The First 30 Days

Reason Number 1:

Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention.  The biggest barrier to starting a freelance career is usually the fear and uncertainty of leaving a steady, well-paying corporate job.  If you’re one of the millions of professionals who was down-sized, laid off, or otherwise rendered unemployed in the last 24 months, then that barrier has been, shall we say, removed.

Reason Number 2:

Organizations large and small all over the world have been forced to lay off employees, encourage early retirements and wait to hire replacements.

Reason Number 3:

These reductions in headcount mean that thousands of corporate projects have been placed on hold or assigned to overworked employees.  Many of these projects will never be completed, even though successful completion would save money, increase productivity and boost profits for the organizations involved.

Reason Number 4:

The show must go on.  When corporations cut back their internal workforce to save money, the work doesn’t go away.  In fact, corporations regularly turn to freelancers and independent contractors to complete this work during a recession in order to avoid the ongoing overhead, liability, and burden of full-time employees.

Reason Number 5:

Less competition.  It seems counterintuitive to think that a recession is the perfect time to start a freelance career – so much so, that many people who might otherwise consider doing so – don’t.  What does that mean for you?  You guessed it – less competition for available work.