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8 freelance frights!
Just a little self-employment spookiness
Kara Detwiller
October 31, 2024
Today’s edition of Wishful Working is a 4 minute read.
Happy Halloween!
This week, I thought I would have a bit of fun and write about some of the scariest sights and situations for self-employed folks.
👹 The Scope Creep
Onboarding your new client was smooth sailing, and the kickoff call went great! The project is underway, and everyone is on the same page.
…or so you thought.
Suddenly, the extra requests start trickling in. It turns out, your client wants a lot more than you originally planned. Do you push back against the scope creep or let the project grow and grow until it becomes a monster that consumes you?
📅 The Nerve-Racking Net 90 Payment Policy
You have a discovery call with an exciting new client — a big one! You’re stoked to work with an established company with a great reputation.
Then, your client contact loops in Mary from the finance team. They pay contractors using Net 90 terms, Mary says. Please send your direct deposit information when you get a chance! 💀
🦫 The Alarming Anonymous Beaver
A beaver is not a traditionally scary animal, but when he pops up, anonymously, in the corner of your Google doc, a chill runs down your spine. Next, his cursor starts to blink in the paragraph right above the one you’re still editing, and you can’t close the tab fast enough.
You’ll come back after he’s gone. Hopefully he’ll leave…
👻 The Ghoulish Ghost
A notification flashes on your screen — a new message from a potential client! They’re looking for some freelance support, and the project sounds like it’s right up your alley. You have a great video chat, and you follow up with a project proposal and rate information.
Then, nothing…
As fast as they appeared in your inbox, they disappear into the ether, without even a wail or a groan.
📥 The Unsettling Unread Emails
There’s something scary in your inbox.
It might be one email in particular, or you might want to avoid all of them. In any case, an uneasy feeling comes over you when you see the number on the notification flag tick up throughout the day.
Maybe you should just turn off those notifications…
🪦 The Revision Resurrection
You’ve submitted your assignment and received a few pieces of constructive feedback. After a few quick edits, you send it back to the client. That wasn’t too bad, you think. It’s finished!
But then your inbox pings again.
Just a few more notes, they say.
But it isn’t a few more notes — it’s endless rounds of feedback from multiple stakeholders. Most of them didn’t even see the original brief, and their comments contradict each other. It’s the project that keeps coming back from the dead.
🌌 The Void
You wrap up a project with your anchor client, and another client lets you know they don’t have the budget for freelance work for the rest of the year. You suddenly go from comfortably busy to alarmingly available.
You kick yourself for not doing more outreach, you scramble to find work, and of course, you panic as you stare into the void that is the freelance dry spell.
🧟 The LinkedIn Horde
One of your connections posts that they’re looking for a freelancer for a project that would be perfect for you! You sit up a little straighter and click into the comment section.
187 comments that all say one of the following:
Interested!
Rate?
Dropping you a DM!
🙋
Commenting for reach!
You decide maybe it wouldn’t be perfect for you after all.
What’s the scariest part of self-employment for you? I didn’t even get into the horrors of taxes, loneliness, deadlines, work/life balance, healthcare, and nightmare clients.
Stay spooky! 🕷️ 🦇 ⚰️
See you next week,
Kara
Wishful Working is inspired by my desire to see more people enjoy a life not centered around work. For some, the path to freedom and flexibility is through self-employment, but we also need to challenge cultural norms and champion healthier working conditions and work/life balance for all types of workers.