Freelancing in the UAE and why it is good for you
The bureaucracy that exists in a corporate structure can make or break its workforce. In a rigid organization, some employees feel isolated when expected to conform to company policies, structured workflow, and hierarchy systems. Thus, self-expression and freedom to work unrestrained can evolve from a wish to a need. The nonconformists—or the people who do not accept the concept of corporate bureaucracy—often take a major career shift into the world of freelancing. Conversely, many industries don’t possess a rebellious bent but suit the freelancing model – such as web development, IT, consulting, training, graphic design, photography, and more.
Freelancing or self-employment is indispensable in global markets and across all industries. It is a truly viable source of ongoing income for skilled professionals. In a fast-paced economy like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the rise of freelancers is impacting the future of the workforce, as a win/win for both companies and individuals.
Freelancing can be both a challenging and lucrative career option, not the least, achieving work-life balance to a greater extent.
Three top reasons for freelancing is a popular option in the UAE
- You are your boss
Working without following orders from a superior or relying on less-than-efficient team members is a simple goal. Being a freelancer means that you are only accountable and answerable to yourself (and your clients). Most importantly, being your boss means you make all the decisions on your future – work hours, location, income – absolutely everything. From the rules that work best for you and the level of productivity, you wish to achieve to deciding whom to collaborate with and choosing what type of services you want to pursue.
- Capitalizing on your talents, skills, and strengths
The early phase of freelancing is formidable; that is why you have to start building where your strengths are. Identify your strengths and talents that are marketable and have the potential to solve the problems of future clients. Offer the services where you excel the most and the ones with good market value. Freelancing allows you to follow your passion while capitalizing on your talents to make a living. Therefore, you achieve full ownership of what you produce.
- Flexibility of time
Freelancing gives you the flexibility to work at your own pace. There is no rush hour to beat or a strict work schedule. As a freelancer, you can take advantage of the peak of your productivity level at any time of the day and stop when you need to. You have more time to deal with the other areas of your life such as family and friends. Just make sure you deliver based on timelines supplied to your clients.
In a study released by Expert Market UK, the UAE—ranked fourth after Hong Kong, USA, and South Korea—is among the ten best countries in the world to freelance in. The result was based on the comparison of 57 countries in terms of cost of living, income tax, access to credit, average internet speed, transport networks, free Wi-Fi availability, cost of a coffee, and finally, ease of starting a business.
The measures of the study emphasized a particular point that the UAE government has been focusing on to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country, and that is the ease of starting a business as a freelancer.
Becoming a freelancer in the UAE comes with certain rules and regulations. Since the country is home to expats, investors, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs from around the world, there are a lot of freelancing and startup options, which are made accessible even to foreign investors.
Fujairah Creative City Free Zone is a dynamic hub for freelancers to start a business. You can choose from the hundreds of business activities available in the Free Zone. It also gives your Free Zone license the flexibility to add more activities as your business grows. You can choose a Freelancer License that has an allocation of up to four visas (depending on your requirement) to start your venture. There is also an SME Package which allows up to fifteen visa allocations, giving you the flexibility to hire more people when and as required by your business.
When it comes to securing a Fujairah Creative City Free Zone license, CREATIVE ZONE provides an extensive list of services from business setup to business support services. For almost a decade in the industry, CREATIVE ZONE has been helping freelancers, startups, and SMEs in their pursuits of successful entrepreneurship in the UAE. Moreover, the business supports offered by CREATIVE ZONE give leverage to businesses with prestige and excellent customer service. CREATIVE ZONE publishes packages for freelancers and SMEs at the most reasonable rate every month.