As you contemplate your livelihood, owning a business might fit all the criteria on your career wishlist.
After all, being your own boss, setting your own hours, and working from the comfort of home sounds very appealing to just about anyone. While the freelance lifestyle sounds great in theory, there may be times when it doesn’t translate so well in practice.
There are many reasons you might consider ditching the self-employment world— and returning to work for someone else. While many people feel running their own show is the ultimate career aspiration, other folks may dream of rejoining the 9-5 crowd.
Here are a few things to mull over if you’re thinking along the same lines.
Securing Income
The COVID-19 crisis has placed a fair amount of economic strife on many industries and businesses.
If one or a few of your clients have been cutting back on the amount of work they’ve offered you, it may be because their sales and revenues have been negatively impacted by prolonged shutdowns. The decrease in the number of assignments might not last forever, but bills and other financial obligations won’t wait.
One main benefit of a full-time job is steady and predictable income. With the skills you’ve developed, negotiating an attractive salary that pays the rent or mortgage helps ease a lot of financial anxiety. You won’t be left guessing when your income level will return to pre-pandemic levels because accepting an offer must mean that wages or salary will meet your economic needs.
In uncertain times, a failure to act or a tendency to speculate could have you playing catch-up from a cash flow perspective. Opting for a traditional paycheck will help remove a lot of fiscal doubt.
Reaping Benefits
Cash flow is undoubtedly a top priority for a freelancer, and putting together a benefits package might fall second in line.
One of the more necessary benefits you’ll require is health insurance. With the rising cost of medical care and prescription medications, even a brief illness could rack up significant expenses for those without adequate health insurance. Policies are available via the Federal marketplace but premiums increase with age, and high-deductible plans require large out-of-pocket contributions.
Health insurance acquired through a prospective employer is typically less costly than securing coverage on your own. Large employer groups (more than 50 employees) are mandated by the government to offer health insurance plans that are both affordable and comprehensive.
To attract and retain top talent, many companies might pay one-hundred percent of the cost of an employee’s medical insurance. That gesture can be attractive because the cost for that individual plan in 2018 averaged anywhere between $5,900 and $8,400 per year or thereabouts.
Building a Team
The prospect of working remotely can be appealing since there is no commute or dress requirements.
While you might save money on gas and clothing expenses, that bonus might not be enough to compensate for the isolation you may feel when not being able to interact with co-workers and other stakeholders. Also, you may act as your own judge and jury when evaluating the quality of your work, missing out on valuable feedback from innovative or more experienced peers.
In either instance, you may feel that you perform better as part of a team. Granted, you may have editors and marketing cohorts who have goals that are aligned to yours, but a limited role as a here-and-there contributor can leave you feeling detached.
When you share a common vision, mission, and brand with a group of other people, you gain synergies from the encouragement and expertise that those individuals bring to the table—joining a company can help lock in those advantages.
Making a Decision
Changing times and unavoidable circumstances demand that professional freelancers possess the ability to switch gears and turn on a dime. Most often, pivoting effectively involves finding more clients to replace the ones that may not engage you as frequently as they once did.
However, when you weigh your career options, you might find that part-time gigs act as a perfect complement to a full-time job. The beauty of this arrangement is that nothing is ever set in stone. As global economies begin to regain their strength, you may be in the enviable position of reverting to your freelance gig or sticking with that steady paycheck.
In either case, Fiverr has all the resources you need to help you land more jobs and earn more money as a side hustle— or as your principal means of making a living.
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