The Triumphs and Trials of Freelancing Abroad
Posted on Apr 14, 2011 in Freelance Life, Guest Posts | 9 comments
Freelancing abroad is a dream come true for a lot of people. You’re living in a foreign country, working for yourself, exploring an entirely new culture, customs and language – all while working for yourself! But what most people don’t realize is that as awesome as it is to freelance abroad, it’s also very challenging. Some of the things that effect my freelancing from UAE are:
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Time difference
I’m 8 hours ahead of US & Canada and 6 hours behind Australia. That’s where the bulk of my clients are. So what this means for my freelancing business is that I need to submit the work a day earlier to my Australian clients. It also means I can submit the work as late as 1:00 a.m. to my US clients if I’m running late on a project.
It’s fun in the beginning but then keeping track of all the deadlines becomes a nightmare. I have about 3 clocks set in different time zones on my computer. In the end, to remove all the confusion, I started submitting my work a day earlier.
Another challenge regarding time zone differences are client calls. Scheduling a call with a client can take as long as a week. After a few frustrating times of not being able to connect with a client on time, I now simply send a ‘Because of the time difference between us I’m available on such and such time’ and include a list of 3-5 possible call timings that suit me. This has saved me a lot of emailing and confusion.
Early Weekend
The weekend in UAE is Friday & Saturday because of the Friday afternoon prayer, which is a big deal in Muslim countries. So every Thursday while the rest of you still have one day till your weekend, mine starts as soon as it’s 5 pm here. Unfortunately, what this means is that even though I’m not working on a Friday, I have to keep an eye on my inbox to reply to any client emails and as a result have to work too.
My workaround to that is simple. I schedule all my deadlines for Wednesday and take a half day off. I submit all my work due that week and head out. Once I’m back after a few hours, I check my email, take note of the feedback received from my clients and put them on my to do list for Thursday.
The best part about the early weekend is the working Sunday. Since Sunday is the first working day here, I put in a full day of work and by the time the rest of the world gets done with their weekend, I’ve already put a dent in my workload for the week. This arrangement has worked wonders for my productivity and deadlines.
PayPal
PayPal plays a big part in our freelance writing business. But when you live in a country that’s not in Europe or North America then there’s a high chance that PayPal might not allow withdrawals to your local bank. This is the biggest problem I’ve faced as a freelancer working abroad. Clients in different countries prefer to use PayPal. I quickly realized that saying no to PayPal payments was losing me business.
My PayPal account is now used for paying bills, shopping and several other recurring charges of internet services I’ve subscribed to.An alternate to PayPal is Western Union. I clients if they’re open to sending payments via Western Union. If not, PayPal it is. For local clients, I always ask for a bank deposit. I never accept checks since a bounced check has harsh penalties here and I don’t want to ruin a business relationship by landing a client in trouble – even if it’s through no fault of mine!
Currency exchange rate
The absolute best part about freelancing abroad is the difference in currency rates. $1 = Dhs (Dirham) 3.66 in UAE. So for every $100 I earn, I’m actually getting Dhs 366.
This means I don’t have to earn as much as a freelancer living in the US to be called successful. If I’m earning $3k per month as a freelancer, that’s around Dhs 11k in UAE.
Does this mean I should charge less for my services? Definitely not! Where a freelancer lives has no bearing on what he or she charges. Just because the exchange rate is in your favour where you live, it doesn’t mean that the cost of living is cheap. So even if you’re earning more in local currency than in dollars, you might still just be breaking even.
9 Comments
Princess, thanks for letting me guest post. I had a blast writing it
One thing anyone who’s considering freelancing abroad should keep in mind is that there’s always a way around the problems you might face.
You won’t be the only one facing then – locals will have the same problems running their online business as well. So do your research and find out how they get around the obstacles.
Samar, you’re always welcome. And thanks so much for giving us an inside look. Because I would have never thought to consider any of these things.
RT @iampsjones: Today on Diary of a Mad Freelancer, @samarowais talks about life as a freelancer working from the UAE http://bit.ly/gKbJU5
The Triumphs and Trials of Freelancing Abroad http://t.co/dJ8ANGK via @iampsjones
What a neat glimpse into your life, Samar! You’re dealing with quite a number of issues we stateside freelancers take for granted. Thanks for the lesson.
You’re welcome. The perks more than make up for the issues. One thing I forgot to mention in my post is that UAE is a tax free country so every penny I make is mine to keep
Samar recently posted..7 Invoicing Mistakes That Are Keeping You From Getting Paid
Ooooooooh! That’s a big perk!
Samar, this is EXACTLY what I needed to read right now. I’m getting ready to move to Ireland and have just started as a freelancer. I’ve mentioned possibly opening a business account with a US bank, but in light of my European move, would you recommend a pay pal/Western Union account instead?
Any individual or small business owner that has administrative tasks can benefit from our service. .We use time tracking software that allows us to punch in when we start a task and punch out when we complete it or need to step away from our desk. You can rest assure that you will only be charged for work performed and not a minute more..