The current generation of professionals has a perfect number of opportunities enabling people to work in the mode of their choice, and that’s when people get into the confusion between the choices of freelancing vs. a Full-time work-from-home job. But then, any wrong decision in this regard shouldn’t put their careers, learning, and earnings in trouble. Unfortunately, many of them land into various problems when they make a wrong decision.

I am going to provide some meaningful information about “ Work From Home Vs. Freelancing,” which should enable you to make a wise decision,

Before we get to the discussion of the differences between freelancing and working from home, or about the choice of which one to choose, let’s understand the meaning of each of these in detail and then understand the difference between freelancing and a full-time job becomes a lot easier.

Work from home full-time jobs:

Work from a full-time home job; in this type of work, you will be working as a full-time employee in an employer’s payroll with a designation and responsibilities assigned to you. Also, you will be paid for the role you are hired for and never based on work you have done/are to do, and in some organizations, you would get additional pay as an incentive on top of the fixed pay when you meet the targets assigned in your role. When you work in a full-time job, you will enjoy all the benefits a company provides to their employees, such as health insurance, PF accounts, HRA’s, and various other kinds of allowances depending on the company.

Freelancing:

In the freelancing career option, you don’t have to be on the payroll of the client or the company who is expecting your time or expertise or both, and you will be paid only based on the time or the expertise or work delivered on the project. You are self-employed, and you are free to charge the client on your terms based on hours of work done or that particular task completion, and on a mutual understanding, you get on to payment terms. You are free to decide on the project or the client, and you can work with as many clients as you want until you have time and you are not getting into any exclusivity agreements. In this mode of working, you will not enjoy company benefits such as health insurance, PF account, HRA’s, etc.; you are just paid as your bill.

Work:

Full-time job:

You are supposed to work on everything assigned to you and in your scope of work and are expected to work the prescribed hours daily per the company policy. You must also abide by the company policy regarding leaves, work hours, days, how you work, the quality and number of work, etc.; of course, you must regularly report to your manager or boss about the work.

Freelance:

In freelancing, you can decide the work you want to take up and the number of hours you want to spend daily or weekly. You don’t need any leave approval from the client, you can decide, and you will have the flexibility of deciding how long and how many hours a day you want to work, as you will be paid either based on work done or the time that you invest in your clients work or project.

Pay:

Full-time job:

You are paid every month based on your employee engagement or contract with the employer. You will be paid regardless of the work/task/assignments you have worked on.

There will also be applicable tax deductions, a TDS of 10% will be deducted from the salary, the PF deduction will be made, and health insurance will be as well. In some cases, the company pays for employees from their pockets; in some cases, it has to be paid by the employee.

You can get paid weekly, biweekly, monthly, or on basis of the project. You can avail of advance payment as well in full or partial payment.

Freelance:

You are paid based on the amount of work done or the number of hours done as per the mutual agreement about the tasks or the hourly paid price. If you are a regular freelancer for the same company and exceed the nontaxable amount, the client will deduct a TDS amount or may pay the government from his end without deducting the TDS. If you work across various countries, your deductions will be per the respective country’s policy. If you are getting your work from a particular platform, there can be the respective platform’s deductions applicable.

Expectations:

Full-time employees:

You are expected to work or be available during office hours and meet all the expectations of fulfilling the work assigned to you. You are expected to maintain a code of conduct and work ethic. You are not allowed to work with competitors or other projects while you are associated with an organization. The employer may also decide to work from the office, home, or hybrid, and you have to follow it regardless of your requirements.

Freelancer:

You are expected to deliver the work; it doesn’t matter how and what you do. If you are charging based on hours, you are expected to deliver quality work per the agreed-upon scope. There won’t be any restrictions on the number of clients you can work for if you are not into exclusivity agreements. You are completely in control of deciding the work, clients, projects, pay, etc. You are never expected to work from the office in this mode of working.

Working hours:

Full-time job:

If it’s a day shift, you have to work from morning to evening for the number of hours defined/expected by the organization. You will not have flexible working hours or the number of working hours a day, you have to compulsorily deliver the expected number of hours a day or a week or month.

Freelancing:

You will have the flexibility to decide when to start and when to stop working, which day to work and which not to work. You will be completely independent of deciding at your convenience.

Learning:

Full-time role:

The learning will be best, especially if you are in the initial stages of your career. You can interact with most of the teams and people in the organization wherever your presence is expected.

Freelancing:

The learning in the freelancing mode is limited, as you have to focus on the delivery of the task or the number of hours while you implement the expertise. When you work on assignments, you will have self-learning, and learning from other experts or peers will be very limited.

Earning:

Full-time job:

The earnings are as per the offer you accepted from the employer and sometimes may include incentives based on the roles you are employed in. Your income will be stable, and you will not see any ups and downs until and unless you opt for LOP or leave encash or achieve targets or miss the targets. Your basic pay will always be unimpacted.

Freelancer:

The earnings depend on a few factors,

• The number of hours you work if you are charging based on hours you work.
• The tasks you complete if you are charging based on the task
• The number of projects you complete if you are charging based on projects

It’s completely in your control and may drastically vary based on your effort.

Which one to opt for, “Freelancing or the Work From Home Full Time Job”:

By now, you should be able to decide which one is best for you; if you are still not clear, the following checklist should help you make the decision.

This completely depends on,

1. The expertise you have got in your domain

If you are not an expert, people would not prefer to get the work done from you. The work will be outsourced to freelancers only if they can deliver independently by bringing in their expertise.

2. Type of skills you acquired

Not all skills can help you to get freelance work, only certain skills can get you more opportunities. For example, digital marketing can get a lot of opportunities as compared to that testing skills.

Skills like content writing, graphic designing, digital marketing, web development, and web designing would fetch a lot of freelance opportunities compared to the profiles working on testing, a specific tool, and work specific to an organization.

3. The years of experience you have got

The years of experience would have enabled me to earn better on payroll than in freelancing, and in those scenarios opting for a full-time job will be the best choice.

If many years of experience have enabled you to fetch more projects, and if you think you can make more than your CTC, you can opt for freelancing.

Let me take an example,

If you are many years of experience and have good CTC, which cannot be earned by freelancing, then your choice should be a full-time job. Also if you don’t have the network and if you are not able to market yourself, you may have to opt for full-time job and freelancing is not the right fit.

4. The time for work, especially if you are tied up with household responsibilities

Freelancing is the best option for housewives; people are busy with many responsibilities, already working on other jobs, and cannot put in full time for a full-time role if they prefer to be self-sufficient, independent, and flexible work hours and days they can opt for freelancing.

5. The earnings and benefits you make out of each of these model

If you are clear about your earnings and benefits from these models and whichever benefits you from all perspectives go with it.

6. Your mindset of being independent

Few people don’t like the boring 9-6 job, or cannot make it those long hours being a family person or housewife, and they prefer to work flexible hours, and freelancing will be the best option in these cases.

7. The financial status and insecurities

If you are financially unstable, freelancing can be risky sometimes, so you may have to prefer full-time. Freelancing with a low income may lead you to many insecurities; hence, your choice should be full-time if you already have too many expenses.

8. The network or selling skills you have got

The network or selling skills you have acquired can be powerful assets in your professional journey. These skills allow you to build relationships, communicate effectively, and influence others. Whether you're a sales professional or someone looking to leverage your network, these skills can open doors to new opportunities and propel your career forward. From prospecting and lead generation to negotiation and closing deals, honing your selling skills can lead to increased sales, revenue growth, and career advancement. Additionally, your network can provide valuable connections, referrals, and support throughout your career. By continuously developing and refining these skills, you can maximize their potential and position yourself for success in the business world. Harness the power of your network and selling skills to achieve your professional goals and unlock a world of possibilities.

Conclusion:

Freelancing is the best option if people are looking for flexible options, don’t have enough time to work, and don’t care much about a stable income or have fewer financial burdens or expenses. Also, freelancing is the best option if someone can make more earnings than their CTC just by working a few hours a week.

Freelancing is for someone who likes the flexibility of work hours, clients, work types, or projects and that extra income mindset.

Many freelancers are on full-time jobs and prefer to take freelance projects just for that additional income. People who understand how freelancing works can make more money and owe such skills in demand for freelancing are picking up freelance careers.