MANY millennials have resorted to freelancing with major reasons being (1) they have a better control of their time; (2) they are paid better; and (3) they will not be limited connections and skills wise.
Interestingly, freelancing 101 is also one of the most in-demand topics to be featured and talked about here in Twenty Something. More and more people in their 20s and early 30s have taken interest in freelancing. On the first episode of Twenty Something for July, we invited three freelancers based in Davao City (but have clients in different parts of the world) to share about freelancing and to also answer misconceptions surrounding the industry.
Last Tuesday, July 6, we had Moses Cam, banking and finance consultant; John Rufino, social media management and graphic design professional; and Mikey Baybay, virtual assistant/graphic designer and talent coordinator.
We had a wonderful one-hour discussion about freelancing. So many new things to learn and to ponder upon. Today, I share with you some of the misconceptions answered by these three freelancers. They explained how these are wrong and quite contrary to reality.
1. Freelancers don’t pay their taxes and other government dues.
MYTH.
“Since most of my clients are offshore or abroad, there are several tax considerations. Here in the Philippines when you receive dollar-denominated payments, it’s easy to set up an account in Paypal where you can receive wire transfers there, given other currencies. It’s easy there because they have a built-in invoicing system. You just type in the details and it can generate the invoice for you. My advice, especially for local freelancers, make sure that you issue correct invoices and collect them and compile them efficiently so that it’s easy once you make that declaration for the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue).
It’s interesting that Mikey mentioned Taxumo. I’ve also been exposed to that. It’s very helpful. It’s easy to itemize the expenses and the documents that you have in the local setting. So if you don’t want the hassle of figuring out how to file your taxes or allocate expenses, you can use Taxumo,” said Moses Cam. He had been working with banks and financial institutions for sustainable banking specifically addressing climate change threats.
2. Freelancers have good control of their time because they are their own boss.
MYTH.
“Sa freelancing kasi even if we say hawak mo ‘yung oras mo, sometimes nakakalimutan mong kumain, nakakalimutan mong gawin yung mga dapat mong gawin every day. So hindi mo talaga masabi na hawak mo ‘yung oras mo. May times na kailangan mo mag-overtime. You also have to think of the work-life balance. Let’s be honest, nobody likes to admit that their personal life is suffering because of how much they’re working. At the beginning of your career, it can be very tempting to put your foot on the gas pedal. But even if you love your job with all your heart, you need a break,” said Mikey Baybay, who considers herself the jack and jill of all trades because she doesn’t back down in new opportunities even if it means learning and training for them first.
3. It’s always better to be a freelancer than to be employed.
MYTH.
“Even during college, I was already doing freelance to sustain my school needs but after graduation, I really preferred to work in the corporate before going full-time freelancer. This is because in the corporate world, iba yung experience e compared to those na freelance agad. Kapag nasa corporate world ka, you get to experience the feeling of being employed -- you have to commute going to your job, the time constraints, yung feeling na may boss ka. The level of professionalism na makukuha mo sa corporate world will be a great experience when you go to freelancing or magtatayo ka ng sarili mong business,” said John Rufino who is a freelance for 12 years now.
Watch the full episode of the show below.