The struggle freelance professionals face

What's great, and what's not so great about freelancing? It's a struggle to be sure to run a successful freelance business -- but don't give up!

The Struggle
By Debbi Cunnington

I want to emphasize that a freelance professional is essentially working for him or herself. While that can be a wonderful opportunity and a life-altering event, it can come with a fair amount of stress.

Working for another person allows you to sit back, do your job and collect your paycheck. The employee doesn't have to worry about the business; things like paying the office equipment loans or making sure enough money is in the bank to cover payroll are not concerns for the average employee.

However, working independently allows you to escape the 9-5 mentality: the daily grind of being required to spend the greater part of each day at someplace you may or may not want to be. Now don't get me wrong! Working as a freelance professional often entails sitting down and doing work you may not want to be doing. Tasks such as bookkeeping and marketing can be daunting for some, but for most freelance professionals, must be done to some extent. But it is important to keep things in perspective.

The purpose of my article today is to tell my readers to never give up. I have recently had a couple disappointments in my freelance field and I was feeling a bit down. Whenever this happens, I have a tendency to question myself and my choices. I chose to begin freelance work because I did not want to put my children in daycare. Easy as that. I love what I do and I enjoy the challenge of locating new clients but it can be very stressful when it is time to pay the bills.

Today, regardless of how your freelance career is going, take a moment to remember why you decided to freelance.

For many people, it may have been a reason like mine. Wanting to stay home with the children is a big reason people choose to work from home. In fact, a large proportion of the people who begin small businesses from their home are women. Take heart men! I am sure you are represented, too. But as enlightened as our society has become, it is still often the women who are responsible for childcare. And the women who choose to stay at home.

Maybe you wanted some flexibility in your schedule. Or maybe you just didn't want to have to answer to a demanding, ill-tempered boss. Maybe you realized that with the increasingly advanced technology, the opportunity to work at home is growing rapidly.

So, take a moment and reflect on what got you started (or planning to start) the freelance lifestyle. Take a deep breath, smile at the ceiling (you will feel silly doing it and so, hopefully, produce a real smile) and continue the struggle.

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Debbi Cunnington is a freelance professional who has been working independently for the last 4 years. Highly skilled in many areas, including Accounting, Design & Virtual Assisting, she has been quite successful.

Her company, BearCreative, is dedicated to providing Web Design for small to medium businesses that are looking for unique, inexpensive, attractive websites.