GIG Talks pt. 4 - Redirecting activities?

For our freelancers, the most pressing question during this period has undoubtedly been, "Should I redirect my activities or not?" Not a simple question. On the one hand, freelancers are characterized by their flexibility and speed of change. On the other hand, it is precisely the extensive expertise that distinguishes them so much and is difficult for them to part with. Redirecting activities is therefore not an easy task. We read in the news that a lot of employees can and do do do this. In the event sector, for example, we see a lot of employees who temporarily work in the healthcare sector. How did our freelancers deal with this matter? Find out in the 4th episode of the GiG Talks.

A lot of freelancers changed tack and juggled their business model. There is no doubt that creativity is key. Without immediately changing course, a lot has changed among the freelancers around the table. Caroline shifted the focus from fairs to administration. It already formed a very small part of her business but she has now switched 100% to freelance administrative support for entrepreneurs. "In addition, I've mostly taken the time to work things out for the future," Caroline said.

For Thibault and Kora, their broad employability comes in handy. Kora: "I have a generalist profile and that is a big advantage for me in this period. Freelancers with a narrow specialization can have a harder time. I can easily switch between a wide range of HR tasks and am therefore widely employable. That does play to my advantage in this period, I notice." "I also remain broad in my activities," says Thibault. "My expertise extends from marketing to IT. And that turns out to be an interesting combination. My situation would be different should I, for example, be purely engaged in paid advertising. The crucial thing, though, is to be flexible."

For Kurt, reinventing yourself is part of life as a freelancer. "I have been working as a freelancer since 2012 and have been reinventing myself for 8 years. Apart from corona, there was a trend anyway where companies want to allocate little time and budget for a substantiated concept in their communication strategy. They target blanks with limited resources and repeat at random. I hope that companies will come to understand again that they will achieve more in the long term with a sustainable campaign lasting several years. Currently, the demand for strategic help with communications has all but disappeared, but in the meantime I have retrained myself in web design and e-commerce."