How many times have you heard someone say, or thought it yourself, “I hate my job, I wish I could work for myself!” Really, what is holding you back? There are millions of freelancers out there, people who have a skill to offer, like writing, web designing, mobile app designing, and there are millions of jobs available. What stops people is fear and a lack of real confidence in their own abilities.

Stop dreaming; get out there and live the life you want to, do the job you want to do and don’t fall foul of these first four reasons for sitting still:

My job is secure, I can’t risk it

That is nothing more than an excuse; pretty much nobody has a job that is secure these days. When you get that into your head, you can start to see the other side, and why freelancing is a more attractive option. Sure, you must work hard to make sure you earn the money, but don’t you already do that anyway, but for someone else?

I wouldn’t know where to start

And that is one of the worst excuses ever! Setting up your own business as a freelancer is actually very simple; you just need to learn the basics. There are plenty of freelancer job options to choose from on the internet and, if you opt to start your own business, just make sure that you inform the relevant tax authorities and get yourself a business bank account.

There’s too much risk involved

What risk? If you intend to start work as a freelancer, doing something you love, then start part-time to begin with. Keep your full-time paid job and set a couple of hours aside every day to search out freelance gigs that you can do easily. From there, you can build up the freelance side and gradually move over to it full-time.  You will need to build up your new client base and to make sure you can still afford to live while you are setting up. So be prepared to give up a lot of spare time and work your evenings as well.

The economic climate isn’t too good right now

Obviously, people do tend to feel a little safer if they have a job that pays a wage every month, especially with the economic climate as bad as it is. You probably have a mortgage or rent to pay, and you may have a family to support too, but freelancers don’t get affected by the recession simply because it is the smaller businesses who are hiring, and they don’t feel the pinch quite so much as the bigger businesses. This is where freelancers win because they can offer flexibility and real value, which makes them a go-to at times when the pennies are being pinched but work still needs to be done. I’ve worked through this recession as a freelancer right from when it started, and I haven’t been without work yet.

Being a freelancer is not difficult; you just need to be prepared to work hard and, to a certain extent, have nerves of steel.