The definition of a dream job is not what it was a few years ago. Gone are the days when a “dream job” was working in a nice office or a well-established company. Today, the so-called dream job is to freelance. It’s to do one’s own thing and work on one’s own terms.
It’s not surprising then that the Indian workforce is swapping the security of a 9-to-5 job for the flexibility of freelancing. Millennials and Indian workers facing significant lifestyle changes such as motherhood or adapting to newer lifestyle choices like working remotely have started to adopt more flexible and empowering ways to work.
Here are some statistics that paint a clear picture –
- It is predicted that freelancers will contribute to 50% of the nation’s workforce volumes by 2025
- The Indian freelance market size is estimated to touch USD 25 billion by 2025
- 60% of Indian freelancers are under the age of 30 years today
- On average, Indian freelancers work up to almost 40 hours a week; 160 hours a month
- The average income of freelancers across India is Rs 20 lakh per annum; 23% of them make over Rs 40 lakh per annum
However, despite the fast growth and healthy predictions for the future, the reality is that freelancers and individual businesses within this ecosystem are facing numerous challenges.
To find out how much GST is due for your goods or services, simply use Razorpay online GST calculator. You can also use our GST Search tool to check and verify the GST details of any taxpayer or company.
Problems freelancers face
While talking to our existing merchants as well as the potential ones, it came as a surprise to see the kind of hassles these users were facing and the need to build a unique solution for them. Here are the top problems that the individual businesses face on a day-to-day basis:
1. Lack of knowledge around GST
To some, it seems that GST is just for registered businesses but nothing could be farther from the truth. Individual businesses and freelancers also come under GST laws. This raises the demand for freelancers to create GST-compliant invoices.
Freelancers are usually required to raise GST-ready invoices for their customers and their lack of knowledge in creating these invoices becomes a real challenge in the way they accept money.
Related Read: GST For Freelancers: Registration Process, Rates and Calculations
2. Irregular & late payments
For freelancers, payment cycles are always irregular and this can create an unpredictable financial crunch. To make things worse, freelancers often have to deal with late payments and in some rare cases, clients renege on payment commitments. In fact, studies show that 58% of freelancers have experienced not getting paid at all for their work. They end up spending inordinate amounts of time following up with clients for unpaid dues.
3. Inability to showcase their brand
Branding isn’t just for large organizations or registered businesses. Branding is the secret sauce that aids in the success of a business of any size. And for freelancers, this becomes more important than ever.
While most freelancers have a basic social media presence, they lack the technical know-how to be able to amplify their digital brand presence through websites and customized landing pages.
This creates a significant difference in the perceived value that a freelancer brings to the table compared to a registered business.
4. Absence of seamless digital payment solutions
The most common way for freelancers to accept money today is through cash or bank transfers. In both cases, management and reconciliation becomes a big headache, this problem is especially more pronounced for individual businesses that have large customer bases or handle significant volumes. Think of a homepreneur who sells homemade pickles around town – reconciling payments received could take up a significant part of their time, which could be better spent on growing their business.
A holistic solution for freelancers to accept online payments
We are more excited than ever to announce the launch of our much-awaited product – Razorpay for individual Businesses. Whether you are a freelancer, teacher, boutique owner or a professional, now accepting payments is going to be easier than ever. We promise!
Our research of the freelancer universe-spanning our existing customer base, social media and platforms such as Product Hunt has unearthed insights that we have channelled into our new product offering.
Presented below are the key elements of our new product –
1. Payment Links for quicker settlements
- Say hello to accepting payments via WhatsApp, email, Instagram, Facebook, SMS & more
- Send quick payment reminders and accept recurring payments
2. An instant personalised page for better conversions
- Create a storefront with zero-coding and start selling, even if you do not have an app or a website
- Add this Payment Page to your Facebook, Instagram or any other social media page and accept online payments instantly
3. One-stop solution for easy GST-ation
- Just add GST, discounts and shipping details to a single invoice and the calculation will be done automatically for you
- Send these invoices through any channel and get paid via credit/debit cards, netbanking, UPI & wallets
Does this look like a tool designed for you? Sign up today and get started in a matter of minutes.
At Razorpay, all we do leads to a single aim: asking our customers to leave their payment worries to us while they plan and unlock growth for their business. With this launch, we are looking to empower the gig economy to work better, faster and more efficiently.
Freelancing is no cakewalk and we’re here to help you ride over the bumps with ease.
