What’s right for you… freelance, interim, business owner or a mixture?
Since I left permanent employment I have been struggling to know what to call myself, am I a freelancer or a business owner. And, is there a difference?
Yes, there is a difference between working as an interim employee, freelancer and business owner – and you can be a mixture of all three. In my next three blog posts, I’m going to look at the differences and pros and cons between the three. In this first post, let’s look at what we mean by a freelancer…
When I looked up in the dictionary, a freelancer was someone who
- sells services to employers without a long-term commitment to any of them.
- is an uncommitted independent, as in politics or social life.
- A medieval mercenary.
Now, I wouldn’t call myself a medieval mercenary or an uncommitted independent, but there are parts of my revenue stream where I am fulfilling an assignment to a company, without either side having a long-term commitment. I work for two training providers as an associate. These pieces of work pay my bills and allow me to build up my own business, The Efficiency Coach. On the upside, it allows me to talk about case studies of what I have done, and earn a living whilst building up my business, The Efficiency Coach. On the downside, I am still working for another boss and am reliant on the training providers having interesting work, that they want me to do.
So what is the benefit of working as a freelancer? Whether you jazz it up with language such as contractor or associate, typically you need to do less business development than as a business owner. To get work as a freelancer it is very much who you know and your ability to network amongst your peers and businesses which use freelancers.
If you feel uncomfortable with selling and business development, then aim to focus the majority of your revenue stream on freelance work.
It’s interesting that when I am coaching freelancers, I am often helping them to smooth out the peaks and troughs in their work patterns. (& helping them maintain a healthy work/life balance) It is highly inefficient to have months where you are frantically busy, and months where you are scrapping around for any work.
If you enjoy being a technical specialist, hate marketing and selling, and want the freedom from corporate life, then freelancer may be the right option for you.
In my next post I will look at what we mean by interim work.
Related posts:
- Freelancer OR Interim OR Business Owner? Part 2 In this post, I look at what it means to work as an interim employee, and how this differs to...
- Freelance or Interim or Business Owner – Part 3 Business ownership... so how does this differ from being a freelancer? And can you be both? What different skill sets...
- 18 signs that you are ready to take your business to the next stage After ‘start-up’, in my view, the most painful period in a business’s life is when the business owner makes the...
- Ten things you must do before starting your own training business. One of the well-trodden paths for a recently made redundant trainer is to go freelance, and set up a training...
- How much will it cost to set up as a freelancer? When setting yourself up as a freelancer, there are several costs that you will need to factor in to your...
2 Comments
An interesting blog. I have never really thought about the difference between a freelancer and business owner for example.
It seems therfore then a freelancer would make an excellent life style option. For example earning some addional cash.
If you hate selling and business development though, then I tend to think you should just get a job. Selling / business devlopment is crucial in any status I beleive.
Even if you’re networking at a breakfast group, or using a very passive tool such as Twitter or linkd-in, you are selling. In a highly competitive sector, the need to sell is critical, in the literal sense of the word.
There is a misconception in business, about what selling is and the best way to do it. sticking to the point however, if you hate selling / marketing, then how do you grow a business?
I agree with your thoughts Darren – networking is still a form of business development. There is definitely, as you point out, a misconception about what is selling in business. I believe that every business should invest in some kind of selling/marketing skills for all – regardless of whether the job description demands it. For example, everyone should be able to network around their organisation. It may not be badged as selling, but it is very much a key business development skill.