Freelancing in India is growing rapidly. The younger generations Gen Z, and Gen Alpha are not keen towards working for someone else, rather they are trying to work independently for themselves.
What is Freelancing?
Freelancing is nothing but working independently from the place of your choice, for the client of your choice, and for the budget of your choice that you quote to your clients.
In Freelancing, you sell your skills in the form of a service like Coding, App or Web Development, Design, Multitasking, AI, Coaching and more.
After the Covid pandemic, New startups or big corporates are not keen anymore to have a branch and have extra expenses for employee management, rather they outsource their work from a remote freelancer.
Similarly, the new generation is keen towards working for a single company and stuck for 9 to 6 in a cubicle and working for them for a lower payout.
So, in the saga of getting independent and earning a livelihood, freelancing in India is booming like never before.
Purpose of this article
In this article, I will clear some doubts regarding Freelancing and try to solve and answer some of the most widely asked questions related to that and offer insights to aspiring freelancers.
Difference between Traditional Job and Freelancing
In a traditional job setup, There are certain rules to follow, There are official times to begin and end the work. There are certain dress codes, and rules to follow in the workspace. You’ve to work at a fixed cubicle desk and complete the tasks for an employer for a fixed salary at the end of every month.
But in Freelancing, you are an independent taskmaster. You take tasks as per your knowledge, skill, and ability, with the budget that you quote of your choice the place that you would love to work, the time of your choice, it doesn’t matter if it’s day or night.
What matters in Freelancing is the deliverability, accountability and being your own boss.
So I think Freelancing is easy right?
No, not at all. Rather it’s quite the opposite. When you work under an organisation, you don’t have accountability towards the final client of that company, rather the top managerial hierarchy takes care of that.
But When you are working as a freelancer, you are directly working for a client, you’re the boss, you’re the employee, You’re the accountant and you’re the HR.
You have to manage your finances, your schedule, deadlines, payments, invoices, and everything as a one-man army.
it’s bloody difficult and hard. Even sometimes you’ve to go through a rough time without any work availability due to various reasons.
But you’ve to keep working and keep trying to search for new work. Unlike a traditional job where at the of the month your salary will be credited to your account, it doesn’t matter whether your company is profitable or not, but your salary is not dependent on that.
So Freelancing is hard. You’ve to bear many hardships of your own clients, Some of them will take you for granted, downplay you and a lot more, and you’ve to be ready for that.
But this is the cost you’ve to pay if you want to be independent. Remember that a Freelancer earns more than the average of a traditional employee because of all the risk involvements in it. So more risks mean more returns.
Growth of the gig economy in India
according to exploding topics, the global freelance workforce is 1.57 billion out of 3 billion which is nearly an half of total working population.
and these are the average annual and monthly earnings of freelancers all around the world
| Freelancer Job Title | Hourly Wage | Annual Salary |
| Writers | $30-40/hr | $42,000 |
| Editors | $25-35/hr | $40,000 |
| Programmers | $60-70/hr | $120,000 |
| General developers | $50-60/hr | $100,000 |
| Mobile developers | $55-65/hr | $100,000 |
| Web developers | $50-60/hr | $90,000 |
| Graphic designers | $40-45/hr | $90,000 |
| Transcribers | $20-25/hr | $32,000 |
| Bookkeepers | $30-35/hr | $40,000 |
| Online marketers | $50/hr | $100,000 |
| Photographers | $35-45/hr | $42,000 |
| CRM managers | $50-60/hr | $120,000 |
| Data analysts | $55-65/hr | $100,000 |
The global freelance market value is considered to be around 3.39 billion USD
India is the second fastest-growing freelancing country, after the Philippines.
In India, the top Freelancing sectors are IT & Software development, Digital marketing, Design & Animation and Content Writing.
Advantages of Freelancing
Even though there are multiple challenges in Freelancing, there are many advantages with Freelancing like below…
Flexibility
Freelancing gives you the flexibility of working remotely from the place of your choice and the time of your choice, you can day or night, in any place you want, in any way you want, it doesn’t matter whether you’re wearing professional suits or not it’s all flexible and depend upon you.
better work-life balance
As you’ll work from your home most often, the work-life balance is better in Freelancing, but sometimes due to a heavy workload, it can get disturbed, but you have to learn to manage both things together.
ability to choose projects
Due to the freedom, you can choose the projects and clients with whom you would like to work and create flexible working conditions for you.
How to start freelancing in India?
Choose a niche complimenting your skillset
Choosing a niche and sticking to it, is a key to long-term growth and success in Freelancing. For eg. I’m good at Design, So my niche is Graphic Design.
Build your portfolio
if your target audience is living near your local area, create a physical portfolio file, if you have to work for clients online, create a digital portfolio website or PDf, which should showcase your expertise, previous work and case studies to educate and inform your clients to take decisions better.
Register on Freelance platforms
Even though these platforms have never generated any leads or worked for me, I would strongly recommend registering in the top freelancing platform in your industry and updating your portfolio there with your latest work to attract potential clients and get new leads.
Network with other peer freelancers
As we know your network is your net worth. So please keep connecting with more like-minded people, peer influencers, and previous clients to get new work and collaborate with their projects.
Never miss any opportunity that you get on your way. I have learnt this personally. Generally, when we begin our work, we miss and say ‘no’ to many projects that we get on our way. But you should never do this, and keep working with every project you get initially to gain knowledge about your subject and get an overall idea and exposure.
After you get enough projects then you try to decrease the number of projects with more high paying and quality ones with better work-life balance.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to start freelancing as a student
Alongside your studies, start learning new skills to complement your interests. Eventually for the few initial months start doing online internships under various companies to gain exposure to the work, and find solutions and roadmaps from the beginning to the end. Then after your studies are complete, or you get any free time, you can start your freelancing as well.
can I do freelance work while employed
I don’t think your employers will agree to work as a freelancer after your working hours with the same niche, as it’ll go against their conflict of interest. and can harm their organisation. But if you are a freelancer working for another company from your home, then you can do it for various other companies as well, There’s no problem with it. But find the right balance between work and your personal time. Many freelancers miserably fail to do this.
is freelancing legal in India?
Yes, Freelancing is 100% legal. You earn and work for the country, You rightfully pay the taxes under ITR 4, There’s nothing wrong about it. You’re like a startup or MSME, who works as an individual worker like a carpenter, painter, plumber or electrician.
How can I get paid as a freelancer in India?
you can get paid through UPI, but if you want to be professional, try to register for different kinds of payment gateways like Razorpay to create professional invoices, and payment pages and receive payments in different kinds of payment methods like Debit Card, Credit cards, Netbanking, EMI etc
But if you want to receive payment from other countries to India, you can use a PayPal account and receive the payments in US dollars into your account. Even if you have a Razorpay account you can integrate Paypal into it to receive international payments.
can government employees do freelancing?
Yes, government employees in India can generally do freelancing in their spare time, as long as it does not conflict with their official duties.
While not always mandatory, it’s advisable to obtain permission from the concerned department or authority before engaging in freelancing activities. This can help avoid any misunderstandings or legal complications.
Freelancers should adhere to ethical standards and avoid any activities that could compromise the integrity of their government position.
How much can I earn as a freelancer?
it all depends upon your skillset, expertise, and demand in the market. In the initial days, focus more on the quantity of work, to get a better understanding of your market. and eventually, you can tweak your prices as per your expertise and experience.
Do I need a license or registration?
If you are working as an agency then you must have all types of registrations like Company registration, trademark which comply with the laws of the land. But as an individual, there are no certain licenses required, for digital fields, except for some critical works which might require a license or professional experience certificate.
How to manage clients, tasks and projects?
To manage your clients, deadlines, tasks and projects, you can make use of modern project management tools like Notion, Trello, and Google Workspace to have a seamless workflow and manage things better.
is freelancing a stable career?
initially, it’s not. you’ve to work hard to have savings, emergency funds, and a loyal client base to have continuous projects in your sales pipeline and long term you can say that you could have stable career in freelancing.
read more posts about Freelancing here
Taxation for Freelancers in India
If you cross the annual income slab limits then you must file the ITR at the end of every financial year. Generally, freelancers like me File the ITR-4 and have to disclose 50% of their annual earnings as their profits at the end of every financial year and have to pay on that.
Use this Income tax calculator to find your tax details and the amount you need to pay out of your earnings as a taxpayer in the country.
Freelancing Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Finding Consistent Work
Finding work consistently is the biggest and most important task of any freelancer. Generally, social media influencers and YouTube channels teach us to create content to get clients or register on freelancing platforms, but that’s not true.
Freelancing is a serious business. You’ve to invest initially to get quality clients and have a consistent workflow.
I generally run meta ads campaigns to get leads for my freelance business, and then I call those leads and close the deals. This is the best method that worked for me.
Initially, you can begin with a small amount to begin your ads.
Managing Finance
Initially, you are required to invest in your freelance business to get clients. You must invest in creating unique branding on social media, create content, create a portfolio website and run campaigns to get clients. And second most important thing is to manage your finances you must keep it as simple as possible. You can create a manual Google sheet to track your income or expenses or create a notion page to track them in depth.
Giving your invoices and payments professionally creates a good impression of you and stand out among the crowd.
Try to integrate payment into your CRM or invoice software to have a seamless payment collection from the client. Keep at least 50% advance payment for any project to get the excitement to begin the work and be protected about the project from the client shadow-ban you.
Dealing with Unpaid Invoices
it can hit you hard, but sometimes clients will run without paying you and clearing invoices, but you have to accept this fact. and initially, you will face many mistakes and failures, and those things will educate you better to make better decisions in the future.
So, I hope you have an overall understanding of Freelancing in India and its future potential. Do work hard, keep learning, innovating and growing. Thank you.