Lifestyle, Revenues and Opportunities

For what is better than doing what you love, the freedom of being your own boss and getting paid for it? To some this is the dream, nothing more. While to others, it is an all too real reality in the form of Freelancing. To be freelance entails doing particular pieces of work for different organizations at a given period of time instead of being a permanent employee of a single organization. In simpler terms, it means being independent like a mercenary for hire, only that it is legal. The rapid emergence and spread of freelance work in the world today can be credited to the internet and all that comes with it; the blogs, as well as social media, but freelancing can be traced back to the medieval times according to Merriam – Webster dictionary, and the earliest written evidence for ‘freelance’ comes from Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, in which a lord refers to his paid army as ‘freelances’. Since then, freelancing as a job as gone through various modifications due to modernization, with its spread cutting across various sectors both the public and private sector, from health and Agriculture, to photography, graphic design, writing, building, contraction, web designing and even economics. Although freelancing is a common way of earning a living in the developed part of the world, in Africa it is still underutilized and is just like a gold mine waiting to be explored if given the right tools and information. Where then is this gold mine and how may I get to it you might ask? Seat back, relax grab a pen and book, and open your minds as I show you the way. Freelancing is a fast emerging business in Africa and if not harnessed fully can lead to even worsened economic conditions than what is faced in Africa today.

To prevent that, we need to enlighten and promote it as a legitimate and lucrative business which can help reduce the unemployment rate, increase the revenue of some, and help in education in the case of students or uneducated individuals working for freelance companies. The individual gets to do what they love, develop their skills, make use of their creativity and of course, fetch them some money. But how does this happen? How can your ‘hobby’ fetch you a livelihood? Currently, Africa is faced with a challenge of increasing unemployment rates which is expected to rise to 7.2 percent in 2018, with additional one million new entrants into the jobless population according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). The ratio of qualified individuals to number of available jobs is in great disparity, and the job market is gradually shrinking in size. It is logical to see how the interest and hope of many graduates and other unskilled labourers, may have shifted from having to get their ‘daily bread’ from paid employment to a more flexible means of self-employment in freelancing, which would reduce the strain of unemployment in the labour market and help provide a wider range of services for consumers. Freelancing provides freedom of having to work from anywhere, at your own time, making it very appealing to modern youths. As a freelancer, you can work during your most productive hours and that does not necessarily have to fall within the 9am- 5pm that regular employment goes by, as each individual is different and by consequence have varying productive hours. Another attracting feature of this job is that you get to be your own boss and keep large portions of the profit.

Otherwise fixed prices are available for your negotiation, no one needs micromanage you, and the decision and responsibility of your job rests on your shoulders, thereby giving one a sense of accomplishment that they are in direct control of their own life. It also provides a ’choice’ of clients and jobs, seeing as the freelancer is in a position to assess the terms of jobs and the nature of clients before application. So how much does a freelancer stand to make? According to a study made by Contently: The state of freelancing in 2015, after 643 freelancers where surveyed to show the income data of freelancers, shows that about 24 percent earn $50 000 annually, although there was a close relationship between income and marketing efforts. This is a fairly high revenue, even though the freelancer has to be actively involved in marketing. Also, depending on the quality of the work and order of the clients, freelancers can set their bid/charge, not like a day job where one has to work for a fixed amount of pay with little or no time for themselves and even family. Suffice to say, freelancers have a very wide range of opportunities and how they are being utilized is up to them. With Africa slowly coming out of its ‘shell’, a lot of businesses and companies in Africa are shifting from the regular hiring of an employee to using freelancers, because it cuts down costs, being that it is relatively cheaper for businesses and saves the administrative protocols involved in hiring a full time employee. It also doesn’t involve retirement benefits and social obligations (Health coverages) of the companies; there has not being a better time for the freelancer in Africa.

As an Entrepreneurship skill, freelancing helps turn an individual idea into action. An entrepreneur as defined by Oxford dictionary is a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on the financial risks in the hope of profit. Pegem.net defines an entrepreneur as a person who has decided to take control of their own future and become self-employed, even if it involves creating their own employment. This however is what freelancing affords one to do, to create their own future. It is not enough to have the creative skill of your work as time has proven to us, it is also important if you can organize and mange it because let us face it, freelancing is a booming business enterprise and if not well maximized, may not boom so much for such an individual. Although like most self-employments, the revenue is not fixed like in a regular business, some months can involve getting about 12-20 clients while some months, less than 10. How well the business thrives can be linked to how the individual runs it. If managed well, it can be better than most regular paying jobs, and the upside is you get to work at your own time and pace. Freelancing not only creates jobs for the freelancer, but even those working under him. For example, a freelance contracting writing company would have several writers, editors, and may even have unskilled workers which can help with translation. This further reduces the unemployment pull and cuts through the vicious cycle of poverty plaguing the African continent.

How then do you go about this? like every good money making venture, you have to spend money to make money. Hence, the tools for the job are pretty simple and relatively inexpensive, depending on the sector one wants to venture into. The world now being a global village, a good laptop, access to fair internet connection, and a smartphone are quite necessary in this business. These tools are necessary to connect the service provider to those in need of their service, both locally and internationally. Based on this, a comparison of the money spent to the revenue that can be generated clearly shows how the benefits outweigh the risks. A Freelancer does not necessarily need be unemployed; they can be students, regular workers who just want to supplement their pay, or even retirees. There is no age limit to this work as long as you are good at what you do and can market yourself well. Presently, freelancing has provided Africa with the opportunity to mix with the global world. Due to the range of services it encompasses, it has helped bring foreign investments into some countries, and doesn’t only serve as a means of livelihood for some individuals.

Many words can be said on why this business has come to stay in our world today. It is very convenient, it helps to develop the creative skills the individual possesses, and further removes the monotony of having to work a day job, as there would be different jobs at different times. Hence it constantly works at expanding ones imagination, and opens up the mind to innovations and new possibilities. Freelancing is not without its risks, one of the most recurring being the uncertainty of when the next job will come, financial stress, and so on, especially for those just leaving a traditional job. It also has numerous benefits and may just be one of the secrets to poverty alleviation in Africa. Hence, the numerous opportunities that it provides should be harnessed by not only the youths, but the government should also invest in it by contracting these freelancers. As we have seen, the life of a freelancer is not full of roses. Determination and an actual drive to learn has to be in the hearts of individuals who want to attain such feat, and get the pot of gold at the end of the journey. Like it is rightly said, to take the road less travelled is not always easy, but very fulfilling in the end.