Pros and cons of freelancing, making money online and working remotely
Something I'm all about the pros, but I write about the pros, how great it is to blog and generally work remotely. After the article about upshifting, one person reproached me for the sugary presentation, they say, I hide all sorts of disadvantages in my work and lifestyle. And I thought, but, really, it is worthwhile to gather strength and write a completely opposite article, well, as far as I can get it. Because I don't see so many minuses, and they won't be minuses for everyone, just like my pluses are not pluses for everyone.
Also, in the process of writing, there is also a similar post about Thailand, about how scary and terrible everything is there..
Pros and cons of freelancing
Minuses
I will try to collect in a heap all the cons that I myself have come across / faced, as well as hypothetical, which I could also take for cons. That is, not everything listed here concerns me.
- The need for self-organization. This is the first and most obvious thing that arises when working remotely, many may have problems with this, and I am no exception. You need to constantly keep yourself in good shape and not stick to any other business that is not related to work. Usually, there are few such things in the office (especially if social networks are blocked), plus there is a boss who monitors what you are doing. And then you’re your own boss, if you don’t kick yourself, you won’t work.
- Out-of-office environment. The point is similar to the previous one, but is no longer related to your personal characteristics, but to the fact that the atmosphere at home is not always suitable for work. This may be that the sofa is too soft, the TV is on in the background, or the wife / children walk around and are constantly distracting. This is why some freelancers prefer coworking..
- «You do not work». Many friends and family may not take your work seriously, which can be morally difficult. You are sitting at home, why is it difficult for you to go there and do this, I’m in the office, I’m not allowed. For some reason, people are unaware that despite the fact that there is freedom of choice in actions, this does not mean that you can break loose like this, drop everything and start doing some business. Well, and not everyone will support you in your decision to go free swimming..
- You go to bed late, you get up late. Now I will not enter into a discussion about the fact that it is necessary (not necessary) to go to bed early, everyone here has their own opinion. But for those who want to go to bed early, it will be more difficult, because in the morning there is no need to get up anywhere, there is no fear of being late for work, you will have to come up with a personal motivation for getting up early. I have been unable for a year now, to rebuild, I go to bed at 2 a.m..
- No communication with colleagues. All communication will now be via the Internet, neither go to smoke for a smoke, nor discuss the boss or the company's problems at lunch. Someone might get lonely.
- Always at home. You will not have a daily change of scenery, pictures in front of your eyes. Can reach walls, furniture, wife, children or something else.
- The instability of earnings. When you have your own site (s) or orders from the freelance exchange, it may turn out that Yandex will one day ban your site (s), or the customer will write a bad review on the exchange and there will be fewer people for you. address. But for me, they can also be fired at any time and from any job, firms are also closing. Of course, it will not be difficult for a good specialist to find a new job, but the same can be said about a specialist working remotely. And yet there is no constant salary, today I managed to earn money, and the next month there was a dip in income..
- Start from scratch. As a rule, we all already have some kind of education and profession, and freelancing and making money on the Internet have just begun to enter our lives en masse. If the profession and skills allow you to work right away, then this is just wonderful, but most often you have to master a completely new field of activity, and this is a lot of time. Plus, at first, the income will be minimal, if not zero at all, and for some projects the initial capital will not hurt.
- Several professions. It is rather applicable to bloggers and site owners - you need to fumble in several areas at once: here you need to be able to write articles, and to understand seo, and know how to monetize correctly, and master web programming. Even if you hire people for all actions (if you have capital), you still need to understand everything at least at some level, otherwise the money can go to waste.
- No freebies. If you think the internet is full of freebies, then this is a misconception. Here, too, you need to be able to make money and not everyone succeeds and does not immediately. Some just work in the sweat of their brow and win by persistence, others create something original and leave with ideas, others organize the process through communication skills. Yes, there are some people who easily earn some sms divorces and bad things like that, but we are not writing an article for them. In general, if you do not know how to make money in everyday life, then you will have to sweat here too..
- Registration of individual entrepreneurs and payment of taxes. I bring one more point here, because from my own experience I came across the fact that it is not so easy, while an office worker does not even need to think about it.
That's all I could think of. By and large, freelancing, remote work and making money on the Internet are work for yourself, or, in other words, a business, albeit not always a big one. Here you need to rely only on yourself and your strength, and the responsibility for all mistakes also lies with you, and not with someone else..
Pros of freelancing and remote work
Since the general (fair for everyone) pluses are even more difficult to collect than minuses, so I will write in brief only what concerns me personally. That is, those things for which I started all this, and for which I continue. For me, the advantages of working on the Internet more than cover any disadvantages, and my office work, I, like a bad dream, remember. You can read my attitude to this lifestyle in the articles We choose upshifting and 3 years without work and rest.
- Not tied to a specific place. Actually, this is how it all began, I wanted to leave Moscow for the neighboring region, but from there you can't get to work. In the region, it is generally difficult to find a job, and the salaries are very low. The only way out is remote work or work on the Internet, which generally gives complete freedom of movement. I did not consider offline business on the spot, it also binds to the place, and I am far from entrepreneurship.
- No need to travel to the office. I really didn’t want to ride the subway and go to the office in traffic jams, no matter how much I tried to reconfigure myself, it didn’t work out. I remember once working for a year in an office that was 15 minutes' walk from home, it was just a different life, a different attitude to work! If that company had not collapsed, maybe this blog would not have been :)
- I myself decide when to work and when not. I could not agree with any boss to go to the office for at least 1-2 days less and work at home, or work more hours a day, but to have an extra day off. Now I just don't have a boss.
- Spontaneous travel without a return ticket. Initially, I wanted to travel a little more than is provided on a standard 2 week vacation. But as soon as I tried the format of travel without a return ticket, in principle, and traveling, I no longer want to travel in a different way..
- In the end, I love my current job, and the process itself. Probably, if someone offered me a similar vacancy several years ago, I would have agreed, but no one offered something, I had to create a job for myself. Although, to be honest, I only tried it later, and it all started precisely because of the first two points.
P.S. I would be glad if you write your own minus, that is, something personally of your own. Surely everyone who started working remotely or on the Internet had their own difficulties. And write pluses too :)