In 2022 I lost my full time job as some of you know, if you don't know what I am talking about you can read the story here.
For 6 months I looked for a full time job, I was obsessed with the idea of working in a company. I had a lot of interviews, I did some UX challenges but I didn’t get an offer. Back then I felt that I didn't have enough for UX / Product designer roles, my self-esteem was down.
Well, in 2023 I decided that I don’t wait for the “call”, for the opportunity, for the validation. I say validation because in my journey looking for a job I learned that I just wait for validation from someone to tell me “You are good, You have impressive experience” . It never happened.
I decided to start my journey as a freelancer. To be honest at the time I didn't know how to start, how to contact clients, how to start to sell my services, how much they cost… In this first phase I did some projects for web and apps. I felt stuck hahaha in the last 6 months I hadn’t designed or used Figma. At the beginning I felt a bit lost.
In 2023 I worked on different projects and I had many challenges in my career. In this post I want to share some learnings from my freelancer phase, or what swifties would call my new freelancer era.
1. Being a freelancer is as valuable as working in a company.
As a freelancer everyday I have many challenges and I need to move very fast because time is money! My work is not just designing…It includes many other activities such as: looking at new projects, marketing on social media, customer support, taxes, learning new technologies or tools etc.It is important to be an organized person because as a freelancer we handle many activities at the same time.
2. Don't give more to a company that is not yours.
I know it is a cliche, but it is true … in my last job I worked a lot, too much… and at the end I got fired, I didn't get equity or anything related. I regretted putting so much effort into something that I wasn’t mine. Now, every day I keep in my mind this is my project, my own company, I am my own company. If I spend the weekend or I sleep late it’s worth it.
3. Taxes
UUUHHH, specifically in Mexico many of us are afraid of them ,but it is not bad at all. I remember that in the past I didn't want to work as a freelancer because I didn't want to handle the taxes, bills, etc. I learned a lot of them and how to do my invoices and pay my taxes every month. I recommend that if you don’t know anything about taxes in Mexico, you need to look for an accountant. I have mine 🙂
4. Start now
We don’t need a lot of technology or equipment. When I started work as a freelancer I just had my laptop, phone, internet, my google account, Notion and WhatsApp.
I didn’t have a website or logo. Don’t spend your time on these at the beginning. I am not afraid of them, just time is money and it’s more important to get clients than to have a cool website.
At the beginning I started with the following things:
In my own journey I started with a Notion page (I already used it for my personal things) I knew how to use it, I didn’t need to spend time learning something new. I made some images on Canva and I started to publish them on my social media. I was contacting clients from my personal number (it’s not the best way) but I couldn’t buy a new phone. I used a lot of Google Drive tools.
After 1.5 years I have my site (still in progress) https://supergabs.com/ I am happy with it, because I did it!
Available in Spanish Only
5. Schedule
Some people think that freelancers work every day, all day… I have bad news. We don't have a schedule like any employee. In my case I finish my work day at 6:00 pm, which is the normal time in Mexico. I try not to respond to any messages from clients after this time. It's Important to set our schedule for work and personal life.
Working as a freelancer requires bravery, resilience, autonomy and many more qualities! Being a freelancer helps me with my own perspective of my job, my own experience, and learning that I am capable of doing that thing I imagine!
If you got here I invite you to check my experience work:
Top comments (23)
Gracias por compartir. También estoy empezando una nueva época con el freelance. Me gustó mucho tu consejo que es más important conseguir clientes que esperar que todo este perfecto. Mucho suerte con todo, saludos.
Angie, gracias por leer :) así es no esperemos a que sea perfecto comencemos con lo que tenemos!
Great post, from past two months I am working on upwork where I am trying to get the freelance project for the mobile application but it's not easy game. So I can understand your hard work. Thank you for posting this, now it's given me motivation to keep hustling.
Great post! 👏
How do you look for clients? Is there any site with offers?
It is the hardest part fortunately as getting clients many people recommended my work. Also, I am using my social media: IG, FB, Linkedin, X.
Felicidades por tu nuevo rumbo!!! me alegra mucho escuchar que te encuentras super bien. Muchisimos éxitos 🎉
Gracias :) seguimos avanzando!
Congrats on the new journey! I started in 2019 and love the idea of working at home, my hours, etc.
Thanks for reading me!
I like that I don't need to ask for vacation or any permission.
Great, I am preparing for my journey starting as a freelancer. After read this post, I have learned many things. Thank you very much for your sharing
Congrats! Freeelancing can be great!
That is inspiring! I am trying to get into freelance web development. Thanks for sharing.
good
oh yes very interesting post