Freelancing: How To Overcome The Hustle Mentality
This article was adapted from Episode 30 of the Elevated Entrepreneur Podcast. Click here to listen.
In today’s episode, we are joined by Karl Swanepoel. Karl is a tech entrepreneur based in the UK and the founder and CEO of Revolancer, a freelancing company focusing on creating a brighter future for flexible work.
In this article, you will learn how to overcome a hustle mentality and solo style to manage a team and live in abundance as a freelancer. Entrepreneurship is the true path to freedom.
Read on!
Overcome the Hustle Mentality And Solo Mentality
The hustle mentality of working for ourselves can deter financial freedom for so many of us as entrepreneurs. However, creating a long-term vision can help you transform your business space, whether that is in freelancing or any other industry.
According to Karl, most freelancing platforms are outdated in many ways. However, creating a long-term vision and following his ambition to transform the freelancing space enabled him to transition from a hustle mentality and solo style to managing a team.
Tip: You can’t make a great impact in your industry just by yourself; you’ve to surround yourself with people who can help you achieve your goal.
Issues Freelancers Are Struggling with Today
According to Karl, the struggles in the freelancing industry are often caused by freelancing platforms. It is not the fault of the freelancers. For instance, large freelancing companies take 20% plus commission on any work done. This commission fee is huge, and it creates uncertainty about the worth of the service provided.
Freelancing platforms also don’t allow freelancers to speak outside the platform. They cannot video call or speak to any clients outside the platform in any way. That forces them to keep their relationships with clients on the given platforms even when it’s not in their best interest.
What Karl’s company does differently is that they don’t take the commission, and they give them flexibility by allowing people to speak outside the platform.
The Future of Freelancing With The Increasing Layoffs
Freelancing is becoming more popular because of the increasing number of layoffs, and statics shows that more than half of the US workforce will be freelancers by 2027. In addition, there are more than 1.56 billion freelancers in the world, which is a third of the global workforce already today.
Karl shares that he has never had a corporate job because his standards are very high, and he wouldn’t make a good employee. However, the freelancing space allowed him to work for himself, set his standards, and work with people he wanted to work with. According to him, skipping the corporate experience doesn’t negatively impact your path. Corporate can teach you both good and wrong things, and it’s better to start from a clean slate and figure things out for yourself.
Tip: Skipping the corporate experience phase can only be a problem if you allow it to be. It’s what you make of it.
Freelancing Vs. Entrepreneurship and Corporate Career
There are many similarities between entrepreneurship and freelancing. An entrepreneur has a bigger ambition, while a freelancer just wants to work for themself as a lifestyle. Most entrepreneurs start as freelancers but have larger ambitions, and they start working for more people and forming a company down the path.
Freelancing can somewhere be stressful, but what is amazing about it is that, ultimately, you are always in control. You can just sit there and not reach out to any new clients and not have any clients for the next month. Alternatively, you can be super proactive and make three times as much next month as you did this month.
On the other hand, with a 9 to 5 job, you have that safety blanket, but you could work three times as hard and still make the same as you could doing the bare minimum.
-Raylen
Want Support and Accountability in Your Business in Just 5 Days
Join the Elevated Challenge for FREE and in 5 days you will:
Implement daily changes that compound into huge impact
Cultivate strategies that actually move the needle in your business
No longer rely on “hacks” and “tricks” and instead craft a sustainable business