Freelancers in any industry have to deal with a lot of problems because of the nature of their work.
A freelancer is a work-from-home contractor who has to manage every aspect of his/her business.
There are a lot of internal and external problems that new freelancers in Pakistan face from lacking the motivation to not getting paid on time to having different working time zones.
In case you are looking to begin a freelancing career, you should keep in mind these obstacles that you will have to navigate.
Different working time zones
The nature of your job might give you the opportunity to connect with employers from around the world, but it certainly gives you the added pressure of dealing with clients who have different working time zones than yours.
This will provide you with plenty of fantastic experiences as you will get an idea of different culture sets around the world but you will also have to compromise on your timings and have better planning to incorporate such clients in your working routine.
Bad pricing
If you are a freelancer in Pakistan, you will find it really difficult to name your price. You will often face this major issue because not many clients will trust you with their orders given the lack of experience. The clients might set outrageously low prices which you will have to accept because you are the one looking to get hired.
Such bad pricing is an indication that the work done by you isn’t being valued and the clients are taking advantage of it. Avoiding such clients would be a smart choice.
Different forms of currencies
If you are a freelancer working for a client outside your country’s vicinity, there is a chance you will be dealing with multiple currencies. In most of the industries including the freelancing world, the widely accepted transaction constant is the U.S. dollar. You can keep an eye on the price of USD as compared to your local currency and exchange when the price is on the higher side.
Shortage of drive and initiative
If you are a new freelancer in Pakistan, you will often start with an inexhaustible enthusiasm and passion just like an overly optimistic entrepreneur. But just like the caffeine’s effect in the morning, the enthusiasm in freelancing wears off even before your goals have been accomplished. Once you feel overwhelmed or hit an unexpected snag, you might begin to wonder why you even started freelancing in the first place.
Unprofessional clients
There are clients who might demand too much work with very little pay in return, or clients who might not pay on time. There are even clients who do not pay at all and vanish until they need more orders completed. These types of clients often influence the freelancers because not getting the reward for their hard work often leaves you with a bitter taste and makes you wonder why do freelancing when the work isn’t being valued?
No global freelance market in Pakistan
A local marketplace plays a key role in building trust and helps you understand the needs of the local residents better. Even though there are many freelancing websites in Pakistan that are local, they still fail to get a lot of projects from outside Pakistan.
While local freelancing websites provide great reliable payment options in Pakistan, they still fail in competing with the global marketplaces when it comes to the volume of projects or the services offered by them.
Lack of proper communication skills
Communication skills are often the primary source of concern for freelancers in Pakistan.
Clients often give regular orders to freelancers they have worked with before. So if you are a freelancer in Pakistan, you will have to woo them and look to get recurring orders.
However, a lot of freelancers in Pakistan fail in this part because of poor communication skills.
For Motivation: Breaking the norm and becoming a successful freelancer in Pakistan
M Tanveer Nandla, the CEO and founder of MWebs is one of the most successful freelancers in Pakistan. Also the founder of Darsaal Pakistan, he is known as the online money-making machine in Pakistan. Recently, he was featured in Pro Pakistani as he managed to make half a million in just 24 hours. Despite all the obstacles, he has proved himself.
