Is it a Good Idea to be a Freelance Web Developer?

You are probably at the point in your career when you are considering becoming a freelance web developer. Perhaps the life of a salaried developer may not for you at the stage you currently are, or you want to progress and challenge yourself more than your current job offers you.

With that said, becoming a freelance web developer is not for everyone, and will work well for some people and not for others. It does not come down to the talent you have to become a freelancer, but certain decisions you make that ultimately determine your success. It is important to know what you are getting into when you decide to do things on your own, rather than finding surprises along the way.

If you are a developer already, chances are that you have worked for the same employer for a number of years, or been bouncing around between jobs. That might be exciting for the first few years or months, but it soon becomes a mundane task. In this article, we will look at some pros and cons to look out for in this career path.

Pros

Flexibility

This is probably the greatest advantage of becoming a freelancer, because the job offers plenty of freedom options. You are your own boss, you set your own rates, make the schedule you prefer, and have plenty of control over your workload.

The ultimate result of this is a better chance of achieving a balance between life and work that operates well for you. For instance, you may enjoy working during morning hours or night hours, because this is when you are most productive. You can also work at any place you want, whether it is in your house, local library, café, and so on.

You are in demand

Web development is a great skill that is only gaining more prominence as time goes on, because of the increasing digitization projects that businesses and individuals are undertaking. That allows you to be selective with the projects you pick, and select those that appeal to you the most – or the ones you are most skilled in. But one of the most important things which every freelancer should not miss is that to impress their potential clients, freelancers should prepare a professional looking cover letter or profile which will help their clients to make a better decision for hiring. For this, the best option would be to take help of professional resume writing services like ARC Resumes .

Additionally, you have greater control over the involvement you have with your clients, which allows you to have some creative freedom over how you execute your role.

Chance to get better payments

Because your web development skills are in demand, you can set your prices at higher rates than what you would normally earn as an employee of someone else doing the same job. This will also depend on your experience and the value of service you offer to the client; the more experienced you are, the higher you can charge.

Moreover, you are an independent contractor when you go freelance – so that allows you to eliminate expenses that are related to salaried employment from your tax returns. Ultimately, this will allow you to make more money at the end of the day or after you complete each project.

Cons

You handle everything

Once you decide to go freelance, you are not working for a business – instead, you are the business. Not many people know this when they are starting out, which leads to failures in the business.

You are not under any defined structure, which will force you to wear a number of hats. What this means is that you are not just a web developer, but also head of marketing, accounting, customer support, sales, and so on. In particular, the first few months will require you to spend more time on administrative responsibilities and less time on programming, until you establish yourself and your freelance web development business.

You are constantly busy

Even though freelancing gives you more control over your schedule, you will ultimately work more odd hours – at least during the first few months or years. This makes it a bad idea to enter freelancing when you have no financial backup plan, because it takes some time for your business to establish itself and grow.

Work can also be inconsistent during certain times of the year, and it can be stressful having an uncertain income stream – which is something you need to keep in mind. You need to understand that these cons do not apply only for freelance web developers but to anyone trying their hands on freelancing. For instance, a full time freelance web designer jobs at Dormzi or any other agency would also have to deal with these points until he/she forms a solid foundation in the freelancing field.

At the end of the day, freelancing offers plenty of freedom – but it also gives plenty of responsibility. If you cannot handle the cons that come with it, it is a better idea to avoid jumping into it, until you are better prepared.