The Benefits of Freelancing: More Freedom, More Flexibility

Nirosh Ramachandran (00:29): Yeah, for sure. Man, when you tell people you’re working for NetSuite or do NetSuite consulting, you know, it’s like when Chandler Bing was trying to explain his job on Friends, it’s like kind of the same deal. Really hard for people to understand. Um, so I’ve been doing NetSuite for like seven years now. I started off in September of 2013 and uh, at that time I was working at another consulting gig. I was budgeting software, uh, just as sexy as NetSuite, you know what I mean? and, uh, and so I was doing some consulting work, uh, for them for about a year and a half, and I really had no intention of, uh, making a switch or moving. Uh, but one of my colleagues, uh, he was leaving to another company and he told me that he was offered a gig with this other firm, uh, that did NetSuite.

Nirosh Ramachandran (01:20): And, you know, I looked into it without any intention of making any kind of move. Um, but you know, I looked into it. That was really the first time I heard about NetSuite. It turns out it was a ERP. Um, I was kind of doing budgeting software, which is super niche. And just that alone, you know, it’s a bit of a step up, no disrespect to other kind of consulting gigs or consulting opportunities, but thought that moving to the ERP sphere kind of opened the doors for a lot more opportunities, a lot more knowledge, learned a lot more — there’s different aspects of ERP that like, budgeting just alone doesn’t really cover. So I thought it was a bit of a no brainer to kind of move into, um, like a spear such as E R P. And the opportunity was at a really small firm at that time, maybe about 15 people.

Nirosh Ramachandran (02:12): And the interview went really, really good. And I had a good feeling about the organization more so than what I was actually about to be doing. And I just thought that was a really cool fit. And, you know, when it’s a small firm and they kind of want you, that just means that there’s a lot of importance placed in what you’re about to be doing, right? You’ll have more responsibilities, more uh, more things to do. So there’s, there’s a bit of a vote of confidence. Uh, just, just me as a professional in the working, uh, space, right? Working in large organizations kind of, kind of get lost in the, in the organizational structure a bit. So it was been enticing. And honestly, I, I joined just kind of jumped in the deep end there and learned NetSuite and haven’t really looked back.

Angelo Mendoza (02:59): Yeah, yeah. Uh, it sounds kind of similar to what a lot of the freelancers say, especially when it comes to NetSuite, you know, they joined a company and they jumped in and then they just never looked back. You know what I mean? So kudos to you for learning that basically, you know, on the job, you know what I mean? Uh, but you said you started with a small firm, right? And now you are doing consultant work, freelancing work, correct?

Nirosh Ramachandran (03:22): Correct, yeah.

Angelo Mendoza (03:22): Okay. So how exactly did you happen to go into working independently? I mean, again, most people just don’t start out their career or being your freelancer. So what exactly pushed you to go that route?

Nirosh Ramachandran (03:36): Yeah, man, uh, it just kind of felt like I stumbled upon this as well. Um, what I found just working for a small company, uh, I was working for that company for five years and it just felt like after a certain point, a lot of my colleagues, after they’ve reached a certain amount of experience, they’ve left. And they didn’t leave for another firm, they left to be their own, uh, you know, independent consultant slash freelancer. And so I had maybe three or four people before me leave to kind of go this path. And I was always being encouraged by them to, you know, join this path as well. Uh, they’re always pitching the benefits and the advantages of being independent. Um, and it was pretty scary to be honest, right. It’s, it’s hard to like leave a job of guaranteed pay, uh, the comfort that comes with it, especially if you have bills, mortgage, whatever, right. Uh, to kind of go on your own. Um, but you know, I got introduced by old colleague to a partner and, and that’s kind of like, that’s kind of how it all started and it’s probably one of the best things that has happened to me. Um, just could not believe what being independent consultant kind of opens up the doors that opens up, the opportunities. And it’s been just amazing. Both professionally and personally.

Angelo Mendoza (04:58): Mm-hmm mm-hmm yeah, that’s definitely understandable. Um, I do wanna get into what other people were telling you about the benefits of freelancing and especially how it kind of relates to you personally. I mean, what do you feel are the biggest benefits of freelancing in terms of what you do?

Nirosh Ramachandran (05:19): Um, yeah, man, uh, for sure there’s plenty of benefits. Uh, the flexibility comes to mind, right? Just, uh, the ability to kind of, uh, work your own hours, uh, picking and choosing opportunities. Uh, and this is, you know, seeing that there’s a lot of opportunities, which is obviously to be in a great position. That’s, that’s a good thing. Um, the autonomy of doing a task, um, but just wanna go back to flexibility, like just having flexibility, um, is like, like it’s one word, but like that’s like…the magnitude of that benefit is just through the roof. It’s hard to really explain, um, like just list out a bunch of things. So it’s really flexibility just opens up so many other benefits or, and so many other positives. Uh, the ability to, um, you know, start your day at 7:00 AM if need be, or end your day at midnight, you know, without really having to worry about a commute without having to worry about, you know, that 9-5 grind, uh, without having to worry about appointments or anything like that.

Nirosh Ramachandran (06:25): It’s, it’s the flexibility of that and how that also allows me kind of bounce on my personal life, right? Um, it’s like last year, for instance, or the year before, uh, when I started this in 2018, uh, I was in the midst of wedding planning, right. And that’s, you know, massively stressful, uh, a lot of things flying at you last minute. And just to be able to kind of put things on pause or just, you know, being able to adjust on the fly was fantastic. And then earlier this year I was, uh, bought a house and renovating it. And I was, I was also just more stressed; again, just being able to balance things is, is just, it’s, it’s a benefit that’s it comes with so much more opportunities and so many more, uh, paths and things that like, it’s hard to really say, “Hey, this is what tangibly it can do.” It’s just examples, like can provide of like what the flexibility has done for me.