5 Problems Freelancers Face While Working With Clients Across Borders

Freelancing is a perfect way to be your own boss with nobody dictating you around and telling you what to do. There are more than a billion freelancers in the world today, which indicates that this is the field to be in.

Changing economic situations and the COVID-19 pandemic pushed many youngsters to become freelancers. The field has been popular for quite some time now, but the pandemic forced all of humanity to stay indoors. During this time, millions of people lost their jobs and livelihoods; in this case, freelancing platforms proved to be a great option to earn.

The best thing about freelancing is that you don’t have to go anywhere and can carry out work from the comfort of your house. This is enough to entice people to become a freelancer. Many people with stable jobs also freelance part-time for some extra cash.

Freelancing is exceptionally fruitful; however, a few concerning issues arise when working with clients from different parts of the world. International clients prefer hiring freelancers from other countries because the exchange rates are comparatively much more economical for them.

Having clients from across the border is a wonderful feeling because you are essentially getting a decent amount of money, but this awesomeness comes with a few limitations. Let’s look at what are some of the problems faced by freelancers with international clients.

1. Language Barrier

The biggest problem that arises while working with clients from other parts of the world is the language barrier. Clients speak a different language, and some of them are not as fluent in English as others.

Sometimes this causes a lot of problems because understanding what the other person wants becomes difficult. Due to this issue, it sometimes takes a considerable amount of time to be clear about everything. This also develops a sense of irritation among both parties and the chances of losing the business increase.

What a freelancer should do in this situation is to ask all the questions as simply as possible. The skill of understanding what a client wants develops over time and with experience. So, hang in there.

2. Communication Gap

The communication gap is another factor that creates problems for the freelancer and the client. In a physical setting or a job environment, the person asking us to do a task is near us and can guide us if they want things to be a certain way.

With the language barrier already in play, not being at the same place brings out the communication gap. This results in more revisions and consumes a good chunk of time that might affect the task completion for other clients.

When the freelancer thinks they are all done and submit their work, the client informs them about the things that need to be done differently, and they might have to start working on the project all over again.

The best thing to do is gather all the minute details about the project before working on it to avoid future mishaps.

3. Payment Issues

One of the biggest problems is getting paid as a freelancer. Freelancers begin their careers with freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr. Once they are experienced enough and have gained stable clients, they try to take up the clients personally out of the freelancing platforms.

The thing about freelance platforms is that they charge a fee for bringing the clients and freelancers together. This fee depends upon the payment you are receiving, and as the payments grow, the fees increase as well. People don’t want that and move outside of the platforms. This creates payment issues because of the country differences.

4. Tax Issues

Taxes are not fun, but they are essential. In addition to your country’s taxes, there might be tax implications of the country your client is from.

You have to figure out all the taxes before getting your hopes high and later get disappointed. We suggest you get some professional advice regarding the taxation process and begin your projects with foreign clients.

5. Time Difference

Time is another concern for freelancers. Clients from across the borders have different time zones than freelancers, which can be a major inconvenience. Because of this reason, the responses can get delayed and limit your work. Getting a quick response for something important related to the task will become a hassle because of the time zones.

The same goes for the client; they will have to wait a long time if they want to get in touch with you regarding a few chances.

If you want to work with foreign clients, you either have to adjust to the different time zones by changing your working hours or communicate everything before starting the projects together.

Although there are a few complications in the freelancing world with all its advantages, you can ignore the issues. You can work around the problems and solve them, not get too flustered, and be patient.