Freelance Manifesto, or What's the Difference Between You and the "Big Boss"?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Designer Paul Jervis wrote an excellent (albeit a bit harsh) post on his blog, which he subtitled "Manifesto for those who work for themselves." If you decide to take the freelance path, I advise you to read it (and also read another post that will help you figure out whether you should be a freelancer or work for someone for hire).

Let's begin with that you are one of those unique assholes (yes, from the point of view of "big bosses") who decided that life in office "cells" of workplaces and a planned career march was not for them … You have the courage and the audacity to embark on a free voyage - so let's figure out what you should do and what not.

You are different from people whose corporate loyalty is tied in a tie and determined by the size of the compensation package. You can define your success without having to be tied to the quarterly shareholder report metrics and shown public earnings. You do not need to donate to save pandas or llamas in distant countries, where your company is just planning to open a branch. And you certainly have no reason to trump in social networks by the fact that 2 times a week you can work outside the walls of the office.

You - unlike “big bosses” - can make mistakes, apologize for them and learn from these mistakes if you wish (and not just fear for your position and write the ZHPP).

You have every right to take care not only of clients, partners or project deadlines - but also of yourself … Therefore, you can go for a walk in the middle of the working day, do yoga, or come up with a hobby that takes several hours every day (if you still do not know how this can be done not only outside of office life, but also when working in a company, I recommend reading “Office in funky style”).

You - unlike top managers on a salary - have every right to create your own code of ethics and your own set of values at work, which will allow you not to work with uninteresting or unpleasant people (remember how often a manager in a “dynamically developing company” hangs up the phone and sends aloud the interlocutor with whom he has just spilled out in pleasantries).

You can do everything for your clients, and at the same time "punching yourself in the chest" in public is not necessary … You can act according to a pre-thought out plan, or you may not have any “quarterly goals” at all, starting the path of a freelancer. You don't have to tighten your tie in the heat and wear “dark bottom - light top - black shoes” at any time of the year. You are generally allowed to break every conceivable and inconceivable rule that fighters for office culture have been building for almost 50 years since the Second World War.

You are not contraindicated in individuality: while the corporation rivets faceless press releases that they plan to finally conquer the planet this quarter by selling new TVs or computers with a fundamentally new tiled OS, you are allowed to be yourself and just do your job the way you see fit.

You have the right to refuse money and not be seduced by a check with many zeros after one.if you are convinced to accept such a check or conclude such a contract is “against the rules,” which you set for yourself.

Reporting and planning, reports and goals you provide and set yourself, and not the Board of Directors or some "big boss" upstairs.

You can succeed and do your best both in what you are thoroughly familiar with and in what you had no idea about until yesterday.… And at the same time, you can honestly tell your potential clients about all aspects of your skills even before you sign the contract. You are not bound by faceless "corporate ethics."

You can close a business, start in parallel with another, or even engage in a completely new type of activity.… Corporations spend years, if not decades, on such processes - you have the opportunity to do it in weeks and days.

You may not be delving into legal or financial aspectsby hiring a lawyer and accountant. Moreover, one specialist is enough for you to shift some of your problems onto him, and not a whole staff department.

You can be scrupulous about both who hires you and who you hire … In general, you have much more opportunities for selectivity and careful selection than a “big boss,” who simply due to the nature of the corporation cannot delve into such subtleties.

Remember you are an entrepreneur, not a corporation … You will never need to work the way “big bosses” work in strict and expensive ties (by the way, you will not need an expensive tie “to exude confidence” either in the workplace).

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