5 Reasons You Don't Want to be a Freelancer ~ Work for Yourself

I'm notorious for telling people that they should switch over to the "independent worker" side. I talk about the importance of freedom in your work. I talk about being able to call the shots on who you do and don't work with. So, why am I writing this post?

The plain and simple answer is that I want you to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about freelancing. Part of my responsibility is to make sure that you are prepared for the world you're about to enter. That means, you need to know the good and the bad. You then have to weigh them both against your own personal situation. I can tell you all day that working independently is the route to go, but that's just my two cents. This isn't the best route for everyone...

Most (if not all) successful businesses exist because there is an employee or team of employees that stands behind the brand to make it work. These people are paid some sort of salary in return for the work they do. They may be paid by the hour, by the day, or by the month. The point is, they are on the payroll. They may have some fringe benefits like paid vacation, 401k, pension, health insurance, etc. They are comfortable working each day as much as needed to earn their set salary (with some positions providing performance-based incentives, like commissions). The employees of the business an an important asset - or resource, if you will. There needs to be people who will do these jobs. It's the way of capitalism (or some other -ism, honestly I'm not in the mood to look it up). Some people work for other people all their lives while others have other people working for them. In between, there are a few who work alone.

That said - the work that you do as an employee is important. As a matter of fact, you are such an essential part of your business that you may not be paid for all of the vital work that you do. But, that's not the point of today's post...

Here are the top 5 reasons that you may want to continue working as an employee as opposed to an independent:

You are bad with time. Managing your time well is a skill that can take many independent workers years to learn. If a worker usually works at night, they may have a problem with managing their time. They usually feel that there are not enough hours in the day so their work extends into the evening. Of course, there are others who just prefer to work at night. That's not the people I'm talking about.
You are bad with money. You have to be able to save for taxes. It's a must. If you can't save for an entire year, you can pay quarterly, but that still requires at least 3 months of saving. Take it from me, it is no fun to scramble to pay your taxes at the last minute (or worse yet - get on a payment plan with the IRS).
You don't have any money saved. Independent workers (like anyone else) need an emergency fund. You must be able to "float" your household as you get started and may not have as much income as you will down the line.
You have health issues. Health insurance is expensive. REALLY expensive. It crosses the southern border into EXTREMELY expensive when you have some sort of pre-existing condition on top of that. Employers have group health insurance plans that often don't come with the same pre-existing condition limitations and are certainly not as expensive.
You don't work well in isolation. As an independent worker, you may be spending a lot of time on your own. The good news is that there are coworking spaces scattered throughout the entire United States. These are great ways to avoid seclusion, but they aren't without their own costs.

Can you think of any other reasons why an individual wouldn't want to be a freelancer/independent worker?