I have a question about transitioning from full-time employment to freelance work.
I am an illustrator/animator, working full-time for a company as an employee currently.
However, I have been doing small freelance jobs on the side for the duration of that employment (with my employer's knowledge and blessing). I have been feeling more and more dissatisfied with my main job, as it has become less and less creative as time has gone on, and I feel like my skills are not being developed there.
I have been thinking about going freelance full-time for a while now, but nervous and unsure about how and when to do it.
Well, today I was contacted by a company that want to hire me on a freelance basis, to develop some characters and make a series of animations for them. I haven't spoken with them properly yet, but I am a bit unsure about how to navigate this situation.
I've had to turn down bigger freelance projects before, due to not having enough time, and not being sure that they were worth leaving my job for. However, I feel that this could be the job that I'd feel comfortable using to transition to freelance, as it may pay decently and provide at least a few months' work. I am just not sure how to go about bringing it up with my employer, and also how to discuss with the freelance client that I am already employed, and under my current contract have to give a month's notice to my employer.
I'm just wondering: is it usually expected for freelance contractors to start work straight away? Or is it normal that I would tell them I am interested but can't start working on it full-time for a month? I honestly have no idea how these things work.
Also, I am generally curious about how others here have maybe gone through the same situation and wondering about what things you made sure to consider, what pros and cons did you think about, did you wait until you had a certain amount of savings before leaving full-time employment etc? Those sorts of things.
It's a scary time to be making these sorts of decisions given the global situation, but I know that I don't want to stay with this company forever. I also don't want to keep experiencing that harrowing feeling in the pit of my stomach if I have to continue turning down jobs that I would actually be passionate about, just to feel a sense of security at a job I don't really enjoy.
Thank you very much to anyone who might have some thoughts 🙂
