Rational and irrational fears of leaving employment

I went freelance in two stages. The first time it happened by accident. After working for some time at Webmaster.Spb as an interface designer, I became bored and worked with less enthusiasm and efficiency. Eventually it got to the point where I stopped meeting deadlines, started skipping days at the office and instead of working, I read educational literature and talked with colleagues at the water cooler.

One fine day, my boss Andrei Ryabykh (we called him “chief”) invited me into his office and said: “Egor, I think it’s time for us to part ways. I see that you are sabotaging the work. Perhaps this profession is not for you.” Regarding sabotage, I absolutely agreed with Andrey, confirmed his words and accepted the offer. At that moment it was as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. But the words about the profession deeply hurt me, but then I simply remained silent. As a result, he left the company, maintaining good relations with both his boss and his colleagues.

After that, for a year I made money by selling design services to several clients that I could find myself. And it turned out that during that year of forced freelancing I managed to earn no less money than while working in the office.

This first stage was very simple, because I had my mother behind me with her money and housing. Luckily, I didn't have to ask or borrow anything from her. The main thing is that there was always a place to sleep and something to eat, regardless of whether I earned money or not. In such conditions, it was very easy to go freelance; I didn’t risk anything. And that’s why I didn’t look for a new office job immediately after my dismissal, but tried to “get around” on my own.

Then, when I set out to rent my own place, I realized that my freelance money wasn’t enough for that, so I got a job again. And back to the same company. Andrey Ryabykh, for whom I did a couple of projects during the year as a freelancer and who periodically listened to my stories about other satisfied clients, once offered to return, but not as a simple designer, but as the head of the design department.

Then I realized that there is no need to be modest in life and that stories about your even small successes increase the chance that people will turn to you from those corners that your stories have reached. I really gained experience working in real combat conditions. I learned how to negotiate normally without blushing or talking nonsense, and also did several projects that strengthened my basic professional skills.

After this step, my total income - office plus freelancing - was already enough to rent housing and support myself and my girlfriend in normal conditions. And then I got ready to go freelance for the second time. And this was already more difficult, because there was a strong fear of losing a source of income in the form of an office, which “made the difference” and without which I would begin to go into debt. Finding myself in this situation, I redistributed the remaining free time so that I could devote it exclusively to one task: attracting more clients as a freelancer. And I did this until my freelance earnings were twice as high as my office earnings.

I wanted to leave the company gracefully and correctly, without letting anyone down. Therefore, I found and offered a replacement in my place, and everything turned out exactly as expected. My departure did not in any way affect the efficiency of the department.

I will list the conclusions that can be drawn from my story, and will also add to the list those points that I have not encountered myself, but which my freelance friends told me about. So, what’s scary about freelancing for office workers?

Unknown. In addition to the questions to which I was looking for answers, there were many more questions that I had no idea about and could not ask. Clear questions are “Where can I find clients?”, “How to get paid for my work?”, “How much taxes will I need to pay?”, “Where will my work book go?” and so on and so forth. Unexpected questions that I did not ask myself, but encountered them already in combat conditions: “How to force myself to sit down to work when everyone is distracting?”, “What to do with clients if I get seriously ill while fulfilling their orders?”, “How to explain to the client why I have such a high price tag?”, “What amount of advance payment should I assign?”, “What are the rules for coming up with contract numbers?”

Fear of the unknown is rational. Many of us, in order to avoid possible danger, will prefer not to delve into the unknown and uncertainty. And they will do the right thing! The fact that you are reading this book now shows that you, although (perhaps) afraid, are preparing for this step and reducing the amount of uncertainty in your further actions without risking anything. Many others have already stopped at this stage because of their fear and decided to leave everything as it is.

Opinions of loved ones. Our relatives usually care and worry about us. And if we are going to do something that they themselves have never done, then loved ones will broadcast their own fears onto us. The reasoning will be the same as ours. My mother, for example, never directly interfered with my chosen activity, but indirectly she was always worried and expressed concerns out loud. With this she threw me off balance every time, although I didn’t show it. This stopped the day I proved to her that I didn’t need anything and was earning a stable income, continuing to engage in such a “dangerous” business as working for myself. When I started giving my mother valuable gifts and helping with money, while showing that I was not giving away my last, for her it became proof that she didn’t have to worry about me. But until then, she only bothered me, albeit unintentionally, and it was impossible to do anything about it. However, at some point I even learned to use my mother’s attitude as an additional motivation to “prove to others that I can do it.” It seemed to work.

Loss of stable income. “At work, I receive a stable monthly salary, regardless of the circumstances, but in freelancing, everything will depend on the degree of my efforts.” Yes and no. Indeed, freelancers risk finding themselves without new orders next month. But we are ready for this from the beginning. Our financial literacy is improving and our financial “safety cushion” is growing. We know how to stretch ourselves and attract new clients from new places, we constantly have plans “B”, “C”, “D” and so on in case plan “A” fails.

And our income has no “ceiling”. Today you earn 50,000 rubles a month, and a week later you figured out how to “package” your service in such a way that, doing the same thing and spending the same amount of time on work, you can already earn 100,000. Hired employees do not have this opportunity. You can either grow by a small percentage each year, or accelerate by changing jobs.

Finally, the main thing. If a “mercenary” is suddenly fired or his company suddenly closes, he will find himself in a much more unpleasant situation than a freelancer. You will need to look for a new job, and if you have already worked in one place for ten years, your search skills have weakened somewhat.

Making money on your own, without the help of companies, is also a skill. And it can be learned. And, most importantly, it is not as demanding on a person's age, gender and mental ability as many other skills.

Find yourself without a pension and insurance. Well, that's unlikely. Freelancing is a legalized business activity; you will have to pay income tax. You will also have to pay pension and insurance contributions. The employer does this for the hired employees, and the freelancer pays for himself.

And if you think that the employer pays these amounts to the state at his own expense, then you are mistaken. Taxes, pension and insurance money are included in the employee's nominal salary. If a person receives 100,000 rubles in hand, this means that the employer pays a total of at least 160,000 rubles for him, plus includes a certain rate of profit in his calculations. Therefore, in most cases, an employee will not be hired for 100,000 rubles if his value to the company is less than 200,000 rubles.

This is the price to pay for the opportunity not to understand how to attract clients, not to answer to them with your money, not to think about reporting to the tax office, and generally not to bear responsibility for your work, shifting it to the employer. Is this fee high? I don't think so. Even now, having gained “freedom” from employers, I am not trying to “pull” my close circle into the world of freelancing. Many people will be happy to be in an office environment and will be lost in freelancing; such is life!..

And I’ll say one more thing about pensions. My mother, having worked for more than 30 years in St. Petersburg, at the time of writing this chapter receives a pension in the amount of 16,000 rubles. 6,000 of them go to pay utilities for a two-room apartment. He spends the same amount on medicines. Her standard of living includes having a car and annual vacation trips. Therefore, my mother is now much more afraid of being without a job than without a pension. And for me, this is a good example for the future that you should take care of your own pension independently and in advance.

Be outlawed. This fear comes from ignorance. From a lack of understanding of how to pay taxes on money earned, how to enter into contracts correctly, how to provide certain services. And this fear is as rational as all the others. I really had to get a better handle on how it all worked before I could make any decent money. Fortunately, I could always turn to more experienced comrades with questions that bothered me. Will representatives of the Federal Tax Service pay close attention to me if I receive money on a card and do not pay taxes on it? I won’t sign the closing deed? Will I earn more and more, but still not create a legal entity? And so on and so forth.

Let down the current team. If a freelancer has such fear, then the chances of his success increase significantly. This means he is thinking about how not to harm others. Perhaps in a serious business in which many people are involved, such a skill would hinder development, but in freelancing it will be of great help. Clients who feel cared for, and not that they are trying to make money from them, will return to such a performer again and again.

In order not to let the current team down, I had to find a replacement. And many of my friends who went freelance did the same. It is advisable to take this point into account when planning your further actions. Onboarding and handing over a new employee can take anywhere from one month to six months, depending on the company and circumstances.

In conclusion, I would like to say that you should not “go into the water without knowing the ford.” When you think about freelancing, you don’t need to quit your job right away. You can afford such a step only if you have parents or other close people behind you who will support you with money and housing. Or if there is a financial “airbag” that will keep you afloat for at least six months.

Otherwise, it’s better to prepare to go freelance without leaving your job. Solve emerging issues, look for clients, try to take orders that can be completed on weekends or in your free time.

Some information businessmen recommend putting yourself in difficult situations and getting out of your “comfort zone.” Take out loans, work more and rest less, make promises to friends about achieving certain goals and back up these promises with money (if you didn’t keep your promises, you paid a “fine” to your friend). But in this case, you will have to use the energy that previously supported emotional and physical health. Perhaps, if a person is healthy, full of strength and emotionally stable, he will withstand such a blow. But if there is not enough energy, you can become disappointed, sad, and get sick. It is possible to achieve a good result at a much lower cost and without sacrifices.

Therefore, you don’t need to ignore your fears and move forward blindly. On the contrary, it is better to face them, eliminate them one by one, admit what exactly you are afraid of, why and how to make sure you are no longer afraid. And then the person himself will understand when exactly he is ready for the next step.