The 5 Mistakes I Did As A Freelancer That Kept Me Back Professionally

Working as a freelancer has always fascinated me, and I have always thought that freelancing is a great way to earn money with the flexibility of an independent contractor. Even though I have been employed in many companies where I was required to attend the office (as in the 99% of the cases in the pre-COVID era) every day for the classic 9-5 working hours, I had in the back of my mind that working in an office is completely inflexible and won’t let me grow.

After a very harmful experience in a company with an extremely toxic workplace environment where both my skills and mental health took a huge punch, I decided it was time to let go of the office presence and start exploring a freelancing career.

My quick maths and calculations showed that I would be making more money as a freelancer while having more time flexibility and no location constraints.

Workation, here we go!

Little did I know! And I had to learn the hard way. As exotic and magical as it sounds, the life of a freelancer is certainly not a piece of cake and is not for everyone.

No, this post doesn’t aim to spread negativity over the freelancing life but to tell you the truth that nobody will ever tell you. Considering that over the last few years, where social media platforms have been full of “freelancers” who promise you a luxurious lifestyle around the world as digital nomads, more and more people find it tempting to do that.

Freelancing has been popular for years but came into the spotlight when COVID hit, and businesses worldwide needed to keep operating.

However, freelancing has become synonymous with digital nomads and content creators. It has acquired a negative aspect over the last few years, mainly because many people are trying to be freelancers without being aware of what freelancing is and how to make it as a freelancer.

Also, as an entrepreneur now, I see from my company’s perspective that freelancing has changed, and people cannot manage it. They make mistakes that cost them either money or personal time; hence, they just go back to their 9-5 work, where things are less flexible but more stable.

We have already discussed freelancers' struggles in another post, which is insightful if you are considering starting a freelance business, and have provided some coping mechanisms during summer. Humor aside, to succeed and thrive as a freelancer, it’s essential to be ahead of problems and try to solve them as quickly as possible. So, benefit from the mistakes I made during my freelancing years, and if you want a freelance career, try to avoid them and see yourself growing and blossoming professionally!

1. I Worked For Free

When I quit the toxic job mentioned above, my mental state was so damaged that I thought I wasn’t good enough in pretty much anything, and I needed to learn better and acquire more knowledge and more experience -hello, Imposter Syndrome- to manage one day to get paid for my work. By the way, I was already being paid for years for doing the same job, but the only difference was that I was doing that from a specific office of a particular company. So, in order to acquire this “knowledge” I allegedly was missing, I did work for free without getting paid. Horrible, just horrible. I managed to undermine myself, my skills, and my experience in order to “learn.”

However, that wasn’t the only reason; it also had another result: I thought that working for free would bring more clients because the ones that I did the free job would say a good word for me. And, of course, they did! The good word was that I would work for free, and the rumor spread. This situation continued for some time until the first bill from the tax office arrived, and I seriously struggled to pay it back.

What to do:

Never, ever work for free. Individuals or companies that need free work are not serious or professional. It’s okay to give a discount to get the job, especially when making your first steps in business, but never do anything for free. Electricity and rent are not free; this is your job, not your hobby.

If you feel like the quality of your work doesn’t deserve to be paid, why did you start your business to begin with? Don’t let your Imposter Syndrome win, and start charging as per your professional value.

2. I Didn’t Claim Clients’ Debts

When you work as a freelancer, you mainly work with other companies and infrequently with individuals. The only problem is that each company has its specific payment terms, especially when it comes to freelancers, and sometimes they can “neglect” the payment or deprioritize their freelancers. This, however, can create financial chaos for freelancers since they do not have any stability, which can seriously harm their money stream and make it almost impossible to budget or save money.

I got into this situation many times, meaning not collecting my money regularly and neglecting to claim it from the companies I collaborated with. As a result, my finances were a big mess. I couldn’t budget or control where my money went, and some companies owed me vast amounts, which I had to use an attorney to get back.

What to do:

Since you are offering a service, it’s essential to keep in mind that you are doing it to live your life. So, you don’t practically care about the financial situation of each of your clients (individuals or companies); after all, if they can’t afford the job, they shouldn’t have assigned it in the first place. Set your payment terms and conditions before you undertake the job. It may seem overwhelming initially, and when you want to establish yourself as a professional, setting clear expectations and terms will only make you appear more skilled and experienced from the beginning. You may end up losing a couple of jobs in the process, but eventually, if they don’t respect you, why would you want them as clients?

3. I Undercharged For Easy Work

For some reason, when I started working as a freelancer, I kept charging each client by considering how easy or difficult each job was. As a result, and given that I was pretty experienced, the majority of jobs I undertook seemed -and were- easy for me. However, the fact that something is easy for you doesn’t mean it’s easy or should be considered of less value. Most of the tasks will seem easy for professionals who know their job. The clients do not pay for the time you spend on a task; they pay for the quality of your work, whether it took 2 minutes, 2 hours, or two months to complete.

What to do:

Never charge according to how easy or difficult a task is for you. Keep up with the industry’s rates, and don’t try to undermine your expertise in order to charge less. The clients don’t know whether something is easy or difficult. And from my POV, most clients don’t even want to know; they just want to be done. Charge accordingly and never lower your prices more than the industry’s standards. It creates a substantial generalized problem and undermines the future of professions.

4. I Didn’t Market Myself

So, after some time as a freelancer, I managed to build a network, have some ongoing jobs, and actually make ends meet. So far, so good! The problem is that nothing guarantees that your clients will be there tomorrow, and you must be prepared. The moment I started balancing my income and had an ongoing money stream coming in, I got too comfortable and didn’t make any effort to market myself and let the people know what I was doing. So, in case something happened -COVID, for instance- and your primary income get crippled, then you need to have alternatives, which I didn’t because I didn’t care about the future back then.

What to do:

No matter how much work you have, always spend time out of your computer, desk, home, and market yourself. Use social media to your advantage, show to people what you d, and be alert for new job opportunities. It’s always ok to have some steady collaborators. Still, it’s more than ok always to be open to new partnerships and opportunities because the future is never guaranteed, and we can’t control everything. What we can control, though, is how we present ourselves and how we market our business and profession.

5. I Didn’t Control My Personal Time

The biggest struggle of a freelancer is balancing work and personal time. Office hours may seem inflexible and restricting, but they at least guarantee some free time during the day. When you are a freelancer, you practically do not have working hours, and people know that. So, you may end up working for 18 hours because you said “yes” to a bazillion projects, and now you cannot fit them into an 8-hour working day. It’s normal to want to take more and more work, considering that the more you work, the more you get paid as a freelancer, however, be careful because burnout is just around the corner. It’s great to be able to make money, but making money by sacrificing your personal time, rest, and time spent with your loved ones is not as exciting as it sounds.

What to do:

Start calculating how much time you need for specific tasks and projects. This way, you will be able to know a ballpark of how many projects you can undertake to have some time off -whether within the week or during the weekend. The good news is that freelancing allows you to decide when to work and arrange the rest of your day accordingly. For instance, if you are a night owl, you can work during the evening, go grocery shopping in the morning, and work out at noon, as long as you have managed your tasks. Also, dedicate some time away from your phone in order to decompress.

Being a freelancer is exciting but it can also be extremely stressful and financially unstable

Also, being a freelancer doesn’t mean that you can work from anywhere without any limitations. If, for instance, you work from the US and the majority of your clients are in Europe, it’s not as easy and carefree as it sounds. It needs programming, excellent project management skills, and awareness.

However, if you are not the 9-5 type, then freelancing is probably the solution to a happy career! Whatever you do, make sure you enjoy it!