50 Reasons Why You Will Not Make It As A Freelancer

Some designers make a great career out of freelancing, some struggle to ever pay the bills solely from freelancing income.

If you are already a successful freelancer, you will probably see that you are not guilty of most of the points made below. If you are hoping to be a full-time freelancer, or are currently finding it difficult to get your freelancing going, some points below may help you figure out why!

To explain this post a little better, my personal opinion on when a freelancer knows they have "made it", is when you own your own house, own your own car, and can comfortably pay 100% of your bills from your freelancing income. Some of you may disagree with that description of "making it", but that is how I personally measure it. I encourage you to add your thoughts in the comments at the end, thanks!

And so, the 50 reasons why you will not make it as a freelancer:

1. The thought of working a 16 – 19 hour day makes you feel violently ill
2. You sleep in past 12pm most mornings
3. You don’t know what the word "typography " means
4. You hear the word "Hex " and you think someone is talking about dinosaurs
5. When meeting clients, you wear jeans and a t-shirt
6. Your hair is a mess, all the time
7. Your phone manner is terrible (you answer with "hello", and nothing else)
8. You don’t understand what a "bleed " is
9. Your business card is a home-made Microsoft Publisher job
10. You have never started conversation with a stranger
11. You are not confident
12. You are not likeable
13. You do not manage your personal finances well
14. Your mum doesn’t even like your design work
15. You want to be successful, but your drive is completely lacking
16. You are not self-motivated
17. You don’t have a desire to be the most successful person you know
18. You don’t have a website
19. Explaining the difference between 300 dpi and 72 dpi is like speaking a foreign language to you
20. You think white space is wasted space
21. The bevel function in Photoshop doesn’t work anymore because you have worn it out so badly
22. You struggle to actually complete a project
23. You have to give your clients money back because you over promised on your ability
24. You have 0 business skills and have no idea how to develop them
25. You really dislike sales and feeling like a sales person
26. You don’t make your clients sign contracts
27. You think it’s cool to be flaky and disorganized because that is what "us creative types are like"
28. You think you are right, and the client is wrong
29. You think that your prices need to be lower than anyone around so that you can get the business
30. Your people skills are terrible
31. You don’t have a plan for your freelancing career, you are just floating along
32. You don’t really understand what marketing is
33. You haven’t developed a brand for your freelancing career
34. You are unable to save money
35. You don’t have a desire to continue learning all the time
36. You have never worked more than 40 hours a week in your life
37. You have never worked for a design company
38. Seeing a logo you designed on a billboard or on tv doesn’t give you a rush
39. You design things that look good but don’t match the brief whatsoever
40. You spend most of your time working on entries for silly online design contests
41. You let clients name their price
42. You’re not a risk taker
43. You do not manage your time whatsoever
44. You are not disciplined in a daily routine
45. You don’t study your competition
46. You don’t even know who your competition is
47. The word "crop " makes you think of the farm
48. You suck at Photoshop
49. You are guilty of over 20 of the points above
50. You are angry at me after reading this

Do you have any to add? How many of the 50 are you guilty of?

Related links and helpful articles about freelancing

How To Fail Miserably as a Freelancer

How To Fail at Freelancing in 5 Easy Steps

Why Failure as a Freelancer can be a Good Thing

The 7 Deadly Sins of Freelancing

10 Tips for Getting More Personal Interaction as a Freelancer