Why not to start freelancing

Hello all,

Recently, Many newbie programmers have been coming to me for freelancing advice. My first response to them is, "Don't do it" I know it sounds weird at first but trusts me. I have an explanation for this.

Reasons for becoming a freelancer:

• Insufficient job income
• Manage premium expenses
• Urge to try something new

If you belong to 3rd point, You should skip this article. Go ahead. For others, freelancing is not a good idea.

Why not start freelancing for money?

• Tough Competition
• De-moralizing

Tough Competition

A lot of competition going on in the current freelancing market space. Unless you have a referral or something, it's hard to find a client. I will tell you why:

The current biggest freelancing marketplaces are:

• Fiverr
• Upwork

Both have a large number of freelancers. Let's say you enter these marketplaces.

Fiverr

Fiverr allows 10 bids per day on buyers' requests (which is going away). The catch is you cannot see all the offers. Because when you join Fiverr, You will be a "Level 0" seller.

Fiverr allows a buyer to show their requirement to the specific level of sellers only. Most buyers prefer at least a "Level 1" Seller. So "Level 0" sellers won't be able to see those requests.

From my observation, "Level 0" Sellers can see a maximum of 10-15 buyer requests. Whereas "Level 1" Seller can see a minimum of 1000-1200 Buyers Requests.

I guess now you can see why it's hard to get clients on Fiverr as a newbie freelancer.

Upwork

Upwork doesn't have these types of filters like Fiverr, But they do have something else. It's called Connect.

We can use it to bid on projects. They give you 10 Connects for free every month. But after that, you have to buy connect from Upwork. Applying on a listing takes 3-4 connects on average.

So, it's not easy to get clients on Upwork either.

I am not saying these platforms aren't good/you shouldn't use them. You can use them when you are ready to.

De-moralizing

Tough competition leads us to de-moralizing. Even after doing great in your work, You start feeling worthless and inefficient to work.

We don't see how much time and experience it takes to get into freelancing and start comparing ourselves to others with better experiences and knowledge.

Also, they take 20% of your income ;-;

My Advice

The current biggest freelancing marketplaces are full of competition because many freelancers are looking for jobs and are more experienced than you.

The current time is to gain knowledge and experience. Don't struggle to get clients. Freelancing does teach so many things. But that is possible when you have clients. I am not saying you cannot. I am saying it's hard because of (experienced) competition.

It's not the time to start freelancing. But to learn skills, harness technologies/frameworks, and gain experience. After that, you will be ready to jump into the freelancing world.

"If you are willing to fight a battle, Never go unprepared."

Good Bye, and Don't worry, you got this.