Working as a freelance artist may be one of those things that sounds like an ideal dream but may be a lot more hard work than you anticipated. If you’re considering becoming an indie graphic designer, you may be trying to weigh the risks and rewards. There can always be a big question mark when you’re responsible for your own pay check, and you’ll want to investigate the job to decide if it’s ultimately right for you.
Here are some of the top risks and benefits of freelance graphic designing:
Top Risks:
#1 Uncooperative Clients
Yes, despite your best intentions in trying to only work with reasonable clients, you will run into situations where trying to deal with a customer could make you want to blow your own brains out. Sometimes clients can be rude and obnoxious assholes, or they can even be completely unresponsive to you as you try to get their work done.
#2 Low Pay
Especially while you are first starting out and still building up your brand, you will deal with clients who have a very low working budget. That means making compromises and not as much money an hour as you would like. This can be frustrating at first, but if you can build up your brand and work with better and better clients, you will jump past this hurdle.
#3 Unpaid Invoices
There will be some times at the end of the month where you’re tallying up your payments and you see that one hasn’t been made at all. You’ll have to chase that client down and it will be a headache. Such is the life of a freelancer.
Top Rewards:
#1 Total Flexibility
This is what everyone thinks about when they picture the freelance lifestyle, and in many ways, it’s true! You can pick when you want to work, where you want to work and how you want to work. Sleep all day and stay up all night working, or work in your pajamas from 8am to 4pm. A person could get used to that.
#2 You Get to Define Your Own Success
Not looking to get mega rich? Fine. Want to work yourself to death until you’re hitting triple digits in a year? Great. You get to define your own success in a freelance career: not your boss, your co-workers or anyone else.
#3 You Get to Choose Your Own Clients
If you just had the worst experience with a client you could imagine, you don’t have to worry about them coming back next week to say dumb shit like “the customer is always right”. When you’re your own boss you can tell that customer to fuck off!
Worth It?
Absolutely. As long as you are the kind of person who is capable of being accountable for themselves and as long as you are able to motivate yourself, a freelance lifestyle is totally worth it. For most people, in the long run, the hassles and stresses of the slightly higher paying job at the office are nowhere near worth the money, and a freelance lifestyle is a much healthier option over all in terms of sanity and freedom in life.
