Five problems clients face with freelancers. There is a solution! Problems accompanying freelancers Problems of freelancers

Entrepreneur Michael Thomas, in which he spoke about the disadvantages of remote work and constant travel. According to Thomas, not only he faced similar problems, but, for example, the Dutch developer Peter Levels, who traveled the world for three years.

Peter Levels is a developer and entrepreneur who set himself the task of launching 12 startups in 12 months in 2014. Levels managed to create two services that have become popular among freelancers - a site for choosing a place to live NomadList and a project for finding remote work RemoteOk.

Levels himself led a nomadic lifestyle - the Dutchman managed to work in Hong Kong, Thailand, and other countries. “His blog has become a source of inspiration for office workers stuck in the building from 9 am to 5 pm,” writes the author of the post on Quartz.

In the summer of 2016, Michael Thomas traveled to Europe and found out that Levels had returned to his homeland - the Netherlands. “He decided to go back to the old way of life. Just a few months earlier, I myself gave up the idea of an eternal journey - being in different countries, I suffered more and more from loneliness. " Thomas decided to find out if other freelancers moving from country to country are facing a similar problem.

“In 2008, The Economist published a story about entrepreneurs who traveled the world with their laptop and phone. At the dawn of the mobile era, this idea seemed completely new, but it appeared back in the 1980s. Then the adviser to the French president, Jacques Attali, used the term nomad to describe the lifestyle of wealthy people who in the future will travel around the world in search of entertainment and new opportunities. The prediction turned out to be prophetic. "

According to Thomas, in the following years, the culture of "nomadism" developed rapidly. In 2009, National Geographic and Dell Corporation launched a blog dedicated to this lifestyle. And by 2010, the author continues, a whole industry has formed around him - conferences, trainings, blogs, and so on. The community motto was: "Earn money to travel the world."

Nomad is a person who has managed to combine travel and remote work. This is the dream of an endless vacation.

The movement expanded, and tropical regions like Thailand and Indonesia were filled with remote workers. An additional advantage of this lifestyle was that freelancers could move to a cheaper region, retaining their previous earnings - and thus improve their own standard of living.

Peter Levels, Thomas says, received his MBA from the University of Amsterdam in 2012. Then he went to travel the world. “Life after graduation was very boring. I wanted to break out of the routine, and I decided that I would go to the other end of the world. As an adventure, ”says Levels.

Since then, the developer has traveled to dozens of countries in Asia, Europe, North and South America. “His business became successful and Levels started making tens of thousands of dollars a month. He seemed to be living his dream, ”writes Thomas.

Once I was standing at the window in my rented apartment in Colombia and suddenly realized that I did not know anyone here. And all this is not what I would like to do. Yes, photos from different places on Earth look cool, but I don't feel any connection with these places.

According to Levels, he began to develop depression. “I felt lost. Who am I? Your personality is largely determined by your environment. When you move from place to place and don't make friends, you lose part of your personality. Even I - a fairly strong and emotionally stable person - was not ready for this. "

Michael Thomas notes that Levels' lifestyle gave him freedom, but ultimately he didn't need it. He finally realized this when one of his friends visited him in Colombia. Levels wanted to return to Amsterdam, where he could visit his family - and communicate with relatives in person, rather than via Skype. After three years of traveling, the entrepreneur returned home.

“The life of a nomad can be difficult - especially on a psychological level. Numerous studies not only prove that personal communication with colleagues can be important for building a career, but also demonstrate that prolonged loneliness can be harmful to human health. "

Everything is much more complicated than it looks in the pictures on Instagram. It's nice that Levels is not shy about talking about these issues, although he is personally interested in the development of the industry.
- Michael Thomas

“This does not mean that Levels has decided to give up travel forever, not at all. He just plans to take root and live in one place, ”says Thomas. “There seems to be a lot of positives to this lifestyle, but there are many downsides to constant travel,” Levels explains.

Your clients are very different people, and their requirements are also different. What you used with your past client may be completely unacceptable to the client you are working with today. And, most likely, these requirements will grow from order to order. This means that as a freelancer, you cannot stand still, you need to constantly develop.

2. Different time zones

A freelancer can work with customers from all over the world. The main thing is that you and the customer understand each other and speak the same language. But this advantage is fraught with a problem. After all, you have to take into account the difference in time zones. You have to adjust somehow, wake up at 3 am to talk with the client. Or even stay awake all night.

3. You face bad customers.

A freelancer, unlike an office employee, has to communicate with clients himself. And not all of these clients are pleasant people. Some delay payments, others require jewelry work for a penny price. Plus, a freelancer often has to take risks because clients don't like to pay up front.

4. Financial management

As a freelancer, you need to make sure you earn more than you spend. Over time, a freelancer is forced to become good.

5. You need to maintain a work-life balance.

When you are managing your own time, it becomes very difficult to devote enough time to both work and personal life. On the one hand, your wife has a birthday and you need to devote a whole day to her. On the other hand, your deadline is on fire.

6. You need to hunt for clients

The most important task of a freelancer is. Or rather, customers. And despite the sheer number of freelance exchanges, you can face fierce competition. Finding clients is not as easy as it sounds.

7. You need to be a jack of all trades

12. Payment methods

In addition to the exchange rate, the methods of obtaining this very currency are a big headache for a freelancer. Yandex.Money and PayPal may not always be your saviors. The way the client pays for your work will not always be the way you would like it to be. You will have to get a lot of e-wallets and various bank cards.

13. You need to be a great negotiator.

More often than not, clients feel when a freelancer misjudges their services. And this can lead to the fact that you get paid less than you should. It is important to assess the market correctly and be confident when presenting your services.

14. You need to learn to be flexible.

Freelancing means customer satisfaction. Sometimes, even a job that you think is fantastic may not suit the client. You have to adapt to customers, otherwise your career will not work out.

15. Taxes

We, as citizens of our country, must pay taxes. For an office employee, this problem is solved by the company's accountant. But a freelancer has to think about it himself. You need to understand all the tax jungle, choose how it will be more profitable to pay taxes and how not to go to jail for hiding income. Even if it is unintentional.

16. Empty portfolio

When you're just starting out as a freelancer, you probably don't have much to show your clients. And you have to work the first time for a penny or even completely free. Everything in order to fill your own.

17. Dumping competitors

What you can do for $ 50, a Chinese or Indian freelancer can do for $ 10. You will have to put up with this and either work for a penny, or raise your level. True masters of their craft do not need to look for work. It’s work that finds them.

18. Loneliness

When you work as a freelancer, you don't have much contact with people. You don't have a team, you don't have a boss. All your communication is communication with customers. This can seriously affect how you perceive people and how you behave in large companies.

Good luck with your freelance career.

Freelancing is good, really. Especially those who escaped from the rattling group of women or from the head of the tyrant. Or those who cannot leave a sick grandmother / small child / cat at home. But there are also problems that are not accepted to be voiced, which few people complain about ... because if you tell someone, they will laugh, I’m also a problem ...

Purely female problems ...

For example, familiar to many girls ... you stop being a gorgeous woman. Because you sit at home. I bought an elegant dress - where to wear it? And I also want ... heels, a dress and ... where? At Pyaterochka once a week?

It's good if there is an attentive husband or boyfriend who can take you out to a restaurant or cafe. And so - sit and wait for a special occasion. Which rarely comes, because of all your friends, you have only a few. You sit at home and talk about things that are little understood by someone. Comrades are gradually being eliminated ...

You stop looking after yourself with such zeal, because - that's right, you are sitting at home. Men may not shave for days, ladies - twist the "muzzle" on the back of the head and go. This does not apply to everyone, but almost everyone has moments when they absolutely do not care how you look. Then, after a while, you look at yourself and groan: what am I becoming? And let's work diligently with ourselves: fitness, swimming, massage, eyebrow nails ... But for a long time - there are a lot of orders, then all the same - for whom is it all?

Friendship and communication ...

We are desperately lacking in communication. Therefore, we are eager to chat in queues, to break out at least to a fitness club - not so much for the sake of sports and health, as for the sake of communicating with our own kind, living and warm people.

It's hard to find a boyfriend / girlfriend because you live online. If you are left alone for any reason, you desperately think - how to get to know someone if you practically don't communicate with people in your life? Dating websites? You rarely go out for a walk, and then - either with a dog or with a child (if any). It seems that you are an interesting interlocutor, and you know a lot, but there is no opportunity to make new acquaintances. This primarily concerns single mothers with children - there are a lot of them on freelancing for a variety of reasons.

There are no topics for conversation with old friends - but this is not only a problem in freelancing. This is a problem in general on a universal scale with communication between people, but we always try to close ourselves off from each other. And smartphones are not to blame for this. Previously, they hid in newspapers and books, just to hide from the rest.

Friends disappear for various reasons. For example, the threads that tied you before have disappeared - one job, merry drinking on Fridays. And now you don't have these drunks. Because Friday itself is no longer an unusual day. You can work this evening on a new project - because clients are known to be fond of reminiscing about urgent matters on Friday night.

Over time, you acquire new friends and acquaintances - but mostly virtual. These are your colleagues, sometimes customers, sometimes just passing by, with whom you hooked in the comments to the post on the social network.

I'm tired of all…

The house gets bored and I want to get out of here. It's always good at home, but it happens that you just want to leave, leave, for a day or two, to take a break from these walls. It's good that freelancing gives you the opportunity to do this at any time. But not always in reality ... admit that sometimes you cannot just go and go somewhere, because there are a lot of orders, and it can be inconvenient to work in a new place. And not everyone has the opportunity to go to a coworking space - for example, in my town there is simply no place where I can sit quietly with a laptop for half a day. It won't work out in nature either - 3G catches in places, and its quality leaves much to be desired. And they won't let you sit - the town is small, there are many acquaintances, everyone comes up and looks in: "why are you doing here?" What kind of work in such conditions ...

Health…

Eyesight sits down and my back hurts. True, we are not ashamed to talk about this. What is there to be ashamed of - sedentary work, at the computer, like most office workers. Naturally, sooner or later "side effects" will make themselves felt. True, few people seriously struggle with them - they go to a massage or see a doctor. Again, it’s a pity for time, or new interesting orders distract. Until it gets hot, you can be patient ...

Yes, freelancing is cool. This is freedom - when to work and with whom to work, you choose yourself. But still, most of us spend a lot of time working, promoting our brand, and looking for orders. All this routine is addictive, there is not much free time. We do not find the strength for ourselves, we believe that it is better to invest it in something else - in training, in new orders ... We do not think about rest, about communication. And over time, we ourselves become loners. We learn to live alone, work and rest alone. And this is the main problem that is not customary to talk about: freelancing gives you the freedom to be yourself, to be free, but the price of this freedom is loneliness.

The biggest benefit of freelancing is independence. There is no specific employer who would strain and control you. A freelancer works on the Internet in general, and not for anyone in particular. This independence has one advantage, which can be summed up in the following words: "work on the Internet, travel the planet." When you are not tied to any particular territory, it frees your hands to be free in your geographic movement. But, due to the specifics of the work, freelancers also have problems.

Brief introduction

Naturally, the given list of problems will be subjective; some of them may not have these problems. Maybe on the other hand, I might not mention the difficulties that other freelancers have in connection with their work. By freelancing, I mean a person whose main source of income is the Internet.

Common Freelance Issues

1. Health problems. There is a good Russian proverb: “the wolf is fed by his feet,” in other words, if the amount of your earnings depends only on you, then why not work harder. Due to the large amount of time spent at the computer, there may be problems with posture, or rather with the spine and vision problems. Also due to sedentary lifestyle, there are prerequisites for the appearance overweight.

2. Problems of freelancers with motivation. When there is no external stimulus in the form of a boss or manager, motivation problems can arise. Such is the nature of a person that for motivation he needs like a stick, or a carrot, but for himself, not everyone will prescribe a stick. I noticed for myself that out of 15 hours spent at the computer, I can only spend 30% on work, and the remaining 70% is not clear for what. It's much easier to skip work online than offline. If you work in an office, the administrator can monitor your work through various programs, for example staffcop. If you work at a construction site, that is, the foreman with whom you are in sight will motivate you in different words. And if you work at home, at the computer, and in one click from you there is: a sea of videos on YouTube, a sea of witty jokes on the bash, and hundreds of friends on VKontakte, then the work may not be able to compete with these services. In general, you know what I mean.

3. The feeling of elbows is lost. When in offline work you make a mistake, it quickly becomes obvious, and almost immediately indicate this mistake. If you, as a freelancer, make a strategic mistake in website promotion, then it may be revealed when the problem gains proportions. Anyway, when you work yourself, then there is nothing to compare your work with in order to understand in the right direction you are going or not. Naturally, you can see the finstrip of another freelance blogger or compare his blog design with yours, but this is all a little different.

4. Family problems. If you work at home, and there are still relatives at home, for example a wife, then too much time spent together can be a problem. To maintain a normal relationship, you need to take a break from a friend. In general, it is normal when work and family life are territorially separated, and when this separation is not, then the line between personal life and work is blurred. Naturally, with the right approach, such problems may not exist, but nevertheless.

5. Difficulties with education. Since a freelancer-freelancer is a friend, comrade and feed, then all the subtleties of work have to be comprehended by yourself. A similar problem exists also offline, no one wants to increase the number of competitors, so this is a purely personal matter. But the fact is that offline, there is no such tough competition, since you can work in different territories. And the Internet is like a large collective farm, if you have risen in the SERP, then someone has dropped in the SERP, and no one wants to “burn” their topics so as not to lose their positions. You can formulate this point differently, and say that it is not freelancer problems, but the difficulties with the education of freelancers.

6. Social integration. I described the extreme degree of this problem in a post. This is a controversial point, someone may not have a similar problem, but the prerequisites for this exist. Since many freelancers work more than the norm, there is less time for the real world and for real people. And that which we remove a little time does not develop and degrades. In order not to be completely absorbed, you need to keep in touch with real people.

I am always glad to see a reaction to my posts, including in the form of reciprocal posts. I will definitely read it.

Yes, there are many problems. But there are enough pluses too 😉

There are pluses, no questions asked. When I worked with sisdamine, in one not very good organization, my nerve cells died much more often 🙂

There are also things that freelancers need to think about. For example, the relationship with the state: taxes, pension ...

Well, I think it's worth thinking about it when it becomes the main source of income and income exceeds 200 USD.

Although I do not know from what amount you need to start declaring your income

Sergei

I agree with these problems (although some problems are sometimes, on the contrary, problems for the official one, everything happens in life) But what about taxes? the freelancer does not face this? and the experience is not officially recorded anywhere ... but what about the future pension?

Apocalyptic

I read the article "Freelancer to the bone" 🙂

A good example with Google and I liked the position on the 5th point.

I also heard the opinion that you need to share your knowledge in order to free your head for new knowledge 🙂

1. For example, that the problem of motivation is solved by the lack of money.

I work hard when the money is a real minuscule, and when I reach a certain minimum, and I have it very low, then the motivation disappears. It's about values, if for someone money is the highest value, then there are no big problems with motivation to work.

But this is a personal question, so there cannot be any clear advice.

2. And on the issue of social integration, I think Skype, etc. do not resolve the issue. It's like with correspondence, you write a letter not to a person, but to the image that you mean by a certain person. And relatives are a little different.

It's just that if you are a freelancer, then you can come to the conclusion that you are in touch with all of humanity, at least in its digital form, and not with someone in particular. This is how FMD said, "the more I love all people in general, the less I love a particular person."

This is all IMHO, and I think that such a point of view has the right to be 🙂

Sd3000

The problem of deducting pensions is indeed a problem. Since there is no law regulating this activity. That is, a freelancer does not go for work experience.

Further, I agree to pay taxes only when the costs become open to the public and will not buy buses for $ 1,000,000 to travel out of town for 10 administration people for recreation. Because at the moment I cannot ask anyone for the fact that my money was not spent purposefully.

I am ready to help orphans, children, doctors, teachers and so on, but on condition that my money really reaches them. And not so that, for example, 12 million rubles were allocated for our school for a complete reconstruction, but only the roof was repaired, and the director of the school got the same roof from the same material, and the administration has been building a church for 10 years and all the money is not enough, they only put a cross, and there is still no foundation for anything 🙂 although 12 million rubles have been spent on securities. I don’t think that a wooden cross 1.5 meters high is worth that much. But these lyrics are not related to the topic. By this I want to say that as a freelancer, as long as there is an opportunity I will not pay taxes, until the general principle changes to people and to taxes and waste.

Sd3000

So let's take the evolution of writing.

They used to write letters and mail sent them.

Now I think no one will argue that we didn’t write less, but much more, because e-mail has become much more convenient. The same goes for the phone. Previously, many did not even have the usual, now almost every progressive person has a cell phone. The same will be the current communication.

Zheka

Whether you agree or not to pay taxes - no one will ask you ... it's one thing if you don't pay them as a freelancer - then the tax authorities will most likely not see you, but if as an individual entrepreneur (so that there are no problems with the pension))) ) - then dismiss

Lightg

Itself for almost a year and a half as a freelancer, but I do not agree with the last point - there are even more friends than there were, and not only online, but also the most ordinary ones. And there are much more reasons to write than reasons to call or even see each other, so even very delicate connections are not lost.

Apocalyptic

The problem of deducting pensions is indeed a problem. Since there is no law regulating this activity. That is, a freelancer does not go for work experience.

It's really strange that government officials, by their stupidity, leave themselves without money. By the way, in Ukraine, for the experience goes if you work in the field of "provision of occult services." This is of course stupid, but it brings income.

I am ready to help orphans, children, doctors, teachers and so on, but on condition that my money really reaches them. Not that, for example, 12 million rubles were allocated for our school for a complete reconstruction, but only the roof was repaired, and the director of the school got the same roof made of the same material,

Well, this is certainly a big question, budget money is cut to the left and to the right, and I know all this. So, and with Zheks, you pay for utilities and the elevators do not work, etc. Nobody wants to waste money.

Everything will slowly but surely crawl to the Internet and it will be convenient to communicate. Everything goes to that. I pressed the button and saw my grandson, etc. Laziness is a kind of even a very big engine of progress.
We do everything in this world to do nothing, but at the same time to make everything happen.

Well, yes, the main thing is to remain human, and not as in the film "Surogats" 🙂

Much more has been written about the reverse side of the medal, but the negative consequences are somehow not accepted to be discussed, so the author is well done!

Thank you 🙂

Itself for almost a year and a half as a freelancer, but I do not agree with the last point - there are even more friends

Okay, all of these innovations make communication easier. That's right, you need to be sociable 🙂

Lara

disagree about motivation. To me, on the contrary, freelancing is closer to me because how much I earn, so much I get. That is, it definitely makes sense to develop and work harder. The minimum is clearly not enough for growing needs. And in ordinary work, the increase in salary sometimes does not depend at all on the hours in the office. Even if you crash, you can't jump higher than your place there. Or it takes too long.

2. Different time zones

3. You face bad customers.

4. Financial management

As a freelancer, you need to make sure you earn more than you spend. Over time, a freelancer is forced to become a good financial manager.

5. You need to maintain a work-life balance.

6. You need to hunt for clients

The most important task of a freelancer is finding a job. Or rather, customers. And despite the sheer number of freelance exchanges, you can face fierce competition. Finding clients is not as easy as it sounds.

7. You need to be a jack of all trades

If you choose freelance, then you have become the owner of your own business. This means you need to manage your time, finances, marketing and customer interactions yourself. You can only become a successful freelancer if you can handle all these many tasks at the same time.

8. You have constant deadlines.

Many clients require the job to be completed on time. And often the time to complete a task is very limited. And this is very annoying and annoying. Especially when you need to complete several tasks in a short time.

9. Laziness and procrastination

Freelancers are constantly missing deadlines. This is because they do not take into account the eighth point of this article and believe that they have enough time for the task. This means that it can be done a little later. Procrastination and laziness are two of the biggest enemies of a freelancer and must be actively combated.

10. Currency fluctuations

The currency that a client living, say, in South Africa is willing to pay with, is slightly different from the Belarusian or Russian ruble or hryvnia. And in the modern world, when the exchange rate is constantly changing, your income can rapidly decrease. On the other hand, they can rise just as rapidly.

11. Time management

As we said above, freelancers have a very bad time estimate. They underestimate the amount of time it takes to complete a task. You don't want to be that freelancer who always misses deadlines, do you? Then you should learn how to manage your time.