1. There’s not enough business.
Good jobs are scarce for a reason: the economy is not producing good, stable salaries for many types of work. Freelancing instead of working a job does not necessarily change the income generation issue that stems from a sluggish economy. If companies can’t pay employees, chances are, individuals are going to struggle to get paid as freelancers.
2. Not all freelancers or entrepreneurs can afford to be successful business owners.
When you own a business, you must put in unpaid time to design products and services that generate revenue. You must spend unpaid time and sometimes money on marketing and sales. You must weather bad spells, and pay for resources you may need to get things up and running. Surviving the downturns plus the months or even years of having no income while researching, developing and marketing products and services in this economy is all doable for those with enough to live on while it’s happening, or those who still have middle-class incomes. But it can be devastating for those who don’t and who need immediate income for food, housing and transportation.
3. A freelance/entrepreneur economy favors those with family money.
Let’s say you have a great idea for an app and you want to build it. But bills are due, and you must make money to pay them. Depending on how much you make, you might have to work a lot of hours doing whatever you can find in order to do that. So, you try to manage your time well and dig into your idea on your off time. But you find yourself pushed behind by the grind of everyday life: working your paying job(s) during most of your best hours, and doing chores you can’t afford to pay someone to do, like cooking or washing your car during your free time.
4. New grads/people with no experience must compete with those who gained experience before the Recession.
Those who can’t find a job and hope to build an online freelance business will compete with both freelancers and companies who have experience, skills and resources that were gained during better economic times. It’s not an impossible barrier to break through: online learning resources are fairly plentiful depending on what you’re doing, and creative people can find ways to build their offerings.
5. The market may be saturated.
Many freelancers might find themselves competing with tons of other people doing exactly what they want to do online, and face difficulty getting visibility on Google and social media. Again, one can and should try to differentiate oneself to gain a leg up, but figuring this out takes unpaid time.