There is currently a lot of freelance work out there and using the example of a Senior Producer who earns £50K could expect £300 – £350 per day as freelancer, you could be better off financially. But here are a couple of things to think about before you make the switch……
– You may need to set up as a Ltd company or work through a PAYE umbrella company such as www.marchmutual.com but there is a monthly charge for this, £50 – £75. You pay slightly less tax if you set up as a Ltd company although you need to meet certain tax legislations to do this. You can offset your day to day expenses against your income to save tax, but with both options you don’t get holiday or sick pay so if you don’t work you don’t get paid.
– If you are on £50K and work for 6 months of the year at £300 per day you would gross £39000. (130 X £300 – there are 260 working days in the year). So provided you find enough work for 9 months a year you’ll be better off.
– It can be a big move to go freelance and you’ll need to be happy being dropped into difficult situations and working with new people.
– The main problem with a freelance career is you put any chance of future prospects on hold as the companies you work for will be investing their time and resources into developing their perm staff. So as a freelancer you’ll stay at roughly the same level.
In short it doesn’t suit everyone but could be a good way to pick the projects you work on + get a pay rise assuming if you think you can find enough work……..
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