7 Unique Challenges Freelancers Face Daily And Their Solutions
Being a freelancer has many advantages for sure. However, the number of unique challenges are many as well. Here I will attempt to highlight the most common challenges as well as give a few suggestions on how to mitigate them.
Freelancer Challenge #1: Finding Work
This is the most common challenge for freelancers and it’s unique because, well, let’s face it, it’s not like your old 9-to-5 cubbie job where the work just magically appears every day. When you’re a freelancer, you don’t get work unless you actively seek out clients and convince them you’re the person for the job. Without your efforts to constantly secure work, you’ll be constantly wondering how you’re going to pay the bills.
Some solutions to this challenge are:
Always put yourself out there to everyone you meet. Don’t be annoying but let people know what services you provide and that you’re always looking for new clients. Ask them to keep you in mind should someone they know need your products or services. Give them some of your business cards to pass along to those people.
Promote yourself and your services or products on social media. Let’s be honest. If you’re anything like me, you’re on social media goofing around more than you want to admit. Why not use the time to promote yourself and your products or services. Post a few times a week on your personal as well as business pages, what products or services you offer and that you have openings for a few new clients. You might even want to try an ad or two to see what results you get from those.
Research freelance sights online. There are several well-known sites like Upwork, Fivvr, Writer’s Work, and more, where you can create an account and either bid on jobs that are advertised there or find clients who are looking for what you have to offer. Just make sure you do your due diligence on a site before signing up to make sure they are legit.
Go around to local businesses and let them know how you can help them. There are so many local businesses that need a freelancer to help them out but they just don’t know where to find one. Take a day whenever there’s a lull in your workload and visit a few local businesses and see if they could use your products or services.
These are just four ways to find work for your freelance business and there are hundreds of others. Be creative and constantly be looking for new clients that you can help and you’ll have your freelance business running successfully in no time.
Freelancer Challenge #2: Friends And Family Not Understanding What Being A Freelancer Means
This is a huge one and anyone who’s been a freelancer for any amount of time has no doubt had to deal with friends and family not understanding your freelance life. This challenge can show itself in many different ways. Sometimes it shows itself by friends and family thinking that you get to “lounge around” all day at home. Sometimes it looks like friends and family constantly asking you to do them a favor and provide your services or products for free. Other times it may show it’s ugly head with people asking you to run errands for them during the work day because you’re “free”.
However it shows itself in your freelance life, the cure is to educate each and every one of them on what it means to be a freelancer. I often explain to people that as a freelancer, I have to work longer hours than most people do at their 9-to-5 jobs because my clients don’t care that I’ve been working all day. All they care about is the fact that I accepted their project and it needs to get done by their deadline.
I also explain that in addition to working on the projects I currently have, I also need to be looking for and lining up future projects so that I have constant income. I explain that, even though I work from home, there are times when I struggle to get my own housework done, so running errands for someone else is difficult or impossible.
Freelancer Challenge #3: Being A One-Man or One-Woman Band
Unlike working a regular 9-to-5 job, being a freelancer means doing EVERYTHING yourself – from finding clients to filing taxes. It’s all YOU! And while it can and is quite liberating to be in charge, it can also be extremely tiring sometimes.
I find the best way to deal with this challenge is, first and foremost, to be organized. Have a specific place that you work. Set up digital and physical files that are clearly labeled. Make sure to keep anything you need for taxes in one spot so you can easily find them when tax time rolls around. Have a calendar or agenda (or if you’re like me – both) set up specifically to keep track of clients, projects, appointments, and anything else you need to keep track of. Being organized will be your number one friend as a freelancer.
Another thing that will help is to ask for help. If you’re have some task like taxes or if you’re not the best at organization, find someone who is and hire them to take those tasks on. A tax accountant should only cost a few hundred dollars a year to file your taxes for you. And if it’s organization that you suck at, hire yourself a virtual assistant to get all that stuff running smoothly for you. It will be worth it to you. Trust me.
Freelancer Challenge #4: Loneliness
Doing everything on your own, usually from home, can be lonely at times and the current pandemic has only served to increase those feelings of loneliness in some of us. As freelancers, one of our advantages is that we can work remotely from just about anywhere. This has made it easier for us to continue working throughout the current pandemic. But sometimes this lifestyle, with or without a pandemic, can keep us a bit isolated.
However, here are a few ways to break that isolation and loneliness.
Get out in the world. Now, depending on where in the world you live, this one could be a slight bit challenging with the ongoing pandemic. However, if you take the recommended precautions, you should be fine. Getting out in the world means literally getting out of your house for a bit. Go for a walk outside. Visit a coffee shop and maybe even work there for a bit, if you can. Run some errands. Take a yoga class. Whatever will give you a break from the isolation and get you out and about for a little bit will usually do the trick. For me, at least before the pandemic, I would frequently run some errands and after my errands were done, I liked to get myself a latte from my favorite coffee shop and then walk around a couple of stores for some retail therapy. Many times I don’t even buy anything but just the act of being out in public helps to change my attitude and sent me home feeling renewed.
Have a Skype or Zoom call with friends or family. My family has done this for years even before COVID but I find that sometimes just seeing someone I love, talking and laughing with them does wonders for me disposition. You can also arrange “Happy Hours” or “Game Nights” with friends and family so there’s something to look forward to. If video chats aren’t your think, then picking up the phone and having a a good old fashioned chat with a close friend or family member can do amazing things for feelings of loneliness.
Seek professional counseling. If you are finding that you are having feelings of extreme loneliness or depression regularly and nothing you do seems to help. There is nothing wrong with seeking professional help. All of us, at one time or another in life, will need to chat with a counsellor or therapist in order to deal with emotions or challenges we’re having. It’s nothing to be ashamed of at all. If you need to speak to someone, here is a great website called Open Counseling that lists a variety of free resources. Please use them if you need them.
Freelancer Challenge #5: Dealing With Difficult Or Abusive Clients
There’s something about being a freelancer that makes some clients feel like they can be difficult or downright abusive. Apparently some clients think that because we freelance, we’re desperate for work and will bow down to their every demand and take their abusive nonsense. First off, I’d like to say that you don’t have to take any client you don’t want to (such is one of the many advantage of working for yourself) and you also can fire a client at any time. Do not take abuse or difficult clients just because you feel you need the pay.
One client I had for years. I was handling the management of their social media and writing weekly blogs for their website. I was aware that this client had a reputation for having a bad temper but decided as long as they didn’t aim it at me, I could work for them. Suddenly, one day, after asking this person a simple question regarding a payment I hadn’t received yet, this person when off on me in such a way that was unbelievable. At first, I thought that maybe I had offended by the way I worded things, so I quickly responded by apologizing and explaining that I didn’t mean to offend but instead was just inquiring about the payment because it didn’t come when it usually does. This apology was met with even more verbal abuse that was incredibly uncalled for and I fired the client right there and then.
Years later, that client inquired through a mutual friend, if they thought I would be willing to run the social media management of his new company to him. My friend reminded this person of what he had done and suggested that if he really wanted me to work for him again, that he apologize for his actions. When our mutual friend asked me, I stated that if he apologized and promised not to act like an ass again, I would be willing to take him on as a client again. Long story short, he apologized via a Zoom call and agreed to my social media proposal…only to fall back on his same abusive behavior only a MONTH into our contract. This time I terminated the contract immediately and they will never be a client of mine again.
My point is this. You NEVER, EVER have to take abuse from a client. You are not their employee. They are your client. You have just as much right to terminate your contract with them as they do to terminate it. You became a freelancer so you could be in control of and create the life you want. As Billy Joel used to famously say at the end of his concerts, “Don’t take any shit from anybody!” and that holds true for you and your freelance career. Life is too short to grovel and take abuse. Just say, “NEXT!” and move on. It’s their loss, not yours.
Freelancer Challenge #6: Taxes
As mentioned earlier, taxes can be a challenging side of being a freelancer but it doesn’t have to do be. As a freelancer, you still have to pay taxes just like anyone else who earns a living. However, you need to be aware that because you’re your own boss, you need to make sure you put aside enough money out of every bit of income that comes in to cover your tax bill at the end of the year.
Some people have suggested that freelancers put aside 15-20% of each check to cover your tax bill but I am a little more strict. I put aside 25% of my checks immediately into a savings account specifically for paying my taxes. Why 25%? Because I like to get a bonus at the end of the year from my employer and being I’m my own employer, I build it into my taxes. Not only does the extra money create a buffer incase I’ve miscalculated my tax bill, but it also creates the possibility of getting a bonus from myself after my taxes are done. Whatever is left after doing my taxes is mine to do with whatever I please with. Sometimes I buy something big with it. Other times I divide most of it up between my savings accounts for later and only buy something little as a bonus. And other times, I use the extra cash to pay down any credit cards I might have run up.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure you put aside at least 20% per paycheck for taxes so you’re not unpleasantly surprised at tax time. You’ll thank me for it. Trust me.
Freelancer Challenge #7: Unpaid Vacation
Yes, it’s true what your friends and relatives think, you can take a vacation whenever you want. However, what they usually don’t realize is that vacation is unpaid. Any time you’re not working, you’re not getting paid. Period.
So, what are some solutions to this issue? There are several things you can do to plan for vacations. The first thing you should do is every time you get paid for a job, put a small percentage into a separate “Vacation” account or bucket at your bank. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount – saving 2-5% every time some money comes in, will add up over time.
Next, find ways to take inexpensive vacations. One solution I use is a platform called Trusted Housesitters. Once you join this platform, you can apply to housesits all over the world. The way it works is people are looking for someone to stay in their home and take care of their pets while they are away. In return, you get to take a vacation in their home for FREE. The only cost, other than your yearly membership to Trusted Housesitters, is making sure you take care of their home and pets while they’re away. If you do a great job, it’s possible to become that person’s go-to housesitter every time they’re away.
I use this platform and have had a great housesit in Florida among others. Now, I should mention the competition can be high when applying for a housesit especially if you’re applying for a sit near or in popular vacation areas like beaches and such. You have to be patient but when you get chosen for a sit, it’s amazing.
I suggested this site to a close friend who was moving from New Zealand to Australia many years ago and he and his wife managed to fill their calendar with sits for OVER SEVEN YEARS! Yes, you heard that right. They were able to not pay rent for seven years because they constantly had housesits in their new country. This allowed them to save money for a home of their own, which they recently bought, and get to know the areas where they might want to settle.
Conclusion
So, there you are. The 7 unique challenges of being a freelancer. I hope you found some good information in there and I hope it helps you to navigate your life as a freelancer.
Veronica Buhl is a freelance social media manager and author, who has been a writer, editor, proofreader, summary writer, and transcriptionist for some of the top motivational and self-improvement speakers in the world. She has also helped numerous clients develop their websites, blogs, and social media presence in order to promote their businesses, non-profits, and projects. She is the author of the book, Making Your Business A Social Media Superstar, and is co-author of the book, The Massage Disadvantage. Her official website can be found at www.veronicabuhl.com
