Gabriela MuñozIn 2022 I lost my full time job as some of you know, if you don't know what I am talking about you can read the story here.
For 6 months I looked for a full time job, I was obsessed with the idea of working in a company. I had a lot of interviews, I did some UX challenges but I didn’t get an offer. Back then I felt that I didn't have enough for UX / Product designer roles, my self-esteem was down.
Well, in 2023 I decided that I don’t wait for the “call”, for the opportunity, for the validation. I say validation because in my journey looking for a job I learned that I just wait for validation from someone to tell me “You are good, You have impressive experience” . It never happened.
I decided to start my journey as a freelancer. To be honest at the time I didn't know how to start, how to contact clients, how to start to sell my services, how much they cost… In this first phase I did some projects for web and apps. I felt stuck hahaha in the last 6 months I hadn’t designed or used Figma. At the beginning I felt a bit lost.
In 2023 I worked on different projects and I had many challenges in my career. In this post I want to share some learnings from my freelancer phase, or what swifties would call my new freelancer era.
1. Being a freelancer is as valuable as working in a company.
As a freelancer everyday I have many challenges and I need to move very fast because time is money! My work is not just designing…It includes many other activities such as: looking at new projects, marketing on social media, customer support, taxes, learning new technologies or tools etc.It is important to be an organized person because as a freelancer we handle many activities at the same time.
2. Don't give more to a company that is not yours.
I know it is a cliche, but it is true … in my last job I worked a lot, too much… and at the end I got fired, I didn't get equity or anything related. I regretted putting so much effort into something that I wasn’t mine. Now, every day I keep in my mind this is my project, my own company, I am my own company. If I spend the weekend or I sleep late it’s worth it.
3. Taxes
UUUHHH, specifically in Mexico many of us are afraid of them ,but it is not bad at all. I remember that in the past I didn't want to work as a freelancer because I didn't want to handle the taxes, bills, etc. I learned a lot of them and how to do my invoices and pay my taxes every month. I recommend that if you don’t know anything about taxes in Mexico, you need to look for an accountant. I have mine 🙂
4. Start now
We don’t need a lot of technology or equipment. When I started work as a freelancer I just had my laptop, phone, internet, my google account, Notion and WhatsApp.
I didn’t have a website or logo. Don’t spend your time on these at the beginning. I am not afraid of them, just time is money and it’s more important to get clients than to have a cool website.
At the beginning I started with the following things:
In my own journey I started with a Notion page (I already used it for my personal things) I knew how to use it, I didn’t need to spend time learning something new. I made some images on Canva and I started to publish them on my social media. I was contacting clients from my personal number (it’s not the best way) but I couldn’t buy a new phone. I used a lot of Google Drive tools.
After 1.5 years I have my site (still in progress) https://supergabs.com/ I am happy with it, because I did it!
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5. Schedule
Some people think that freelancers work every day, all day… I have bad news. We don't have a schedule like any employee. In my case I finish my work day at 6:00 pm, which is the normal time in Mexico. I try not to respond to any messages from clients after this time. It's Important to set our schedule for work and personal life.
Working as a freelancer requires bravery, resilience, autonomy and many more qualities! Being a freelancer helps me with my own perspective of my job, my own experience, and learning that I am capable of doing that thing I imagine!
If you got here I invite you to check my experience work:
