Poverty in India remains a reality. In the Wikipedia entry entitled “Poverty in India” (ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_India), it is documented that in some parts of India such as, Ranchi, Bhopal, Raipur, Patna, Imphal, Itanagar and Guwahati as much as 30% – 40% of the population of those areas live in Poverty.

What exactly does poverty mean? Well, since 1990 the World Bank has defined poverty as when people have a purchasing power of only about $1.25 a day. That is just amazing. When one considers that a typical cup of coffee at a Starbucks in the United States costs approximately $2.10, the thought that perhaps an entire family in India can have the purchasing power of only $1.25 a day is tremendously impacting. If nothing, this tugs at one’s heart.

On IndiaFreelancers.com, the average tech earns as much as $9 dollars an hour. Think of it. In a country where a family in Ranchi, Bhopal, Raipur, Patna, Imphal, Itanagar or Guwahati may be earning only $1.25 a day, IndiaFreelancers.com can give someone in this same country the possibility of earning as much as $9 per hour! In an August 2015 article in the Times of India (http://blog.indiafreelancers.com/category/academics) it was noted that a student at the India Institute of Technology student (IIT) – who has not even yet finished his or her studies – can earn as much as Rs70,000 a month (which is roughly US $1,170 a month) by simply developing only about 3 hours a day on IndiaFreelancers.com to developing software for a start up company abroad. This is nothing short of amazing. A young person who has learned to do tech work and who works just 3 hours a day has the potential to provide a family in India almost 1,000 times the income which is considered a poverty income – and one which many people in various parts of India are suffering through right now.

The government of India is making a noble push to help young Indians to learn tech by helping to ease the severity of the entrance qualifications and requirements for young Indians to enter into one of the branches of IIT. We at IndiaFreelancers.com heartily encourage the government for doing this and encourage the private sector in India to please do all it can to continue to encourage young Indians to pursue a career in the tech industry.

IndiaFreelancers.com encourages young Indians to pursue a career in the tech field. A young Indian living in Ranchi, Bhopal, Raipur, Patna, Imphal, Itanagar or Guwahati – or elsewhere in India – working on IndiaFreelancers.com – or on one of many other platforms which put programmers in touch with employers – can do a lot to help himself or herself and their families.

Ranjiv P for IndiaFreelancers.com

The ability to work as a Freelancer is just that – freedom! You are able to have the freedom to set your own hours, work at your own pace, work as little or as much as you wish. But are you ready? Do you have in place the safety net that is required before you devote yourself entirely to freelancing?

In a recent article in Forbes magazine (September 2014) they have provided a list of what I consider very useful points. Things that every Freelancer should at least consider before taking the plunge and doing Freelancer work full time. I have taken the Forbes list and have added some other points from my personal experience freelancing. The 10 key points to consider before Freelancing are as follows:

1. Portfolio: Create an account on www.IndiaFreelancers.com – the up and coming website for Freelancers. Also make sure to add a picture – or various pictures – to your profile.
2. Bank account: There may be times when you may not have work – make sure you have some cash reserves for any lean times which may come
3. Day Job: Don’t leave your day job until you have tried Freelancing for a while
4. Keep things separate: Create a separate business checking account with your bank – keep your home finances and your business finances separate so you can know what taxes are due where.
5. Health Insurance and Disability Insurance: These are key. Find a reasonable health insurance carrier and start the payments for this. A big illness would wipe out any cash reserves you may have. The same is for disability insurance. If you are in a big car accident and are unable to do any Freelancer work the disability income would support you until you recover.
6. Retirement Plan: Right now you may be 25 years old and retirement seems like a long time away but, believe me, it gets here before you know it. Even if you put away just a small amount of money weekly or monthly, anything is better than having nothing put away for retirement.
7. Tax Planning: Make sure that you know exactly how you will pay your taxes. A common problem among Freelancers is that they do not plan for tax payments and are hit with a large tax bill at the end of the year. As my mom used to say: “Failing to plan is like planning to fail”
8. Advertise for your services: Get the word out about your capabilities and what you can offer to a prospective employer. There is a section at the top of www.IndiaFreelancers.com called “Recommended”. This is an inexpensive way to get the word out about your business offerings. It allows you to put a small advertisement which will give you the ability to get business before others.
9. Do high quality work: An old Chinese saying is that “Reputation is like blood”. If you do good work, soon your name and reputation will precede you. Employers will speak to other employers and soon you will have more work than you expected. Take a look, for example, at the following video on YouTube: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUSb_pKojsk). It exemplifies how a programmer’s company grew because of good word of mouth.
10. Support Networks: Join LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media sites which will help you to create a support network of friends, family and supporters who will help you to get the word out about your services.

Those are the 10 key points. Common sense things which will help launch – and sustain – your Freelancer career. A career which will give you the freedom that comes with Freelancing while also giving you the safety of having a full time job.

Ranjiv P for IndiaFreelancers.com

According to a recent writing in Payscale.com, the average salary for a Software Engineer or a web site developer in India is about Rs 368,064 per year. At today’s exchange rate of approximately Rs 60 for every dollar, that equals a yearly salary of approximately $6,134 dollars. What is more significant is that people who earn this much in a job in India as a Software Engineer or web site developer typically do not have more than 10 years’ experience at their profession.

Someone working as a freelancer on www.IndiaFreelancers.com, however, is able to earn this amount of money i.e. Rs 368,064 or ($6,134 US dollars) in one month, not in a year – since the employers on www.IndiaFreelancers.com pay in dollars. The best part about this is that the employers themselves are getting an excellent return for their expenditures since the programmers and developers in India are excellent. The skills that are highly sought after and the ones associated with the higher pay include Linux and Open Source programming as well as Word Press.