The state of the economy right now is dire. Nearly everyone has been affected by the cost of living crisis but it’s been particularly hard for freelancers, especially those in the creative industry.
Freelancing is a gamble. You can have one month when you earn five figures and then other months where it’s complete radio silence from companies and brands.
Yes, freelancing comes with the privilege of working for yourself but self-employed creatives are feeling the hard end of the stick when it comes to the cost of living crisis.
Nearly a third of those who are self-employed in the UK are finding it difficult to pay basic expenses, according to The London School of Economics and the Centre for Economic Performance.
78% reporting an increase in their costs over the last year according to a new study by Markel Direct a specialist insurer for the self-employed.
Cat Burchmore a 37-year-old from Maidenhead, Berkshire has found freelancing difficult this year. She owns Orenki Creative, a digital agency, and is seeing how the cost of living crisis is affecting not only herself, but the freelancers she hires.
She set up her business in 2019 but ran it alongside a full-time job at the time. Burchmore was made redundant from her full-time job in 2022 which gave her the opportunity to go full-time with her business.
“With the rising cost of living crisis, our expenses are constantly increasing. Not least, the pay both we as the owners and our team needs to be able to afford to pay the bills and live comfortably,” she says.
Additionally. she’s finding that her customers are more conscious of investing at higher levels as they, too, are conscious of paying the bills. “We often feel stuck between a rock and a hard place of wanting to meet our client’s budgetary demands whilst also receiving enough to cover all our costs and try to make a profit,” she explains.
“Right now, that profit is growing smaller and smaller with increasing costs and it’s becoming very difficult for small businesses like ours,” she says.
She believes there are many misconceptions about running a business and being a freelancer, one being that there are enough resources out there for business owners to manage it all by themselves.
“I don’t know what I would do without my accountant. Especially as a creative, the finances don’t come naturally to me and it’s too easy to make decisions based on how much money is in your bank account instead of taking into account the business as a whole,” she says.
Any freelance creative will tell you that one of the biggest issues with being self-employed is chasing invoices. 30 days is the standard time it takes for most freelancers to get paid. Some companies might pay you before this but for most employees in the creative field, chasing invoices come as part of the job.
22% of freelancers reported a rise in late or non-payments over the last 12 months. Over a quarter (27%) of non-payments were more than £500.
So you can imagine how this can affect self-employed creatives in a cost-of-living crisis. Thubelihle Chance Ntombela who is a 23-year-old freelance writer from South Africa says the current state of the economy has had a significant effect on his mental health.
“Late payments have affected my tertiary education,” Ntombela says.
“I’ve been wanting to further my studies and save money from the freelancing jobs I get. However, when the payments are late, it means I have to dig deep into my savings or loan amounts of money just so I just about cover the bills like electricity and food,” he adds.
The lack of funds Ntombela currently has is starting to affect the relationship he has with friends and family as he is consciously asking his loved one to borrow money.
Ntombela was left waiting on a payment that was two weeks late. After speaking to the editor, she assured him that he would be paid on the same day. Knowing he would receive payment he decided to go to a media launch but as he was about to book his cab home he realised he hadn’t been paid.
“I was left stranded with no place to sleep nor money to go home. My acquaintance had to pay (loan) for my ride,” Ntombela says.
28-year-old Jasmin White who is photographer and videographer based in rural Lincolnshire is having a quite a different experience compared to her creative peers. “I’m having my best business year to date which feels bittersweet as I know so many people in the UK are struggling,” White says.
She’s found that looking for clients who aren’t suffering from the cost of living crisis has enabled he to continue growing her business. This is obviously easier said than done considering most companies are feeling the brunt of the economy.
Additionally, she’s tried to limit her expenses by working from home. “I have a makeshift studio in our living room instead of renting a studio space and I buy all of my camera equipment secondhand,” White explains.
White has also expanded her creative skills and adapted to the changing industry. “I offer video content in addition to photos. When a brand reaches out to ask for my rates I send over a pricing document that contains past work examples, statistics, and packages with add-ons which often leads to securing a higher fee,” White adds.
Though she’s having a successful business year, nothing has changed in regards to her consistently being paid late and having to chase invoices.
“Managing cash flow is hard enough for any business but when you’re self-employed late payments can have a detrimental effect,” White says.
She continues: “If you don’t get paid on time, you might not be able to pay your household bills on time. It’s almost impossible to budget as you just don’t know when your invoices are going to be paid, despite the law stating 30 days.”
Being a freelancer might look like fun but there’s so much effort that goes into it behind the scenes, from chasing invoices and looking for new jobs to being burnout due to clashing deadlines. The cost of living crisis isn’t making this easier. We’re all feeling a little burnt out but for some creatives, the current day-to-day life of a freelancer is proving to be too difficult.