The 7 Ultimate Reasons To Be A Freelancer Supported By Facts

At Snipply, we write a ton about freelancers, or people who are self-employed and are not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. The freelance economy is growing at an extraordinary pace, with 56.7 million Americans doing freelance work today — up by 3.7 million since 2014, according to a new study of 6,001 workers commissioned by the giant freelance platform Upwork and the Freelancers Union. That represents one-third of American workers.

While some previously thought freelancers were being forced into part-time roles, the opposite is true — and freelancers are probably happier then they’ve ever been. Paraphrased from the Interaction Design Foundation, some of the most popular reasons to freelance are:

1. You get to be your own boss — “ No more working with control-freak management, no more being clocked in and out of the office, no more getting told off for being late — you are the master of your own ship, and that’s a great way to feel.”
2. No more office politics — “Many employees say that it’s the worst bit of their job, having to play for favor between competing managers or competing teams. Fortunately, from the day you start working for yourself, you can say goodbye to office politics forever.”
3. You get to make their own decisions — “There’s no debating which version of a website to use or what the office dress code should be; it’s all up to you. If you want to work naked in your living room or if you want to wear a suit and sit in the suavest of cafes with your laptop, you can.”
4. You get to work when you want to work — “If you feel most productive between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., you can work then.”
5. You have the freedom to work wherever you want to work — “You can work in hotel rooms, apartments, coffee shops, by the pool, and in some really strange places. You’re a business owner — you dictate where you work as long as the job gets done. Your clients pay for your work, and it’s not their decision where you work.”
6. You choose the projects you want to work on — “If you’re a web designer and you hate working on tobacco company websites, you don’t have to. If you’re a writer and never want to write a single sales letter, you don’t have to. Employees have to work on projects their boss assigns them. Freelancers and entrepreneurs choose their own projects based on their expertise and passion.”
7. You also get to choose your clients — “Freelancers and entrepreneurs don’t have to work with people who annoy them. They’re free to choose the people with whom they work.”

There are also some statistics and findings that support all of these conclusions. Freelancers love choice and are happier because of it. According to Upwork, 62% of freelancers started freelancing by choice as opposed to necessity and 76% of freelancers are happier freelancing than they felt while working traditional jobs.

In the past, we assumed freelancers were forced into part-time gigs due to layoffs or struggling to find full-time work bu the opposite is true. They also have a massively positive outlook on their freelancing opportunities. 72% of freelancers say they either have the amount of work that they want or more and 92% of freelancers expect their work opportunities to continue to increase.

Not only do they have all the work they can handle, but they’re also making more money doing it. Two-thirds of freelancers say they earn more than they did at their job with a traditional employer and of those earning a greater income as a freelancer, 81% say it took them less than a year to earn this level of income.

If you loved the list and stats make sure to follow our blog, as we’ll be adding tons of resources and commentary over the next few weeks on everything from social media marketing to growth hacks living in the freelance economy.

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