Pros/Cons of Freelancing

I'll start off by saying I love love love working freelance from home. After 2 years I can't imagine ever going back to work at an office/restaurant/'real' job. (Crossing my fingers I'll never have to, and my business keeps growing strong... and I still enjoy doing what I do.)

Freelancing is probably not for everyone, but it certainly works for me. I'm a homebody, a little bit of a hermit, organised, and truly enjoy what I do.

Here are a few of my PROs:

• Being able to decide when/where/how I want to work. My day doesn't have to start at 9 and end at 5, I can work how ever long I please. I can take breaks when I want to. (I don't even have to work at all one day... if I compensate another day.) Being this free is the best thing about working freelance.

• I'm my own boss! I love making all the decisions.

• All the money I make is money I've honestly earned All By Myself. I love that I make a living doing what I love. (What could possibly be better?)

• I can develop/grow my business at my own pace. I make my own deadlines, and control every aspect of what goes into building my business.

• Errands can be completed when the sun is shining and there are few people in stores. I love the simple pleasure of getting my errands done in the middle of the day when people are all at work. I love going grocery shopping when I have the store pretty much to myself, go to the gym when classes aren't completely full, going to the post office when lines are short or riding the subway before rush hour.

• I love working from the comfort of my own home. I don't have to wear uncomfortable work appropriate clothes (I always get properly dressed though, no shlubby sweat pants for this girl), I can bake bread, and cook all day so I can eat proper home cooked healthy meals every single day. (Saves money too, eating out in Stockholm is expensive.) I also love being able to watch tv or listen to music while working if I choose too.

And a few CONS:

• I'm my own boss. There is no one else around to give me a kick in the pants when I've spend far too long 'gathering inspiration' on blogs or Pinterest for hours, slept in too long, or lolligagged when I've got a deadline.

• If anything goes wrong, I only have myself to blame. We're always a bit too hard on ourselves too.

• If my brand/work is criticised, it's difficult not to take it personally. My brand/work is Me.

• No monthly pay checks. blah.

• My work day isn't over when I get home from work, because I'm already home, and my work is my life. Sometimes it can be difficult to not over work or feel guilty if I'm not working all the time, since my work is there in front of my at all times.

• It can get a bit lonely. Sometimes I don't even leave the house for days, if the fridge is full and I haven't gotten any orders to post. I also don't have any colleagues to bounce ideas off of. 

All in all there isn't really anything I can't stand about being a freelancer besides the instable money and turning into a hermit. But my business is growing finally to a point where I'm pretty confident I'll make enough each month, and I've made new freelance friends in the same situation, and we meet up from time to time.