Freelancers Cookbook
One of the ingredients that allows me to live what I consider the ideal lifestyle here in West Wales is the fact that I have set myself up as a self-employed freelance website designer.
In theory this should provide me with complete control over my work / life time balance. I have a fair bit of control over the timescales I give to various projects for clients and as long as I meet any deadlines I have stipulated then I can work whichever hours of the day I prefer.
In practise things aren’t quite a perfect as they would seem; meetings need to be arranged with clients, phone-calls need to be made and answered and each new appointment reduces the flexibility I had. These are minor points however and in general I am my own boss and can choose when to work and when to play.
There are of course other downsides to freelance website design work. As a freelancer I have to do everything to keep the business successful. As well as being the website designer I am also the accountant, marketing staff, salesman, support team, technical staff, receptionist etc etc. In one way this is a good thing as I know everything that is happening and have complete control. In another it’s a bad thing as it takes up lots of time that could be spent building websites and earning money. On top of which I’m not really cut out to be a salesman so that particular task isn’t really an effiicient use of my time.
Another constant worry of being a freelance website designer is the lack of job security. Obviously I’m not going to get laid off, but I never know where my next contract is coming from. At the moment things are looking good, I have a few projects on the boil, a couple simmering in the background and one or two where I am getting the ingredients in place to make a start. But after that who knows what will happen? Hopefully there will be more projects to work on, if not I shall have to put my salesman hat on and get out there to find some new projects.
All in all being a freelance web designer allows me to have the flexibility in my life that I need and helps me pay the bills. It doesn’t make me rich, it can be hard work at times and there are times when it can be a little stressful. But for me, it is the best balance I can get and does provide lots of job satisfaction.
