6 Harsh Truths about Being a Freelancer, Solopreneur or Digital Nomad

• Thursday, January 25th, 2018
• Culture
• 7 responses

First, a caveat: you may feel that freelancers, solopreneurs and digital nomads are not the same. And you are right. However, when it comes to the lifestyle, they have a lot in common. I belong(ed) to all three categories: I started out as a freelancer, then moved to running a company, something I can do from anywhere in the world.

In my book, it was a natural transition. I currently work with other freelancers and digital nomads and, every once in a while, we share both the joys and the less joyful moments of our trade.

In the early days, I used to hear about how lucky I was from other people all the time.

“You get to set your own schedule. Wow!”

“That’s so cool! You can work whenever you want!”

“Wow, you’re working from the beach!”

I think you know them all. Whether you are a freelancer/solopreneur/digital nomad or said something like this to one of your friends.

Here’s the answer I always give: “Yeah, it’s true, buuut.”

There’s always a “but”. And when you’re talking about working on your own there are several “buts”.

6 Harsh Truths about working on Your Own

Let me be honest: I love what I do and I love my lifestyle. I’m a big supporter of digital nomadism. It’s been more than two years since my last interview for a “real” job and I really don’t miss that state of affairs. I don’t miss the interviews just like I don’t miss the actual 9-to-5 jobs.

Being a freelancer, a solopreneur and a digital nomad on top is great. It truly gives you freedom. But not as much as people think. These are the top six things that chip the glam of this lifestyle.

1. You’re Typing this Business Email from a Beach

Think about it. I mean really think about it. It sounds awesome at first, but when you think about it harder, it’s also a bit sad.

What do people usually do on a beach? Relax and enjoy their vacation, right?

Well, not you, the digital nomad.

You have a couple of clients who need answers right away. Or you need to meet that deadline and you already missed so much work time when you flew to that amazing beach.

So you do the best you can do: you look at the amazingly blue water and run your toes through the finest sand you’ve ever felt. Maybe you even sip your Mojito (thank God you don’t have a conference call and your camera on!).

All of these while you type.

Bottom line: when you work on your own, your holidays aren’t exactly holidays anymore.

The upside is that you can jump on a plane on a moment’s notice since you don’t have a boss who needs to approve your leave six months in advance.

2. No Work = No Pay

Back when I was an employee, I used to be extremely frustrated by the fact that I had to be at the office until 5 or 6 pm every day. Even when I had nothing to do.

If I finished my tasks earlier, I was still supposed to be there. And, oftentimes, simulate that I was still working.

But this also came with a paycheck at the end of the month, no matter what. In a way, I was paid for my time, no matter what I did to fill it. Of course, there were always KPIs, so it wasn’t all fun and games on a schedule.

My point is, that despite the shortcomings of a “regular” job, you had the certainty of the paycheck. You knew that, no matter what happened, as long as you were still employed, your bills would be paid and your fridge stocked.

When you work on your own, you actually have to work to get paid. Wherever you work from, when you’re a freelancer or a solopreneur, the money will stop coming when you stop working.

This is perfectly normal. Unfortunately, I have met many people who somehow didn’t see it coming. Attracted by what promised to be a glamorous life of working whenever you wanted, they forgot they still had to do the work to afford traveling and the fabulous long lunch you can have when you’re not expected back at the office.

3. You’re Alone

Working on your own is amazing for introverts. Sure, there’s the awkward Skype call when you have to socialize more than usual, but it still doesn’t compare to being surrounded by live humans at least eight hours a day.

However, you’ll soon find out that this blissful solitude comes with a price tag of its own. There’s literally no one to bounce ideas off of.

When I started out as a freelancer, the stakes weren’t too high, so making my own decisions didn’t bother me a bit. I set my own schedule, my own fees and my own standards and it was great.

On the other hand, when I started Idunn, the stakes got suddenly higher. I needed a real strategy. More importantly, I wasn’t responsible just for my own income anymore. I had employees that I needed to pay on time, too.

No matter how good you are strategizing, at times you feel the need to share your ideas with someone. An understanding life partner is an amazing start.

But it’s not like having a business partner or an office full of people whose opinions you can easily ask for.

Back when I was an employee, I loved sharing my strategy and my ideas with people outside the marketing department. You can truly get amazing insights this way.

And yes, I discuss strategy and ideas with my peeps at Idunn. But we’re never in the same room (some of us are even on different continents), so I can never tap on their shoulder to ask a quick question.

I know this to be hard especially on people who aren’t introverts. You’ll find them in co-working spaces and you’ll recognize them easily: maybe they don’t interact with anyone, but you’ll see they rejoice in being surrounded by people.

4. You Need to Get Motivated on Your Own

Speaking of being alone, when you’re a freelancer, a solopreneur or a digital nomad, there’s no colleague whose enthusiasm will rub off on you. You have to muster your own willingness to work.

Plus, there’s no boss to keep you accountable. Sure, there are clients and partners, but it’s not really the same thing.

The ugly truth is that motivation comes and goes. The uglier truth is that you never know in advance when your motivation will run out.

And when you can’t muster up any motivation, the following happens.

5. You Can’t Disconnect

Hate 9-to-5 jobs? Wait until you see the 9-to-whenever ones.

Freelancer, digital nomad or solopreneur, you’ll always have something more to do. The work is never really done. If there’s nothing to be done for your/the company’s clients, you can still do something for your own strategy.

I remember that back when I was an employee, I used to bitch about work long after I got home. Still, I felt disconnected.

Now, I often don’t have the time to bitch about work, because I still have one tiiiiny thing to do. One email to answer at a wee hour in the night – but it has to be answered because the client is in an opposite time zone. One small article to correct – I have to give feedback to the writer.

And so on.

If I’m being honest, this is the issue that I still haven’t managed to fix. Because of the damned time zones, having a schedule and sticking to it is almost impossible.

Plus, there’s that constant guilt that you could have done more.

6. You’re Responsible for…Everything

“I could have finished this earlier, but Kate didn’t send me the right files in time.”

“The project would have gone better if management had allocated enough resources.”

“My boss won’t approve the mock-up that’s perfect for the campaign.”

Say goodbye to lines like these.

When you’re a freelancer, digital nomad or solopreneur, you’re “Kate”, management and the ultimate boss. And it’s not as fun as it may seem.

On the upside, you’ll have a newfound respect for your previous bosses. You’ll understand how much they really had on their plates and why at times it was hard to understand their decisions.

Should You Even Start?

Definitely!

You know what they say: no job is perfect. Being a freelancer, a digital nomad or a solopreneur makes no exception. It definitely has its shortcomings.

But it has one big upside: freedom.

If you don’t want to double your year-over-year revenue, you don’t have to. No one will pressure you to find the strategy to make it happen.

If you don’t like a client and you’re financially secure enough, you can simply ditch them (trust me, this feels amazing!).

If you want to work from a beach in Southeast Asia, your home office or a co-working space, you can. It’s your choice.

As long as you are responsible enough and don’t mind being a Jack of all trades, everything is possible.

Adriana Tica

Adriana Tica is an expert marketer and copywriter, with 10 years in the field, most of which were spent marketing tech companies. She is the Owner and Founder of Idunn. In October 2019, she also launched Copywritech, a digital marketing agency that provides copywriting, SEO content writing, and strategy services to companies in the tech industry.