What is Freelancing: Get Your Parents on Board with your Freelancing Career

Table of Contents

• What is Freelancing: Get Your Parents on Board with your Freelancing Career 
• Key Takeaways 
• Conclusion 
• FAQs 

Freelancing is often considered a hobby. The pleasure of quitting your job and the freedom of becoming your own boss is a dream shared by many. The very idea of working from the comfort of your home, choosing the projects you actually want to work on, and creating and setting your own working schedule sounds too good to be true.

One might think that since you have quit your job, a workspace at the table has been cleared, you have bought the comfiest pants available, and all you need now is to get on to freelancing while chilling enjoying life? They couldn’t be more wrong. 

While exploring is one thing, becoming an actual successful freelancer is a whole other ball game. And if you are in India, convincing your parents about this new concept is another challenge that every freelancer will face.

And it is not your parents’ fault. It is about their upbringing – they have grown up in an India where government jobs are better than corporate jobs, and corporate jobs are better than freelancing! Freelancing is not even considered work by many – it is regarded as a hobby, if at all! Indian parents need you to get a job because their definition of success or getting settled is landing an excellent respectable job. So how do you deal with this hurdle on your road to freelancing?

The only solution is to convince them that it is a stable working style! Explain to them what a freelancer does and how they get work and gain recognition in their own fields. 

Now how do you convince them of the benefits of freelancing? Let’s find out!

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What is Freelancing And How You Can Get Your Parents on Board with your Freelancing Career

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1. Show them that you are building your brand.

Even if you do not consider yourself a branding expert or a brand person, you have to admit that you are your own brand if you are a freelancer. You also necessarily sell yourself when you advertise your skills, especially because many freelancing projects depend on personal appeal and good working relationships. Once you have entered the branding game, there is so much that you can explore.

The first thing to do is start by building your online presence to make it easy for others to find you. Now, this could mean a lot of things like:

1. Setting up your website, which showcases your previous projects, reviews of earlier clients, etc. It doesn’t necessarily have to be something fancy. It could be in the form of a simple blog.
2. Updating your social media profiles like LinkedIn and Twitter profiles, adding things related to your freelancing. You can highlight some of your high-profile clients here.
3. Repeating similar things on other social media platforms, Quora, Facebook, Google Plus and any other platform you may consider relevant to the kind of services you provide.

Once you have set up your brand with a few projects and gotten some positive reviews from clients, you can show your parents how far you have come and how the growing industry recognizes your skills. There is nothing that tempts Indian parents more than recognition from society. 

2. If you are a freelancer in a niche, establish yourself as an industry expert in your field. 

Look up any upcoming events related to your industry to speak and add value. If you are not into public speaking or not so confident yet, go anyway – this could help you network with your industry peers, and don’t forget to hand out your business cards as if your life depends solely on it. 

Any successful freelancer needs to be confident about their abilities, and such activities strengthen confidence more than one might realize. Once you gain enough knowledge and confidence to speak up on stage or in conferences, your parents will see how important it is to you!

3. Show them constant workflow.

One of the things parents do not like about freelancing is the instability. One day, you might be loaded, and then there could be months when you see no money coming in. So as a freelancer, you need to build enough reputation and network to keep getting constant work, and you can do this by putting yourself out there as much as possible.

It is a well-known fact that freelancing by nature is filled with uncertainty – even the best freelancers might have gaps of inactivity. But generally speaking, the more known you are, the easier it is to keep securing work.

Much before you hand in your notice of resignation in your corporate job, contact everyone in your circle who might be of help in the market for your kind of freelancing work. Share with them

1. When you will be leaving your job
2. What you will be doing post that
3. How ready you are to take on freelancing projects immediately.

Yes, this will mean working very hard, but if you have the contacts, the experience, and references, you are already halfway there. So do not shy away from networking. It also helps to join some professional associations relevant to you to meet even more people.

It might take some time to build a regular flow of projects, but as long as you put in some serious efforts to advertise and publish your name, you will start seeing results in no time. Once a regular workflow is set up, your parents might support you better when they see you busy all the time.

4. Know your worth

Money is vital to make you financially independent, and becoming financially independent is important to convince your parents that your freelancing stunt is more than just a hobby.

It is essential to know your worth to succeed as a freelancer since it will allow you to charge much better and say no to jobs you have little to no interest in. Most importantly, produce work that meets a higher standard – which is undoubtedly hugely beneficial if you are trying to secure repeat business from the same clients. 

Figuring out your worth is two-fold:

First, know what you must charge. Do your due research. Know your skill level and find out what the current market offers. Your decided rate must cover:

1. The billable time that will be going into your work
2. The job benefits of a corporate that you will be missing out on would include sick days, holidays, pensions, job security, etc.

Do not forget to consider the local freelance market rates of your client’s base. It is difficult to get a blanket hourly rate sometimes.

The second step is to place enough value on your skills and yourself. While it could be tempting to accept every project that comes to you at the start, remember that you have a life as well. Overbooking yourself is as crazy as it sounds. It is not good either for you or your clients. Moreover, it will affect the quality of your work. So, make sure that you have enough “you time” in your schedule to avoid over-stressing yourself. If you are using all your free time to research projects or reply to emails/talk to clients, it’s a sign that you have overbooked yourself.

5. Join a coworking space

This tip is for those whose parents despise freelancing only because you work at home through freelancing. If you have a routine of getting up, getting ready, and going to work, this might make them happy. That’s where a coworking space can help you.

Moreover, by joining a coworking space, you will have not only a quiet and peaceful place to work but also a built-in community where you find like-minded remote workers. This could be another social circle for you. Some coworking spaces even hold events like happy hours and invite speakers. 

Key Takeaways

• Even if you do not consider yourself a branding expert or a brand person, you have to admit that you are your own brand if you are a freelancer.
• Build your online presence to make it easy for others to find you
• Network with your industry peers, and don’t forget to hand out your business cards as if your life depends solely on it. 
• It might take some time to build a regular flow of projects, but as long as you put in some serious efforts to advertise and publish your name, you will start seeing results in no time. 
• Place enough value on your skills and yourself. While it could be tempting to accept every project that comes to you at the start, remember that you have a life as well. 
• Produce work that meets a higher standard – which is undoubtedly hugely beneficial if you are trying to secure repeat business from the same clients. 

Conclusion

In the past few years, the demand for freelancers has increased like never before. With the rise of the COVID-19 and the pandemic, the work culture started ascending towards more and more independence and versatility. If you want to become a freelancer, it is important to know what freelancing is and how it works. 

According to a report, from Q1 to Q2 2020, India witnessed an increase in new freelancers by about 46 percent. This also means greater awareness in people about freelancing. Convincing parents about an industry growing at such a rate is not as difficult as it used to be a decade back. Give them the time to understand what freelance means. 

FAQs