Why you should go freelance

... and why you should not

I have been in the IT industry for more than five years now as a mobile developer working mostly for a service-based company.

When I tell people about my job I often get asked the following question : "Why don't you go freelance ? You would make a ton of money !".

And that is a legitimate question !

But before talking about whether you should go freelance or not let's see what other options you have.

NB : What follows is especially true in France, feel free to throw tomatoes at me if it is not accurate for your country

Employee

That is the most common choice.

One of the main pros of being employed is that when you were hired, you agreed on a salary with your employer, this salary is guaranteed for as long as you are employed and can only increase (in a given context). This way you will never worry about how much you will make the next month, you already know how much. The only thing you should worry about is not getting fired (if you like your job, of course).

When being employed you also have the joy of being paid even when you do not work, that is called paid holidays. How much you get is up to the industry you are in. The downside of it is that your employer (or at least your manager) has to accept your vacation, you do not get to decide when you can leave, it might be frustrating.

Talking about frustration, no matter how hard you work, effort does not equal money. You are paid to do a job, should you work ten hours a day to do it or three, in the end you will earn the same amount of money (but then it raises the question of your efficiency).

Employer

This time you are the one employing others. You can launch your startup from your garage it does not matter, you are the boss.

The main thing about being the boss is that YOU own the business, and that means several things.

You will not have to work with that colleague who is getting on your nerves everyday, you choose who to work with, that can make a huge difference on a daily basis. But that also means you have to look for the right people, interview them, be sure that they are the ones you need. That can be a lot of work, at least in the beginning if you handle it yourself.

You are also the one who is telling where the company is going. You believe that the future of mobile development is Flutter ? Go for it ! Of course this is where the people you hired will shine, telling you what they think about this plan, it is then up to you to listen to them.

And of course, money, because this is what most entrepreneurs are after. Just like managing people, managing money can be really hard but it is a required skill to be a successful business owner.

Owning a company is a dream for many people but do not forget that you will do extra hours, be under a lot of stress, but in the end whether it is a success or not depends on you.

Freelancer

This is it at last ! I will try to be more specific on this one.

Being freelancer means you are self-employed, your employee and employer at the same time. But in the meantime you have different pros and cons from the other two.

First you have to be legally a freelancer, that means filling a lot of paperwork, crossing your fingers you did not forget anything.

Once it is official you have to find a place to work, not every company are inclined to hire a freelancer and you will probably be in competition with service-based companies, companies that work for other companies, so if you just started as a freelancer, expect some hardship.

Then there is the question of money. That is the main reason people choose to go down that road. Once again it will depend on the company you work for.

For those you do not know how a freelancer is paid, at least in the French IT industry, upon the signature of the contract, you and the one who hires you agree on how much you will be paid per day. Do not forget about the taxes, but your salary will still outperform the income you get as an employee.

Dude, why doesn't everyone go freelance then ?!

Because it is not that simple. When you are an employee all you need to be good at your job but when you are a freelancer it is a lot more complicated !

Firstly you are not assured to earn money every month, if the task you were hired for is done you have to look for a new position and that can take time.

Secondly, you need to be good at your job obviously to be recruited but you also need to be a marketer to find job opportunity, a salesperson to actually be hired, a accountant to keep track of your money, a HR manager to keep in touch with everyone you worked with and more. To be a good freelancer, think of yourself as a swiss knife (you know, MacGyver's best friend).

You also have to manage your health care and you can forget about paid holidays because no work = no money.

Short story long, yes you will earn a lot more if you look at employee vs freelancer, but just like employee vs employer, the job is entirely different, it is not only a question of money. Just weight the pros and cons and see what is best for yourself.

Employee vs Freelancer vs Employer, none is better than the others, it all depends on what kind of situation you want to be in !

Cheers.