When you run your own business, you may have come across customers asking for a discount, and it’s becoming increasingly common for freelancers and entrepreneurs to be asked to take on jobs for free.

There’s plenty of reasons why a freelancer or entrepreneur may choose to take on work for free. But there’s also just as many reasons why they shouldn’t. Here’s some things to consider whether working for free is worth it.

𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝?

Agreeing to work for free could give you the change to gain some valuable experience in a new area or hone a specific skill. But even if you’re not that experienced, at some point you should be compensated for your time, skills and effort. If someone is asking you to do work for them it’s because they’ve seen (and are impressed by) your work! Don’t let potential clients take advantage just because you’re new. Remember, we all have to start somewhere!

𝐆𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞?

Some clients may offer to share your work on their social media platforms or their website promoting your business. The reason being that this could help you grow your business and reach potential clients. But the value of ‘exposure’ is very hard to measure. Ask yourself whether what the client offers you, you can’t do yourself. Even if they have a huge following, their target audience may not be similar to yours so the ‘exposure’ sadly won’t translate to sales.

𝐔𝐧𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞?

So many requests for free work start with a promise of ‘we’ll pay you next time’. But ask yourself, if a client is unwilling to pay the first time, will this change in future? Then also think about whether this will set an unwanted precedent. Will they expect you to work for free again? And what about if other potential clients hear about it and expect the same arrangement?

𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 – 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞?

Here comes the clencher. You may feel obligated to do unpaid work for friends or to offer time to clients who couldn’t afford it otherwise. Try to remember that work that’s free for a client is NEVER free for you! All businesses incur costs, so you have to make sure that your unpaid work doesn’t leave you out of pocket and that you can still cover expenses. And if you don’t need materials or supplies to get a job done, your time is still valuable! When you do jobs for free, it will take up time that you could have spent on jobs that actually pay.

𝘐𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨…

The benefits for customers who get work for free is pretty obvious. But for the entrepreneur there’s no guarantee that unpaid jobs will pay off. Entrepreneurs start their business out of a love of their work, but we all know and understand that in order to stay in business, it needs to be financially feasible.

When you decide whether to take on unpaid work, it’s important that your decision is an informed one and guided by the impact it can have on your business. Agree to do the odd unpaid job if you genuinely think it adds value to your business. But never, ever feel guilty for saying NO!

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