The Issues in Freelance Finances, ft. WorkMade

My career started in the freelancing world — in two very different ways. I started freelancing in college to make more money than my local economy could afford to pay me for work. Then, I quickly found myself building Contra, a startup focused on building freelance tools. I spent the next ~3 years building the internet’s largest freelancing community, running social accounts that were dedicated to teaching business-building tools, and building a product fueled by community needs.

However, the one thing we never touched on or built a tool for was freelance finances. Taxes to be specific.

It was a tricky place to try to build in. If you aren’t a financial product, you typically keep your fingers out of the mess. There are a lot of legal restrictions on the types of advice you can give and terminology you can use. So, this meant the thousands of freelancers we were engaging with couldn’t receive advice about a huge pillar of their freelance careers: MONEY!

Why WorkMade?

Sure, there are tools like Bonsai or Quickbooks to track taxes, but nothing was truly built for a freelancer specifically. And to be frank, nothing was fun to use. This is when I came across WorkMade. They were building a tool that was fresh, fun to use, and run by a small team that was very present (and all ears!). If I have learned anything about freelancers, it’s that they want to focus on their creative — not the business side of things. If people can successfully build a tool that is intuitive and fun to use and helps people save money… well you have a winner!

As of 2022, there are 70.4 million freelancers in the U.S. By 2028, it is estimated that there will be more than 90 million freelancers in the U.S.

For us, this is a tool that was finally offering a solution to 5+ years of the freelancing struggles myself and others have expressed facing. This is what innovation and technology are all about — building tools that will aid in people’s growth and betterment. While a tax tool may not seem like the most interesting topic, it is one that is going to help freelancers save thousands of dollars in taxes.

Learn more about our work with WorkMade here!