Freelancing: Is it all about the big bucks?

Making the switch from employee to self-employed is an opportunity to double your income: by becoming your own boss, you eliminate one middleman between you and your clients, or even all of them. That way, the value you create goes back to you—and to the government, but that’s another topic.

However, when I bought my eighth Rolex, I realized that money didn’t matter all that much. So, rather than earning twice as much, I decided to work half as much while keeping my old salary, in keeping with the old saying: “You have the watches, and I have the time.”

“Working half as much” isn’t meant to be taken literally. But that’s the idea: taking time for yourself or your family, time to exercise and feel good, time to learn, time to write, time to create, time to advance causes that are important to me, time to experiment.

Very quickly, the question becomes: What is work? It’s work, but I’m having fun: is it work? I no longer really try to answer that question. Deciding not to increase my income has opened up a vast world of possibilities for me. I see my business as a financial vehicle powered by billable services, which lets me roam wherever the road looks interesting.

By the way, becoming my own boss has completely changed my relationship with money. As an employee, my salary measured my worth. The stakes were enormous: nothing less than my ego. As a freelancer, “How much do I need?” has become the only question. How much do I need to live on? How much do I need to feel secure? A question that makes all the difference.

Beyond that, independence gives me a completely different relationship with risk. Of course, I’m exposed to the risk of insufficient income. But in the face of this risk, I can take action: it’s up to me to set aside savings for lean times, to make the necessary contacts, to launch initiatives that ensure my visibility in the long term, and to develop a strategy to grow my business.

Whereas at an IT services firm, I’d be that consultant between contracts who costs money every day and whom they’ll eventually “let go.” In my view, a permanent contract offers false security. Not everyone is cut out to be self-employed, that’s for sure. But paradoxically, for some people, freelancing offers greater security, security based on responsibility.

Finally, let’s address what perhaps should have been the opening of this article: the primary benefit of being self-employed remains the ability to work according to one’s own quality standards, to easily vary the types of projects, and to choose one’s clients without having to justify anything to anyone, based simply on a gut feeling. Or even being able to manage the business relationship, which again means working without an intermediary.

All of that is priceless.