This is the eighth lesson of the freelance guide, in which we will address the most important problems facing those who work in the freelance method, especially beginners, and how these problems can be dealt with and overcome.
There is no doubt that freelancing is one of the most enjoyable types of work, especially if you choose one of the fields of freelancing that is suitable for you and your capabilities, but in fact there is no work without problems, and of course there are problems facing a freelancer, especially at the beginning of his work.
In this article, we will review together the most important and most famous problems that you will face in the field of freelance, in order to be aware of the nature of work, and be expected and ready to face these problems.
Of course, we will not leave you like this, but together we will explain the best way to deal with these problems, and how you can overcome them so that they are not an obstacle in the way of your success.
The 9 Most Popular Freelancing Problems on the Internet
In fact, I do not feel that the list below are problems in the literal sense of the word, but they are challenges that you can deal with, and sometimes you can turn them into gains or advantages in your favor.
1. The problem of finding the starting point
One of the biggest problems that anyone who has decided to enter the world of freelancing may encounter is how do I get started? Do I have sufficient experiences in my field and specialization that allow me to actually enter the world of freelance and allow me the ability to compete?
In fact, this is a very important and dangerous point, but to deal with it, you have to be aware that the process of learning in freelance is a continuous process.
Therefore, you do not have to wait until you become a professional in your field until you actually start entering the labor market and implementing projects for others, wherever you have the opportunity, start gradually entering the labor market, learn from your experiences and experiences and continue to learn.
Here, in brief points, how to deal with this problem:
You have to understand the freelance system well before you start with it, so we advise you to study all the lessons of the freelance guide with concentration and attention.
You have to understand that all professional and famous Freelancers started like you, so you can become one of them.
Take your time to choose the field of freelance that is right for you, and it is okay to modify the path if you find a suitable field for you.
Never stop working, always use your time to practice and do works for clients of your imagination. Constant training is your only key to professionalism.
Be confident that you will have a place in this world, according to statistics, the world of freelance accommodates everyone, you just have to be prepared.
I highly recommend you to review the lesson: How to start a freelance business (practical steps with a detailed explanation)
2. The problem of absolute freedom
In fact, freedom is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it gives you a lot of options and manages your time as you want. But on the other hand, it is not always in your favor, because the absolute freedom in managing your life and work that free work provides, may cause a lot of time to be wasted, and a lack of ability to accomplish due to the lack of a supervisor.
The bottom line is that although freedom is one of the most wonderful advantages of freelance, it requires you to put more effort into organizing your time and setting rules for your life so that you can do well.
Here are some important points that will help you overcome this obstacle:
Always remember that freelance is real work and will bring you a good income as long as you are honest with it in making enough effort.
Always remember that one of the factors of your success in self-employment is to meet your appointments with clients, and neglecting this will destroy your career future.
Choose a place that works for you in your home (even if it's just a corner in one of the rooms for freelance).
Make it clear to those around you that you are not available all the time, and that you have obligations to fulfill (you have to learn to say no).
3. The inevitable problem of constantly evolving and learning
Freelancing is closely related to technology, and technology is always evolving, and you have to keep pace.
If you are a graphic designer, for example, you have to learn to deal with the modern and more complex versions of the programs used, and if you are a writer, you should read more in your field of writing in order to produce better articles, and to find ideas for new topics. Here, as long as you choose something that you care about and love in the first place, this challenge will just become a pleasure.
Here are some tips that will help you overcome this obstacle:
Always keep in mind that learning is part of your job, so you have to stick to it as much as you do to get things done.
Follow popular blogs in your niche, and read at least one article every day.
In your spare time you can watch a YouTube video about your field.
Every two months, for example, study a full course.
Try to read a book each month (if you read 10 pages each day, you can finish a 300-page book in one month).
4. The problem of finding work
Finding enough work is one of the biggest challenges facing a freelancer, especially since the number of people in the labor market is greater than the number of jobs, which makes competition fierce and reduces prices.
But if you focus on the quality of your business and the value you provide to the customer, and building a strong personal brand, your chances of choosing the customer will increase and competition will not become an issue for you.
Also, sharing your information with others is one of the effective ways to attract attention and get new customers, whether by publishing blogs or videos, or through activity on social networks to highlight your great experience in your field.
Here you do not have to be afraid to share your information and experience with others, the client hires you because he does not have the time, skill and experience to do what you are doing.
There is also an important point that you should be aware of. Which is that most of the time getting more work isn't the best way to make more money, it's about getting a better job.
Here are some tips that will help you overcome this obstacle:
Always keep in mind, no matter how late you get enough work, that this is temporary, and every work you do will open up new horizons and opportunities for you.
When there is no work, do not despair, but take the time to learn to become more competitive.
Promote yourself on your social media pages and tell your acquaintances what you can accomplish.
Create an account on LinkedIn, and share your experiences there (this is a working community that will open up great prospects and opportunities for you as long as you exploit it new).
5. The problem of determining the cost of your business
Determining cost is a tricky element, and dealing with it haphazardly may lose you a lot of customers, or it may not be fair to you. The cost element is a very important element for your customers, and it has a significant impact on completing the agreement between you and the customer.
Sometimes the high price is evidence of quality and professionalism, and this may attract a certain type of customer, but the actual quality of work here if not to the required level, this will lose you future opportunities to deal with your customers again, or it may affect your reputation and thus lose you opportunities to deal with new clients.
On the other hand, the low cost will attract you a lot of customers who put the cost as a primary element of the decision, but the low cost may be unfair to you, and it does not enable you to complete your business with the required quality, and thus eventually return to the loss of your customers.
To deal with all this complexity and complexity of determining the cost of your business, you have to be smart and accurate in setting your business prices, so that they are neither lower than the quoted prices nor higher than the quoted prices.
Be aware of the prices of the services provided in your field, and stay away from offering your services at a cheaper price than the price you specified in advance, except when necessary, because this harms your reputation and may annoy some of the previous clients you worked with.
Finally, do not be exploitative or greedy, and remember that some things only come with time, investing in yourself and raising the quality of your work is the only way to raise the cost.
6. Problems receiving financial dues
There are many aspects to the problem of receiving financial dues, and below I will highlight the most important points of these aspects and how to deal with each of them:
1. Scams and long-term delays in financial dues
The internet world is like the real world, in it you will find procrastinators and sometimes you will find scammers and scammers as well. In fact, scams on the Internet are more prevalent than on the ground.
Although there is no foolproof recipe for avoiding scams, focusing, dealing carefully, forming an extensive network, and avoiding dealing with suspicious account holders, will avoid a lot of scams.
It is also very important if there is a direct agreement between you and a client to ask for a deposit to work, but if you work with a freelance platform, your right is guaranteed according to the platform's laws.
2. Payment method
Freelancing on the Internet depends mainly on electronic payment methods, and this requires you to deal only with customers who provide suitable payment methods for you, and this may lose you some customers accordingly.
Here to avoid this problem, you have to deal with modern electronic payment methods, and do not limit yourself to one way to receive your money.
It is worth noting that nowadays there are a lot of local payment options, which you can rely on if you deal with customers from the same country (such as the wallets of telecom companies).
3. Negotiate the cost after the work is completed
An agreement is reached between you and the work on a certain amount to complete a certain work, you complete the work to the fullest extent, and the client starts negotiating again about the cost of the work. This is a scenario that happens in the world of freelancing, and you should expect it, because there are clients of this type.
To deal with this problem, you must tell the customer decisively about the cost, and try to write a contract between you and him according to the agreed cost. On the other hand, you must complete the work according to the agreement, and this is so that you are not the reason for renegotiating the cost.
7. Health problems of freelance
Freelancing on the Internet requires many hours of sitting in front of a computer screen, and requires a lot of effort and focus.
This often has negative health effects, such as poor eyesight, obesity, neck and back pain, and poor long-term focus. In fact, in our time, there are many jobs and businesses that require sitting in front of a computer screen, such as freelance.
But in any case, by taking breaks and trying to keep exercising and eating healthy, you can avoid most of the health problems that you may face as a freelancer.
8. The problem is that you do everything
All administrative work that is distributed to employees in companies is entrusted to you alone in freelancing, and you must do all of them, such as: payroll if a team works with you, accounting, legal matters, sales, marketing, and project management, Everything is in addition to the work you contracted with the client to do.
This is a very important point that you should keep in mind and do not underestimate it.
Here are some points that will help you deal with this problem:
write everything down; For example, if you get an offer for a job, record it in a file on your device or in a paper notepad, and that's all.
Allocate a certain amount of time for marketing your work and do not let it interfere with your daily work in completing tasks (maybe two hours each week will be enough).
Rely on freelancing tools that will save you a lot of time, and will enable you to complete a lot of tasks easily.
Always remember that half an hour of getting organized a day will keep you from a lot of trouble in the future, so make this a daily routine for you.
9. Problems related to the nature of customers themselves
The nature of freelancing through the Internet requires the freelancer to deal with people virtually and from all over the world, and each of them has a different nature and different cultural backgrounds.
In the field of freelance, you may encounter problems related to the nature of the clients themselves, and this is a list of some types of problematic clients, with suggestions for how to deal with each of them.
1. Professional Fraud Client
The scam client mostly targets the newbies from the freelancers and those who do not have enough experience, this scam client could be a fake company or an anonymous account.
Here, you must confirm the identity of the customer before starting to deal with him, and when discovering anything suspicious, avoid this customer permanently.
2. A customer who constantly delays payment
This type of customer is one of the customers who prefer fraud in another way, this customer may have a reliable and not suspicious account, but dealing with him on the financial side is uncomfortable because of his constant desire to delay and procrastinate until you stop demanding your verification.
Here you have to be decisive with this type of customer and continue to claim until he gets your dues, and you can try to reach a mediator to help you receive your dues.
3. The customer with unreasonable requests
It is possible to find a client who asks you for requests that are far from your specialty, or who asks you to complete more than one task under an agreement and the cost of one task.
In this case, you have to be clear about exactly what you can offer, and you have to explain to the client that some points are outside the scope of your business if the situation calls for it.
4. Always dissatisfied customer
You may be met by a customer who is dissatisfied with the service or project you are doing, and although you find it good from your technical point of view, or from the point of view of one of your colleagues, it always tends to put it in a flawed situation no matter how much you try to modify it for the better.
In fact, the customer may do this due to the nature of his perfectionistic personality, or he may do so with the purpose of manipulating to evade paying the rest of your financial dues.
Therefore, you must first ensure the quality of your work by presenting it to a colleague, then address the customer in a confident tone, and offer the idea of consulting a neutral person to separate you.
5. A hesitant customer who doesn't know what he wants
This customer really does not know exactly what he wants, and this represents a great risk because because of this he will never be completely satisfied, because he does not have a model to use to measure your business, and this is in addition to the fact that he will ask you for a lot of stressful adjustments that may run in a vicious circle.
You have to deal with this client in one of two approaches: the first approach is to give him the opportunity to formulate his project clearly and specifically, and the second approach is to give him a clear and explicit project proposal to start implementing it directly.
6. The customer who requests to stop the project after starting it
You may meet a client requesting the cancellation of the service or project in the middle of the business, whether with logical or illogical justifications. The best course of action in this situation is to go along with the client's desire directly without arguing, but on the condition that you compensate for the part of the project that you completed.
7. The customer who always presses to deliver the service or project before the agreed date
This type of customer will make psychological pressure and repeated correspondence to deliver his project before the agreed date, here you have to be strict and frank, and ask him to review the agreements between you and him in the delivery date clause, and tell him that you are only committed to the agreed dates.
Here are the links to all the freelance guide tutorials:
The most important fields of freelancer
How to start your way to freelancing
Basic skills every FreeLancer needs
The most important and best freelance tools
What is a Portfolio and How to Prepare a Professional Portfolio
The most common problems in freelancer
