Today, I will tell you why I am a big advocate of freelancing and economic independence.
I am from a very humble background. In 1991, at the peak of the recession, my parents were living in a 150 sq ft one-room government flat with two toddlers. I was three, my sister was just a year old.
Very soon, we were unable to pay for electricity and the line was disconnected. There was often not enough to eat, and though my mother tried her hardest to get a job so she could support my father’s meagre income, it took many years before she found one.
I decided as a child that I would not suffer like my parents. I studied hard because I was told that was the best way to escape poverty. I topped the national law entrance exam and got into a top law college – NUJS. I had heard graduates from the college joined top law firms and were paid as much as INR 1 lakh per month.
My parents could not afford the fees, but I got an education loan. And then, my dream turned into a nightmare. At the end of the first year, the college nearly doubled the fees overnight, from INR 67,000 to 1.37 lakh per year.
The bank refused to increase the loan amount without collateral, and we had nothing. I realised my loan would run out in my third year, and if I couldn’t start earning myself, I would not be able to complete my education.
In my second year, I started to earn through freelance work. At first, I worked for CLAT coaching. Later, I worked as a ghostwriter. I also began getting work from some startups in Kolkata.
Initially, I worked alone, but I soon had a team of 20 other law students working with me. In our fourth year, Abhyuday Agarwal (COO, LawSikho) and I launched a legal risk management consulting firm.
Things grew in leaps and bounds. As a third-fourth year law student back in 2009-10, my average monthly income was INR 80,000 per month.
That changed my life. I paid income tax, I paid my college fees myself. I could buy the books and software I needed, I could afford to take on internships in other big cities, and I even went to Hong Kong and the UK.
Then contract drafting happened
The pattern repeated itself when I wanted to quit my law firm job. It was a top law firm, but I did not like the job at all. It was freelance work that gave me the confidence to quit.
For example, a Japanese gaming company came to me for some research and paid INR 1.7 lakh to me and Abhyuday for their India entry advice. This happened because I had worked in corporate law and was the owner of the iPleaders blog, which was already thriving.
They wanted to know how they could enter the Indian market, how to navigate the FDI laws, how they could invest here and so on.
This is what happens when you become a professional who can find his or her own work as a freelancer. You can just go out, pick up some work from your network, and make money.
Just after I quit the law firm, an entrepreneur friend began raising money from a famous investor. I asked two friends for help in drafting a shareholders agreement as I had neither the time nor the full set of skills at the time.
We were paid INR 1.2 lakh for the work, of which I got 25 percent as per my share. Not bad at all when every rupee counted.
After quitting, I began drafting one contract every week, which would take care of my living expenses not only in Kolkata, but also when I later moved to Mumbai.
My parents and teachers had told me that doing well in class and in my exams would help me escape poverty. In reality, it was freelancing and contract drafting which did that for me.
It is one thing to know the work, another to know how to go out there and find work. I want our learners to learn both, not just one. And our upcoming free online bootcamp is designed accordingly.
When our learners message me even with a small success story, I celebrate, because I know what it means. I have been there. I have felt it.
When she sent me the above message, Vaishnavi Shrivastava was still new to the freelancing arena. She currently specialises in international IP and trademark matters, and regularly drafts and reviews contracts. I have linked her Upwork profile here, so that you can see for yourself that she has already crossed USD 8,500 (nearly INR 7 lakh) in earnings from the equivalent of less than two months of work.
Here is a screenshot from one more learner, he discovered financial freedom through LawSikho as well.
So today, I want you to think ahead. The valuable skills you learn at our bootcamp will not just help you earn money but also secure jobs, negotiate salaries, and get what you deserve, anywhere, anytime.
You can encash this cheque whenever you need. All you have to do is learn how to do the work, and then build a track record and a professional network that is aware of this track record.
Ready to learn how to make that happen?
Ready to go out and do what hundreds of our learners are doing?
Ready to begin your international contract drafting journey?
Attend all three days of our FREE, LIVE, online bootcamp on ‘International opportunities in contract drafting’ from May 6-8, 6.00-9.00 pm IST daily.
Right now, set an alarm on Saturday, Sunday and Monday at 5.55 pm each day on your phone so that you do not miss this bootcamp. Block till 9.30 pm each day on your calendar. And make sure you do not miss even one minute of this precious bootcamp.
It will be a life changing influence on your career.
And I am confident that I will receive messages like the one I have posted here today from many more of you!
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