3 Reasons To Go Freelance As A Project Manager

With their super organisation, great communication skills and general flexible approach to handling multiple projects, project managers provide lots of different support for companies.

Many full-time project managers stay with one company as they’re unaware of the options to freelance but as the demand for project managers has continued to grow over the last two years, more companies are looking to hire freelancers to manage capacity.

If you’re working as a project manager in-house, or have doubts about taking the plunge into running a freelance business, we’ve put together 3 reasons to go freelance as a project manager and share some thoughts from YunoJuno freelancer Sarah Morton.

1. Freedom to choose your projects and clients

First up, one of the key benefits of going freelance as a project manager is the instant choice you gain to choose your own projects (and clients). Many in-house project managers don’t get to choose which projects they manage and organise which can make their daily jobs repetitive and lack change.

Going freelance means you can pursue personal interests instead, choosing to work on projects that interest you as well as play into your strengths! Freelance project managers can juggle more than one client at a time too, meaning their work is more varied and there is more opportunity to gain valuable experience quickly.

The variety of projects and having the freedom to choose them is something Sarah mentioned in her interview with us;

No two days are the same and where you can really learn the brass tacks of project management, from production accounting to delivering varied collateral.

In turn, working with different clients helps project managers develop lots more transferable skills so you could find yourself gravitating into other roles as a natural consequence!

2. Flexible working approach

Another top feature of going freelance is the flexibility and freedom it allows you to enjoy. Whether you need to schedule your day around family care, want to pursue a hobby during the working day or have another part time job, being a freelancer doesn’t confine you to the ‘9-5’ working.

This can also be a negative feature as many freelancers don’t establish the boundaries with their clients and can overwork their hours. Make sure you don’t start responding to client emails at all hours though or expect peers working on the same project to match your hours if you do choose to work all night.

If you’re a night owl or work better earlier on, you’ll be able to schedule your day productively instead. Being transparent with your ways of working is key to ensuring you don’t overwork yourself or create unrealistic expectations with clients who want responses all hours!

Freelancing helps with creating a good work/life balance too which for busy project managers spinning lots of plates can be a big plus.

3. Financial independence

Working as a freelance project manager means you’ll be able to set your day rate and take home all of your earnings (of course, setting aside some for tax!). Having independence on how much your earning potential can be every month is often one of the most appealing aspects of going freelance and can make a big difference.

Running a freelance business of course can have outgoings to consider within your day rate too; travel expenses, ongoing software and even your own training all comes out of your own pocket. This means your earnings need to be able to cover these and more.

According to our annual date from freelancers working on YunoJuno, the average project manager was charging £382 a day, an increase of 19% since 2019. Many of our freelancers charge more as they calculate their day rate based on experience and calibre of clients so the earning potential can be higher.

Going freelance can feel daunting and rather scary but joining a solid network of freelancers like our community at YunoJuno can really help. From offering support, answering questions and helping you navigate client comms, going freelance on YunoJuno is far less scary than going it alone. We’ll provide regular briefs to apply for, manage your timesheets and invoicing and ensure you get paid every 14 days!

Don’t just take our word for it too, join in the conversation over on our Slack channel and hear from freelance project managers.