depends on self-employment tax in your country.
3. No Employee Benefits
Since you are no longer under a company, you will not have the employee benefits. You have to provide and manage your own benefits. There are no more access to options like health insurance, 401k access, pension plans, and so forth. You will have to secure your own healthcare solutions. But the good news is there are plenty reasonable options for self-employed people.
4. No Paid Time-Off
In traditional employment, you will have access to paid sick days and time off. However, as a freelancer, you have to manage and schedule your time off in advance in case of illness or an emergency. This is to help lessen any potential income loss.
5. Ultimate Responsibility
Most freelance means you are working alone. Some freelance might have some collaboration under a project, but mostly you are going to do it alone.
When you work as a freelancer, you are in business for yourself. You are in charge of marketing your business, finding clients, handling client relationships, billing/collection, and paying taxes. Numerous choices will need to be made, including how you’ll track and accept payments, which software you’ll need to buy and what it requires to create website or even a logo.
Not everyone is ready for these responsibilities and can do them so this has to be a consideration for you if you want to be a freelance.
Have You Decided to Do Freelance?
After reading the pros and cons freelance above, you will roughly know how will it be to become a freelancer. We hope this article will help you to consider doing freelance. But do remember that each type of job will have each own pros and cons. Just choose which one suits you the best.
