Freelance Software Development: Is It For You?

The Drawbacks of Freelancing

Although the benefits listed earlier may sound pretty sweet, freelancing comes with some significant drawbacks as well. Before jumping into a major life change, you should carefully consider these items as well.

I asked our pool of freelancers about the drawbacks they’ve encountered working independently, and here are their answers:

Don’t have a secure salary: To Ignacio Nieto, the #1 drawback is not having a fixed, secure salary as one would normally enjoy in a conventional job. In Spain, where he lives, if you are a freelancer, you have no sick leave at all. The social security will not pay you like it would if you had a regular job. If you have a bad year, for whatever reason, you are on your own.

And I presume that’s a recurring problem, regardless of the country where you happen to live.

Don’t have paid vacation: Additionally, Pawel Krakowiak regrets the loss of paid vacation. You might be tempted to avoid or take shorter vacations, because you know you’ll lose money twice: the amount spent for the vacation itself, and the missing income for the non-working break.

Find the next project: According to Gary Riches and Malhar Ambekar, the looming need to find the next project is a recurrent problem and source of stress. Depending on the size of the projects you take, that can be as frequent as every two to three months.

My biggest concern as a freelancer has been that I might not have a job tomorrow. Projects can (and, believe me, will) stop or freeze without any prior notice, for a variety of reasons.

Don’t always get to pick projects: Since jobs aren’t guaranteed, Richard Hancock notes that as a freelancer you sometimes have to take on jobs you may not want, just to pay the bills.

At the beginning of my freelancing career, I took a project which was underpaid – but I couldn’t afford to wait longer for a better project, so I decided to take it.

A few years later, a friend of mine proposed me a project on a technology that I didn’t (and still don’t) like much, but the client was great, the pay rate was good, and I needed a new project asap. So, despite the lack of interest in the technology, I took the project. In case you are wondering, it was MS Access. :]

Don’t have co-workers: Pawel Krakowiak also experiences loneliness, a feeling that is common among those who work from home. To many, the major thing employment offers that is practically absent in freelancing is daily exposure to colleagues.

Kuba Suder misses all of the routine interactions with his coworkers, such as chats in the office kitchen, asking and being asked for help, going out for lunch and attending office parties.

High pressure: Christopher Hawkins warns about the constant pressure he experiences as a freelancer. This can come from many different sources, including project deadlines, mistakes in cost estimates for fixed-price projects, bugs that are hard to track down and late payments.

Have to wear many hats: Robin Hayward reminds us that since you’re running your own business as a freelancer, you have to deal with things that in employment are handled by someone else, and at which you might not excel: accounting, invoicing, expenses, taxes and so forth.

Hard to disconnect from work: Another disadvantage I’ve experienced is that when one freelances from home, there’s a real risk of never disconnecting from work.

Julio Carrettoni experienced that feeling on his first national holiday as a freelancer, which fell on a Monday. His fiancé insisted in taking a mini vacation, but in the end he didn’t fully enjoy it because distracted by the money he was losing by not working on a Monday.

Kuba Suder‘s advice is to learn how to manage your own time. Without discipline or a learned routine, you can easily end up working too much for your well-being, or working too little and getting into trouble.

Risk of not being paid: So far nobody, including me, has mentioned a problem that everybody fears: not being paid. You do your work, you put all your pride and dedication into it, you let your skills do their magic, and when all is said and done—you don’t get paid.

It does happen. And it can happen more easily when the involved parties are in different corners of the world. It’s sad that, in my case, the only two times I didn’t get paid was when I worked for people I trust and consider friends.

Note that I am not recommending to not do business with friends. I just want to warn that it can happen when you least expect it.

• Don’t have a secure salary: To Ignacio Nieto, the #1 drawback is not having a fixed, secure salary as one would normally enjoy in a conventional job. In Spain, where he lives, if you are a freelancer, you have no sick leave at all. The social security will not pay you like it would if you had a regular job. If you have a bad year, for whatever reason, you are on your own.

  And I presume that’s a recurring problem, regardless of the country where you happen to live.

• Don’t have paid vacation: Additionally, Pawel Krakowiak regrets the loss of paid vacation. You might be tempted to avoid or take shorter vacations, because you know you’ll lose money twice: the amount spent for the vacation itself, and the missing income for the non-working break.

• Find the next project: According to Gary Riches and Malhar Ambekar, the looming need to find the next project is a recurrent problem and source of stress. Depending on the size of the projects you take, that can be as frequent as every two to three months.

  My biggest concern as a freelancer has been that I might not have a job tomorrow. Projects can (and, believe me, will) stop or freeze without any prior notice, for a variety of reasons.

• Don’t always get to pick projects: Since jobs aren’t guaranteed, Richard Hancock notes that as a freelancer you sometimes have to take on jobs you may not want, just to pay the bills.

  At the beginning of my freelancing career, I took a project which was underpaid – but I couldn’t afford to wait longer for a better project, so I decided to take it.

  A few years later, a friend of mine proposed me a project on a technology that I didn’t (and still don’t) like much, but the client was great, the pay rate was good, and I needed a new project asap. So, despite the lack of interest in the technology, I took the project. In case you are wondering, it was MS Access. :]

• Don’t have co-workers: Pawel Krakowiak also experiences loneliness, a feeling that is common among those who work from home. To many, the major thing employment offers that is practically absent in freelancing is daily exposure to colleagues.

  Kuba Suder misses all of the routine interactions with his coworkers, such as chats in the office kitchen, asking and being asked for help, going out for lunch and attending office parties.

• High pressure: Christopher Hawkins warns about the constant pressure he experiences as a freelancer. This can come from many different sources, including project deadlines, mistakes in cost estimates for fixed-price projects, bugs that are hard to track down and late payments.

• Have to wear many hats: Robin Hayward reminds us that since you’re running your own business as a freelancer, you have to deal with things that in employment are handled by someone else, and at which you might not excel: accounting, invoicing, expenses, taxes and so forth.

• Hard to disconnect from work: Another disadvantage I’ve experienced is that when one freelances from home, there’s a real risk of never disconnecting from work.

  Julio Carrettoni experienced that feeling on his first national holiday as a freelancer, which fell on a Monday. His fiancé insisted in taking a mini vacation, but in the end he didn’t fully enjoy it because distracted by the money he was losing by not working on a Monday.

  Kuba Suder‘s advice is to learn how to manage your own time. Without discipline or a learned routine, you can easily end up working too much for your well-being, or working too little and getting into trouble.

• Risk of not being paid: So far nobody, including me, has mentioned a problem that everybody fears: not being paid. You do your work, you put all your pride and dedication into it, you let your skills do their magic, and when all is said and done—you don’t get paid.

  It does happen. And it can happen more easily when the involved parties are in different corners of the world. It’s sad that, in my case, the only two times I didn’t get paid was when I worked for people I trust and consider friends.

  Note that I am not recommending to not do business with friends. I just want to warn that it can happen when you least expect it.