The autonomy of freelancing is its greatest appeal: report
One in every four freelancer is from India while 50% of software freelancers are from India, according to PayPal, global leader in digital payments.
The payments company released a report titled Insights into the freelancers ecosystem, sharing an overview on India’s freelancer landscape. The report highlights the strong growth prospects of the sector and challenges of the freelancers in India. The study, conducted with 500 Indian freelancers in their local languages, highlights that most Indian freelancers are under the age of 40 and are predominantly mostly men. Web and mobile development, web designing, internet research and data entry are the key focus areas for Indian freelancers while some of them are also engaged in accounting, graphic design and consultancy.
Of the surveyed freelancers, 41% have witnessed very fast growth in the past 12 months, with 80% of them working with international as well as domestic clients. A significant amount of work for Indian freelancers comes from Australia, US and UK. Fifteen projects and 13 retainer clients annually gives this segment income stability and security. Most Indian freelancers earn an average of INR 20 lakh annually.
Interestingly, 82% of freelancers in India are men while 48% women are considering freelancing. Narsi Subramanian, Director Growth, PayPal India, said: ‘India is today the largest freelancer market in the world and poised for growth.
Receiving payments in a timely, safe and secure manner is one of the key concerns for this community.
At PayPal, we work closely with freelancers enabling them to leverage the opportunity in India and across the globe.”
PROCESSING PAYMENTS PayPal is among the most popular payment methods for international payments. Increasingly, risk and security are the most important aspects for freelancers as they accept payments from across the world, followed by a shorter time taken by payment methods to process payments. Another key challenge faced by freelancers is that of invoicing – most freelancers currently invoice through freelancer platforms, create an invoice manually or just share details over email.
MONEY MANAGEMENT AND FREELANCERS
Close to 61% of the surveyed freelancers have not been paid at least once through their career. Further, many freelancers receive payments only after 2-4 weeks of invoicing, thereby creating a gap in flow of capital. To overcome this challenge, freelancers provide discounts for early and charge for late payments.
According to the report, most took to freelancing after having heard about it from friends, family, social media and freelancing platforms. The autonomy of freelancing is its greatest appeal and being their own boss, choosing the work they enjoy and earning more income are the most attractive aspects to freelancers. On the flip side, irregular income is a key issue with freelancing while difficult clients and competition for work are also concerns for many.
Almost all freelancers are keen to receive support and information about freelancing. Freelancers feel that they need external support in aspects such as setting up their own website, finding and retaining clients, fee and negotiation advice, protection and insurance.
Those surveyed also said that they are keen to learn new skills, set up a website and receive advice on the fees they should be charging. In other findings,current freelancers spend most on computing and travel.The average annual spend on freelancer platforms and banking/currency fees is around $100.
Security is key issue when freelancers decide how to accept payment. Receiving payment quickly is an important secondary factor, followed by a trusted brand, ease of use and good customer service.
41% of Indian freelancers have witnessed very fast growth in the past 12 months, with 80% of them working with international as well as domestic clients.