9 Freelancers Explain Why They Started Freelancing

People start freelancing for various reasons, namely independence, flexibility, the opportunity to change careers or the provision of an alternative source of income.

In our latest edition, Good Freelancing reporter Dan Agbo sought to know from other freelancers what motivated them to start freelancing and got these reactions:

The freedom, flexibility and the opportunity it offers

For freelance writer Joanna Hall, who started freelancing about 24 years ago, she went into it due to the freedom, flexibility and the opportunity it offered her to write across a broad range of topics for different types of print publications and eventually online. “While it can be hard work at times when you have a lot on, scary at other times when work isn’t flowing in for you and, of course, there’s no one to cover for you if you are sick or have a problem, the pros of freelancing always outweigh the cons,” Joanna says. “I still love being able to work in my own environment and largely at my own pace as freelancing has led me along paths I may not have walked if I’d taken a full-time job. As a result, while my specialties are health/wellbeing and luxury travel, I’ve also been able to write about sport, business, tech, style and culture, and about a large number of topics I’m personally interested in.”

Freedom and flexibility

“I started working for myself when I realised the corporate world wouldn’t allow me the freedom and flexibility to make things better,” recalls Gina Balarin, a B2B marketing communications consultant. “I was working as a marketing director in a company when I was made redundant for the third time (this time, voluntarily). So, I used the three months’ notice to kickstart a career on my own. So far, it’s been the longest I’ve stayed in one role: five years. Sure, there are stressful times such as having too much or too little work but I wouldn’t give up the freedom to work the hours I want, in the location I want, for the clients I want or go back to a corporate job. At least, not now.”

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Flexibility

“I started freelancing because I wanted flexibility and options to be home with my family,” reveals Catherine Way, a freelance marketer. “I had found out I was pregnant with my son and wanted more options to be home to raise him and make some small income on the side. Through freelancing, I was able to make money when it worked with my busy schedule.”

Provision of opportunities

“I began freelancing because it enabled me to become a multimedia journalist whose every work day was, and remains by definition, different,” says Stacy Harris, a freelance multimedia journalist. “The ability to continually change jobs, from broadcast journalist, trade journalist, consumer publications editor, reviewer, columnist, author to ghostwriter, in a way that incorporated my varied interests and was financially sustainable was an antidote to boredom.”

Flexibility

“I let go of the long hours of Corporate America and hour commutes in Southern California traffic so that I could be physically and emotionally present for my children while they were young,” says Kathleen Gauden, who started working as a virtual assistant about 20 years ago. “I’m grateful for the global experience I gained supporting C-Suite executives and entrepreneurs but now I do it from my beautiful home office and I can choose the type of clients that have morals and values similar to mine. No more long commutes in rush hour traffic for walls of a cubicle. I love what I do and my business is ever-expanding.”

Pursuit of dreams

“I started freelancing because I chose to pursue passions rather than money,” explains Kristopher Ceniza, a website manager, who started freelancing about five years ago. “In the world of freelancing, you can virtually make a career out of any passions. To me, that was writing and fitness.” Kristopher says he was unemployed for three months after quitting his job but he had never looked back when somebody finally took their chances on someone like him, who had no experience but so willing to learn. “Now, I’ve learned so much about content developing, copywriting and SEO that I’ve managed to climb up the ranks, from writer to editor and now website manager.”

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Establishment of business

“I started freelancing to create a lifestyle business and put all the efforts it takes to achieve those goals,” says web developer Rahul Gulati. “Nothing can grow instantly in life, not even the sun.”

Flexibility

“I started freelancing so I could gain more flexibility and control in my career. Working for someone else, I had no control over my work environment. I was told how much I would be paid, when I could take time off, what tasks I’d have to do, what deadlines to meet, who to work with, how to dress or rules to follow. The list is endless,” says Alli Hill, a freelance writer. “I’m a flexible person to a degree but, when some of my paid holidays were taken away, my lunch hour slashed, my work day extended and my duties increased, all without extra pay, I was ready for something better. I could never find what I wanted in a writing career working for someone else; so, I founded my own company. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Provision of solutions

“I started feeling burnout when I found out that the marketing companies I was working for weren’t doing anything for our clients,” Harrison Baron, a website designer, developer and content creator, reveals. “This was a sign that it was time to defeat the burnout by starting my own business. So, that was what got me to start my own company and I have helped show these same clients that I was qualified to help market them way more than the other companies were by showing them how to market themselves through inbound marketing, web design, SEO implementation and backlinking. Under my company they were more successful than ever before and their companies really started growing.”

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Why did you start freelancing? Tell us in the comment section below.

Dan Agbo is a freelance journalist and editor available for hire on Fiverr and Upwork.

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