No-code: Tailor-made for the Freelancer Way of Life

Freelancing has become a big part of the job market in the last decade. The expansion of the internet infrastructure, introduction of smartphones and 5G network encouraged a new breed of self-reliant professionals. The pandemic also accelerated what was already a fast transformation. It provided a new incentive for many people to pull away from corporate jobs in office buildings and start anew as freelancers.

However, there are two sides to freelancing. For some, it means freedom: Freedom from an office space, fixed working hours, fixed salary etc. For others, it is a true ordeal: Something you just have to put up with when you lose your job and hit rock bottom or something like a life raft you should feel thankful for a chance to hold on to. It can be a struggle haunted by uncertainty and insecurity.

Regardless of whether it involves copy writing, translation or app development, freelancing can be extremely demanding at times—despite the freedom and flexibility it affords freelancers. It is an environment where merit comes to replace seniority and you come to be seen as good as the last project you delivered.

Freelancing opens doors for an app developer, especially one from a non-Western country. It expands your reach like you never thought was possible. If you are venturing into the freelancing world, it is safe to assume that you were a relatively small fish in your pond and have now found a way to venture into the ocean. The upside is more promising in the ocean, but the threats are just as big: More competition from professionals scattered across the world, the continuous presence of someone out there who is ready to do the same job for less than you charge and having to work for much less than you deserve (or even for free) until you get good reviews. You have to come to terms with the reality that you basically start off somewhere around the bottom of the food chain.

Success in freelancing does not happen out of the blue; you have to build it brick by brick. First of all, freelancing is no different than any other business. It involves different tasks such as job search and application, networking, negotiating, project management, accounting, collection of payments etc. Your success depends on your ability to find your way around all these tasks and remain productive at the same time. Delivering on time is the primary criterion a freelancer is evaluated on at the beginning. One of the better pieces of advices for freelancers is summed up by the dictum "underpromise-overdeliver"—offering the best bang for buck and earning goodwill in the eyes of the clients is the shortest way to success for a freelancer. This is where no-code tools come in. These tools significantly reduce app development time, helping developers ship more apps in a shorter period of time. No-code platforms like Peaka and Webflow make it possible for freelancers to over deliver in the UI department, too, offering pixel-perfect designs that can dazzle clients.

Additionally, being a freelancer means that you are deprived of the talent pool and peer review a traditional office environment would offer. There are no colleagues to fall back on when client has demands requiring skills you lack as a developer. That’s why freelancers need all the help they can get, and unlocking a freelancer's full potential as a developer is key. Premium no-code platforms, coming with industry-best practices out-of-the-box, can pick up the slack here and fill in for talents a freelancer does not possess. In that sense, whenever you use a no-code platform, you are actually putting to work the skills of an elite group of developers that created the no-code platform you are using.

Premium no-code platforms may require somewhat of a learning curve. Freelance developers are unique among the customer base of these tools because they have both the skills and the motivation to leverage the capabilities of these tools. Not much can be done about the disadvantages of freelance life—they come with the territory, but no-code tools can at least make it worth your while and help you build a lucrative career out of it.