Work vs Freelance vs Business

At Habré there are quite a few businessmen, even more freelancers and employees.

Most of us (I’m sure!) Fell into the trap of a life-track, approved by society, as a standard: school => institute => employment. Someone immediately went into freelancing or business.

But not always the choice is made consciously.
In this article I will try to objectively consider the pros and cons of each organizational form of self-realization so that such a choice can be made. Personally, after a deep rethinking, I quit a promising career and went to my startup.
')
Let us proceed to a comparison of the set of parameters, which I consider the most important, all evaluations are subjective - based on my own work experience in hiring + business, as well as the work experience of my freelance friends.

Employment

• - The amount of income is fixed by the labor market. Increase your income 10 times is possible, 100 is almost unreal.
• + The stability of income , which facilitates budget planning, creates a sense of confidence.
• + Social guarantees - the employer often includes in the social package medical insurance, expenses for food, communication, transportation.
• + Training at the expense of the employer - either directly, with attendance at courses or within a company, or independently, but in paid time.
• + A team that often gives not only communication, support, but also friends.
• - The work schedule , even if flexible, usually implies a minimum of 40 hours of work per week.
• - Rest is usually limited to 4 weeks, and even with coordination (and the more valuable you are, the more difficult) with the boss, in most cases you can forget about the geocorrection .
• - Freedom of creativity is strongly limited by the scope of tasks coming from above.

Freelance

• - The size of the income is again fixed by the labor market, but it may well exceed the income from work for an uncle.
• - The stability of income is lower than in employment, highly dependent on your qualifications and ability to present it.
• - Social guarantees - all expenses fall on your shoulders.
• - Training at your expense, the client will not pay for it.
• - The team is missing, which means lack of support and communication.
• + Schedule you define yourself. The client, of course, sets deadlines, but you have the right to decide what time of day / week you should work.
• + Rest, geocorrection - up to you. Do you want to work hard for 1-2 months, and then rest for six months? This option is quite real.
• + Freedom of creativity is fixed within the scope of the client’s tasks, but you choose the projects yourself!

Business

• + The amount of income is actually unlimited.
• - The income stability is low, today you can be a millionaire, and tomorrow you can be a beggar.
• - Social guarantees - all expenses fall on your shoulders.
• - Training at your expense.
• + You choose the team yourself, however, you can do without it.
• + The work schedule is completely yours.
• + Rest with proper automation can be permanent; geocorrection in the case of online business is almost inevitable, there are many places on Earth where it is much cheaper and more pleasant to live.
• + Freedom of creativity reaches its climax - you can set a task for yourself, choose the way to solve it, and enjoy receiving feedback from the client.

It is necessary to understand that the importance of each of the factors for each person has its own . A set of factors may also differ.

To find out what suits you best, I suggest filling out a table. In my case, it looks like this:

Parameter	Significance coefficient	Employment	Freelance	Business
Income	3	-	-	+
Income stability	2	+	-	-
Social guarantees	one	+	-	-
Training	2	+	-	-
Team	2	+	-	+
Schedule	four	-	+	+
Rest, geocorrection	four	-	+	+
Freedom of creativity	four	-	+	+
Total		-eight	2	12

Change the coefficient of significance of the parameter and count the total amount in your plate .

This will give you an initial understanding of where you are and where to go.

What to do if there is no possibility to change the form of activity?

I do not advise to drop everything immediately. Think it over, connect your intuition . In your free time, take tentative steps exploring the new soil.

How to improve life right now

Each of the considered minuses can be leveled, or even completely put in plus.

Employment

• Income size : think how much money you lack for a comfortable life? Perhaps employment will more than provide this level. Update your resume, go to interviews, talk to your boss about growth opportunities - this will give you an understanding of what you are worth and what you can achieve.
• Schedule : make it flexible by agreement with the boss, or changing jobs.
• Rest, geocorrection : find a job on the contract. It is not without its drawbacks (lack of social guarantees), but at the end of the project you can rest as you like. Organize yourself a remote job, perhaps working by the sea is more productive for you?
• Freedom of creativity : become a highly qualified specialist, creative tasks will be available an order of magnitude more (simply because no one else can solve them). Become a leader - you can distribute tasks yourself, including yourself.

Freelance

• Income stability : find clients for monthly maintenance.
• Social guarantees : earn more, spend less with the help of a geocorrection, create a PI for contributions to the Pension Fund.
• Training : Allocate time for self-education, there are enough materials in the network, even professors from leading American universities already conduct free online training ( Coursera , Stanford ).
• Team : during working hours, communicate with like-minded people in specialized forums, in your free time with friends, the benefit of which time will be more.
• Income size : improve your skills, learn English, register on freelance exchanges, turn out reviews. On the same Odessa, a programmer’s income of $ 50 / hour is considered normal.

Business

• Income stability : provide yourself with several (for risk diversification) large customers, and best of all build a business according to the subscription model.
• Social guarantees : similar to freelancing.
• Training : similar to freelancing.

PS Share, what are the most important parameters in choosing for you?