Why You Should Start Freelancing NOW (Or Start Hiring Freelancers)

Today, let’s talk about why now is the time to start freelancing, and why now is the time to start hiring freelancers.

There are more businesses hiring freelancers than ever before. They cost less, and they show up with greater efficiency because they’re able to specialize in one craft. Plus, they’re more intrinsically motivated to do a really good job because their own business depends on it.

Why are more people turning to freelancing themselves? First off, they get higher income that they can increase over time as opposed to waiting on a raise. Second, freelancers have a diversified income, so they don’t depend solely on one job, which provides better job security. Finally, there’s a lot more flexibility with freelancing.

You’re able to focus on what you love the most as a freelancer. Rather than doing a bunch of different things, you get a career that’s based on your talent and interest. You don’t have to deal with that 40-hour workweek performing tasks you don’t even enjoy.

Today I’m talking to freelancers and businesses who hire or want to hire freelancers. I hope that by the end of this, you’re convinced that now is the time to start freelancing.

If you’re a business that’s considering hiring freelancers, you need to get on the ball here or you’re going to be left behind. Take advantage of this model and you’ll be surprised at how much of your workforce can be contractors.

Conversely, as a freelancer, you will be surprised at how many options you have. You don’t have to get a typical employee job to make ends meet and build wealth. Actually, you can’t build wealth at a typical employee job. You’re under too many constraints as an employee. You can make a living, sure, but you can’t build wealth.

I’m going to give you some stats about freelancing that are based off of the U.S. but are still relevant to the rest of the world. Let’s get started.

There are 57 million freelancers in the U.S. right now, which is 45% of the workforce. We are only a couple of years away from becoming half of the workforce. We’re no longer some little side gig that people do between “real jobs.”

Freelancing is a legitimate way to have a career. There’s still a lot of cynicism about it, especially from people who have been in the corporate world their whole lives. But the point is that freelancing isn’t some sort of “side hustle,” a term that I don’t even believe in.

Now for some more stats. Freelancing contributes to over $1.4 trillion to the U.S. economy. Moreover, only 35% of people were freelancing just 3 years ago, and that has already grown 10%.

The 2020 pandemic launched this even further as companies really started implementing this model and taking advantage of it. If they can pull it up, then you certainly can, get with it.

As a small business, it’s so much easier to scale. When you only have freelancers that you’re paying for, you’re only paying them for the work they’re doing. This saves you so much overhead in general, but especially when you’re just starting off.

Another stat for you is that 50% of businesses have hired freelancers thus far. And they’re expecting a 168% increase of freelance workers within the next 10 years. 80% of the global workforce could be independent contractors by 2030.

Now let’s look at some generational stats. 53% of Gen Z workers are freelancers. They’re seeing freelancing as legitimate as early as high school. When I was in high school, I got paid for random video production jobs, so I can honestly say that freelancing jobs are great “first jobs” for high schoolers.

Millennials on the other hand are at about 40%, while Gen X is at 31%, and baby boomers at only 29%. As you can see, with each generation, the desire to freelance increases. It’s becoming more and more popular because of the whole work/life balance thing we talk about here.

I’m sure you get the gist of it by now. Freelancing is trending up massively, yet nobody’s talking about it regularly enough because corporations fear the “freelancer takeover.” They’re afraid of losing control of their workforce, thinking that they can’t manage a team of freelancers.

But they absolutely can manage freelancers. There are many different tools out there that are created and are being created that help make this possible. Overall, you have to have greater trust in your team to get things done and produce results. People have to start moving away from just paying for time.

Don’t be the last one to join in on the freelancing movement. Now is the time to focus in on a particular skill set and succeed while there’s not as much competition. This is how you get your clients.

Employees get handed multiple different jobs in one. They’re expected to be the jack of all trades, never getting to focus on growing their main skill. This is another reason freelancers get upwards of 50 to 100 dollars an hour. They specialize in their skillset, and they don’t spend as much time completing projects.

Plus, they’re not being paid benefits, and the employer isn’t needing to pay for taxes and all the other fees that come along with an employer/employee relationship. Moreover, you don’t need to fire freelancers when business drops.

Instead, you just send them less work. This way, you can still retain them because you’re not losing any money.

The typical $50,000 salary employee actually costs the company closer to $75,000 in the end. In some situations, they cost as much as double their annual income. This happens because the employee has to pay all kinds of training, taxes, and benefits while trying to fill up those 40 hours.

As a result, this is why it’s okay for freelancers to charge more. It’s a win-win for everyone. The simple truth is that freelancers are the future of the economy and the workforce. Everyone is better off with this model.

Again, we need to start talking about this more and educating people on how to freelance. We need to teach businesses how and why to hire freelancers, and we also need to teach kids about why freelancing is a great route. The next generation needs to see freelancing as a viable option.

Of course, the public school system is very single-minded about this. They tell kids to get a degree, get a corporate job, and that’s all there is. But this is not secure anymore. I know plenty of people who are continually struggling in life because they’re stuck in this way of thinking about careers.

Colleges also need to get with this, because the next generation will see that the debt isn’t worth the degree. Whereas you can spend one year getting really good at something on your own and then freelance, making good money without all the added debt.

College is not the only way to get educated. Everything I know right now that’s helped me succeed came from everything I learned AFTER I graduated college. Self-education is essential if you want to be successful at freelancing.

That’s all I have for you here today. I hope that this was helpful to you and gets you to start thinking about changing your business model if you’re not hiring freelancers or freelancing yourself.

If you want more information on the benefits of hiring freelancers check out this resource from Best Staffing Agencies.