Justin Small, Founder of The Future Strategy Club, discusses the importance of freelance talent post-COVID.
This week is Global Entrepreneur Week, designed to celebrate business-minded individuals embracing their own talents. Although the business landscape looks very different this year, there is still room for ambitious people to start their own business, or even make use of their own skills to launch a freelance career.
In the wake of schemes, such as the furlough scheme launched by the Government and expected to last until March 2021, there may be many workers who feel that their skills are not being put to good use, or that their career development is stagnated. For individuals who are on this scheme, but are hoping to develop their skills still, freelancing during this period may be one solution. The Future Strategy Club are a new type of umbrella or co-agency, who work with freelancers while honing their skills and offering Learning and Development support.
The rise of co-agencies, such as The Future Strategy Club, has been prevalent during the lockdown period as an increasing number of workers turn their hand to freelance work as a source of extra income, or as a new career move in this Global Entrepreneurship Week.
In post-COVID times, the importance of short-term, freelance talent cannot be underestimated. 29% of business leaders have already streamlined their teams during the pandemic, and may be looking for talented individuals to help get projects off the ground as business begins to pick up once more.
Justin Small, Founder of The Future Strategy Club, discusses the importance of freelancers post-COVID:
“I see a growth of entrepreneurs over the few years or so, whether in a contractor, freelancing or product-focused SME capacity, because the PAYE paycheck may not be the most reliable constant in life planning any longer. Instead, the skills and the experience accrued over decades in professional environments will be invaluable to many businesses trying to adapt to the new normal.
At The Future Strategy Club, we work with a body of these experienced individuals who now have circa 15 years worth of skills to tap in to, having weathered the 2008 crisis and now COVID-19. Now, with kids and mortgages in tow, stepping back onto an upwards facing career ladder is not on the agenda. For the majority of these entrepreneurial self-starters, they see the COVID-19 period as an opportunity to work for themselves, choose their own working environment and gain true security from their own knowledge and skillset. Freelancing and running their own company enables growth and purpose, leading to the freedom of self-reliance. If COVID-19 has shown us anything, it is that this self-reliance is ultimately the only security we can rely on in the end. I believe COVID-19 will be the catalyst for a massive amount of 40+ talent to change careers, and finally put their business ideas into action.”
