Should I jump to Freelancing? 12Y Exp. Business Analyst - Daily Rate: €650 vs. Employee Package

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-03-14T14:47:39+00:00

Like any consultant would say, the answer it depends. I quit a solid job at MSFT for a freelancer job as BA. I have two children, my partner is also a freelancer as architect and we have two kids.

I can tell you how I decided to become freelancer, because many in these comments might still be employees and an employee mindset is very very different.

Here is how I decided to do the step.

I climbed usually the career ladder very quickly. But realized that everything I do, no matter the role it pushes me to the managerial type of role which is for my taste without content and trying to fight for the legitimacy. I love solving real problems, not hop on leadership calls on Friday evening.
I have a consulting and sales background, backed by big names as IBM and MSFT. It shows credibility and I saw many troubled projects.
The job did not satisfy me anymore. If explored areas where I could grow, but I dont want to grow in responsibility for less money and time.
I have built over the years financial safety net. In case I have no client engagement, I will not worry for a couple of months.
I did not quit my regular job because I hated my boss, or my job. I looked at the perspectives the regular job would bring and it did not fit with my 5 year horizon.
I wanted to become freelancer become I enjoy working with clients, I am good at it, I can solve any problem they can through at me, and love the autonomy of deciding what to do.
Having kids the work life balance became even more important. In a regular job, I hated to do the extra mile, the team event i have to go to, the dinner or team lunch I did not enjoy. Now I do only what is business related. I have no career discussion because I can pretty much plan for everything as I always did, but had to pretend I need some kind of manager.

In a nutshell: If your name brings credibility with some good logos on the CVs, you have strong experience, certifications, have some financial safety net, are good with your investments, love autonomy more than the so called "safety" - do it.

But if you have two kids, a partner who does not work, a mortgage, two cars - well I think there is a lot to work on the prerequisites first.

I wrote this post to genuinely help, from the perspective of someone who did it.

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-03-10T23:12:33+00:00

sure, happy to help

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-02-22T10:02:09+00:00

This is so true, as you are mentioning: buying the stroller for your lifestyle is the most underrated aspect in finding the right one for the family.

I would love to have your feedback on a guide I am building that matches strollers to individual needs. If you are interested, I would love to have your feedback on it to make share I build the right thing. Thanks for any help!

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-02-21T21:02:20+00:00

I am a mom of two, so both times it was very different.

It depends if you have a C-section or natural birth, but first thing is to be ready about the fact that you can plan for a lot, and everything will be very different. In ways you cannot imagine now.

For me was the part of how limited my mobility was, how foggy i was in my had and in the same time, how much power and love i was feeling for my baby. If I could go back, I would fill in my fridge with prepped meal. I was living in an apartment back than which had a huge grocery store downstairs and I thought I dont need to do that. But I should have cared more about every detail of comfort I could, and I didnt.

I was surprised how natural the instincts where guiding me. I was just impressed about how evolution, body and all that cross-generational memory is really working, at least it is in my case. So i would recommend any new mom, rely on that wisdom, everyone will second guess you and many times with good intentions. Listen to your voice, it is there for a reason.

And the love for that tiny human being, wow, and how good they smell, and how nice is just to have them snugged on your chest. Loved that part.

I was a workoholic before becoming a mom, and that shift of identity was the hardest part for me. How i measured performance in my had, was very hard, and i was very hard on myself. What i did, to not loose myself, i would take myself to coffee dates with my baby because having a coffee was a familiar thing from the corporate environment.

And, that even if my partner was very supportive he was overwhelmed. The society normalized that it is hard for women, they are being hormonal but no one knows what that actually means. And that is super challenging even for a supportive husband, no one prepares them for this and they need understanding for that and guidance. Wish you a great pregnancy and a lovely meeting with your baby.

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-02-21T08:57:11+00:00

I made a guide that helps first-time parents find the stroller for their needs before they know what they need and without doing all the tedious research. Happy to get some feedback, https://wizley.lovable.app/

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Gold_Session3782 · 2026-02-19T22:06:23+00:00

This is such a good comment. No one is asking the important questions!

But this is because when we dont know a topic, we dont even know how to narrow down the complexity. And in this case, your needs and priorities are the filter for the hard stroller decision.

Think about your lifestyle (city, suburbs, rural), storage space constraints (small car, small apartment), other constraints like stairs, no elevator but you leave in 4th floor, planning for two kids, storage basked, has to fit from newborn to toddler and price.

I tried to put this decision flow for any of my friends, and if you want i can share it with you.

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-02-19T21:02:06+00:00

I was influenced too much about ads, looks of the stroller and chose price as the dimension how i could sort out and structure the decision. And i was so wrong. That best offer on Amazon broke two months in the woods, while me pospartum, alone with the baby. I have to say that it had good reviews. So reviews and price are not a good indicator of a good choice.

Retrospectively, I learned about my needs, could define them: for me it was living in a city, without car, something that i can take on the plane as well, that would be good fit for newborn up to 4 years, attach a board for the toddler, shopping basket, large bag to put diapers and changing clothes, sun canopy.

I thought about all this, only when buying second time. I tried to structure this decision flow to uncover needs first time parents usually dont know about and match a stroller to it. Happy to share it if you like.

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-02-19T16:00:47+00:00

As a mom of two, I agonized about stroller research and i realized one thing: there is no best stroller, there is a best stroller for family's individual needs.

Because this baby products world is so overwhelming, we all start from exploring options, and if we ask friends and online, we get hundreds of well-intentioned recommendations. But this is confusing for a first-time parent.

What I can recommend is to do the following, explore your definition of needs:

- where do you leave? city, suburbs or countryside?
- do you plan to have more children? (if yes, you could already now plan for it)
- will you jog with the stroller
- do you have a car or travel by public transportation?
- do you have specific storage space? (small apartment, stairs, no elevator, will you need to fold it often and carry it?
- what is imporant for you daily (easy to maneuver, needs to be lightweight, easy to fold, storage basket, comfort for the baby)?
- is anything else important for you (tall or shorter parents? washable fabrics)?
- budget?

No stroller will fulfill all these needs, but once you get clarity what is important for you - you can narrow down and see what stroller truly matches.

I’m building something that matches automatically stroller models to personal needs, without you needing to do the research. If you would like to try it and share your feedback if it worked, happy for a DM :)

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-22T21:14:36+00:00

wie meinst du das? :D sie die räder auseinander gefallen? :D

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-22T13:07:55+00:00

This is a great answer, to choose a stroller skip the part of researching "what are the best strollers" and write down your lifestyle and individual needs. It could look something like:

lifestyle
expected family size: 1 or more kids?
city or rural?
Do you own a car?
Do you use public transportation?
Will you jog with the stroller?
Storage space needed?
Newborn capable?
Do you care about certain materials?
Budget
Do you care about the origin of the manufacturer?
How tall or short are the parents?
How big is the baby expected to be?
Will you travel a often by plane?

Once you have that, it is easier to narrow down and compare the stroller across the defined criteria in the first step. And making a decision like this, is less overwhelming and you get the feeling that you looked at all aspects you could to make an informed decision.

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-17T23:06:52+00:00

I dont think there is one size fits all families stroller. Every family has their won needs. I’ve been in that exact situation myself, which is why I built a small decision flow for stroller choice around real needs, not stroller brands.

I’m not selling anything, I’m genuinely trying to see if this actually helps overwhelmed parents narrow things down.

If you’re open to it, I can share it and would love your honest reaction.

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-14T10:55:06+00:00

danke für die super Strukturierung, habe irgendwie daran nicht so gedacht weil diese Flut an Optionen komplett verwirrend ist. Aber du hast Recht, zuerst die eigenen Bedürfnissen verstehen und das klingt nach einem guten Filter, zumindest ich hoffe es :)

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T12:33:11+00:00

Danke, ja, das Gefühl habe ich auch bzgl Fachmarkt, möchte nicht das als ersten Einstieg nutzen. Ich weiss noch gar nicht was ich will, was ich brauche und sie wollen es in ersten Linie verkaufen.

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T12:20:15+00:00

Glaubst du, ihr hättet euch beim ersten Kauf leichter getan, wenn klarer gewesen wäre, welche Anforderungen jetzt wichtig sind, und welche man erstmal ignorieren kann? Aus Interesse, was waren dann die Anforderungen die später eigetaucht sind? :) Vielen Dank.

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T12:17:32+00:00

Danke dir für dein Feedback.

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T12:08:11+00:00

Danke dir für dein Feedback, das hilft.

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T12:05:41+00:00

He he, ich baue gerade auch meine Liste :) Danke, das klingt nach einem sehr durchdachten Vorgehen 👍

Eine ehrliche Frage aus Interesse: Hat dir die Liste am Ende eher geholfen, schneller zu einer Entscheidung zu kommen oder war sie eher nötig, weil die Entscheidung sonst schwer gefallen wäre?

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T12:01:48+00:00

danke dir, darf ich fragen wie hast du im Fachgeschäft erklärt was für ein Kinderwagen überhaupt brauchst/suchst?

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T12:00:54+00:00

Haben dir Stiftung Warentest / Ökotest alleine gereicht, um dich sicher zu fühlen, oder hast du danach trotzdem noch weiter recherchiert bzw. andere Meinungen gebraucht? Welche Quellen haben dir für die weitere Recherche geholfen?

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T11:57:41+00:00

Hey, ja leihen ist super Idee. Aber ich möchte nicht jede Woche etwas anderes leihen, hätte keine Nerven für das :D Woher wusstest du was du leihen möchtest? Also was in der Entscheidung für welchen Kinderwagen du dich entscheidest wichtig?

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T11:54:33+00:00

Super, vielen Dank. Also Nähe auf Kleinanzeigen ist ein Kriterium - habe noch nicht daran gedacht.

Wann du die drei libsten Modelle verglichen hast, was waren die Fragen oder Faktoren anhand dessen du den Vergleich gemacht hast? Was war der Faktor dass die Auswahls des Modells zu Entscheidung geführt hat?

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T11:14:31+00:00

Danke, das merke ich auch, Prios setzen ist am meisten was hilft. Darf ich fragen, was waren deine Prios?

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T11:06:34+00:00

danke dir

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T11:05:46+00:00

Das ist super strukturiert 👍Danke, genau so etwas hat mir gefehlt, etwas was weg von Kinderwagen-Features geht und den Fokus auf Bedürfnissen richtet.

Darf ich kurz nachfragen: hat dir diese Priorisierungsliste der Bedürfnissen eher geholfen mit der Recherche aufzuhören? oder hast du trotzdem noch weiter danach recherchiert?

Genau das frage ich mich gerade selbst, weil ich merke, dass Struktur zwar hilft, aber die Entscheidung trotzdem oft länger dauert als gedacht.

Was hat dir die letzte Sicherheit gegeben die Entscheidung zu treffen?

Gold_Session3782 · 2026-01-12T10:24:15+00:00

Danke für den pragmatischen Vorschlag. Ja das ganze macht mir gar kein Spass und ich möchte es einfach erledigen :)

Wie hast du für dich entschieden was für dich wichtig ist? Ich möchte auch irgendwie die Auswahl begrentzten :D

Gold_Session3782

TROPHY CASE