The Netherlands has about one million self-employed persons. Every year a huge number of freelancers are added. Of all those self-employed persons who were registered with the Chamber of Commerce at the beginning of 2016, a percentage of 38% is female. So that's 380,000 women who are working independently, running their own business. I am one of those 380,000 women 😉 . Becoming self-employed since early 2016. I haven't regretted it for a second.
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When I was told in mid-2015 that I was going to lose my job, my world was turned upside down. I was just a few months pregnant and had also just bought a house with my husband that still needed to be completely renovated. Losing your job at such a moment is like a slap in the face and it took a lot of pleasure from my pregnancy because I was worried.
My daughter was born in July 2015. After my pregnancy I was still entitled to my maternity leave and then to unemployment benefits for a while. That time gave me a welcome respite to first of all really enjoy the first time with my daughter. But also to put things in order. Because what exactly did I want to do?
I've been fanatically applying for a job for a while, but I didn't really get a jitters with any vacancy. I did get butterflies in my stomach at the thought of maybe starting my own business. When I kept getting no job, but a few small assignments here and there, I decided to take the plunge. Supported in my decision by my husband, I registered myself with the Chamber of Commerce on January 1, accompanied by my family and opened a business account. Becoming a freelancer became being a freelancer 😉 .
We are now about eight months further and although I know that this is really not yet a time to take stock and see whether your company will be a success or not, I consider myself lucky with the step I consider put it months ago. Since the beginning of January I only do things that make me really happy! Every hour I spend on my business is an hour I enjoy. I get quite a bit of energy from it. That has been different!
You often hear a lot of misery about the existence of the self-employed. Self-employed people are often underpaid, spend a lot of time on activities that do not yield any money and so on. Yet many self-employed people would never want to give up their free existence to start working for a boss again. Never say never, but I truly believe that that applies to me too.
Below are a number of reasons why self-employed people no longer want to hand in their 'existence':
Funny to see that earning more is definitely not the number one priority. It can be a pleasant side effect if you have a successful company, of course, but this is certainly not the starting point for freelancers.
With regard to freedom, which is definitely number 1, it is nice to mention that people really want to become self-employed because they can decide for themselves what they do and when, but that they almost never use it. In fact, many freelancers work much more within their own company than they worked hours for the boss 😉 .
Tell me, are there more freelancers among the Mamsatwork.nl readers? We would love it if you tell us more about your existence as a freelancer below!
tip:Are you thinking about becoming a freelancer, but are you wondering what is coming your way? The self-employed guide is recommended by various people, who knows, maybe it's something for you too!
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