Why have so many entrepreneurs previously been freelancers?(annaleijon.se)

2 pointsby anna_leijonvor 3 Jahren1 comments

Why have so many entrepreneurs previously been freelancers?

https://annaleijon.se/why-have-so-many-entrepreneurs-previously-been-freelancers.html

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Many entrepreneurs have a background as freelancers. There are no official statistics on this available, but those who have listened to most of the episodes of my podcast Techskaparna (a podcast in Swedish, which loosely translates to “tech creators”) have probably noticed that many who have been guests on the podcast have freelanced at some point. Of the tech entrepreneurs who have participated so far, half (as far as I know) have a background as freelancers. In episode 4 of Techskaparna with Ted Valentin and Jonatan Heyman, they also explicitly recommend combining freelancing and entrepreneurship. Many tech entrepreneurs have simply freelanced at some point in their careers before transitioning to being full-time entrepreneurs.

In this article, I will try to explain why this is so and outline the pros and cons of being both a freelancer and an entrepreneur. That is, freelancing before and maybe at the same time as you try to build companies, products, startups, your own projects, be an indie hacker, lifestyle entrepreneur or whatever you call it - to have and try to realize your entrepreneurial ambition.

Here I list the pros and cons of combining freelancing with entrepreneurship.

Advantages:

Better knowledge in how to run a business, do book keeping and the like Financial: More cost effective Better personal finances Higher SGI (sjukpenninggrundande inkomst - something we have in Sweden) Self-financed start-up capital Less dependence on venture capital Flexible time management You can customize your freelance assignments based on interest Fewer mental and legal barriers More secure Disadvantages:

Not everyone can freelance It can be more or less difficult to get assignments depending on your skills and seniority It may take longer time to get started with the entrepreneurial company because freelancing on the side offers security and not the same stress It can entail a bit of a double workload if you run two companies at the same time - your freelance consulting company (here after referred to as consulting company) and your entrepreneurial company - when it comes to, for example, bookkeeping ....