If you initiate something, your world expands. 3 things I’m glad I did after becoming independent.

Many people say, 'It's important to take action first.'
I truly feel that it was good for me to become independent now.

Specifically, I became independent from being a company employee and became a freelance web designer.

This time, I'll summarize about three points where I gained real experience and grew by taking action.
If you're thinking of starting something, taking action, or becoming independent, please refer to this.

You are given many opportunities for new challenges.

After working as a freelancer for several years and then starting a business, I continue to realize every day how much I don't know.
When working within a company, you could basically only see the values within that company.
Perhaps it's better to say 'way of working' rather than 'values'.

Basically, companies operate on a division of labor, so the values revolve around one's own position.
However, once you become independent and start working as an individual, everything is given to you as an 'opportunity' or a 'field for activity'.
For example, until now, I only did technical work like design and coding.
But at the same time, I was asked to do marketing and forced to learn how to sell.

Naturally, as a technician, I didn't understand those aspects, so if I wanted to do them, I had to study.
Normally, I would dismiss it as 'this is not my job,' but I still want to expand my field of activity.
Moreover, if you ask if one can survive with technology alone in the future, that shouldn't be the case.
Times are constantly changing, and even websites should become easier to create.

But if I were in a company, I would never have been given such opportunities.
The moment I became independent, my work values suddenly became free, and I was able to take on many challenges.

Taught by colleagues, taught by clients, and taught by the business I started myself.
With each step forward, discoveries and growth accumulate like mountains.

You can grasp your 'level in society'.

Since I get to work with many people, I've come to understand where I stand.
This isn't limited to technicians; I think it's similar for other professions as well.
For example, someone might have been excellent and pampered within a company, but completely useless outside of it.

In my case, I felt I was about 'middle of the middle' within the company.
However, that 'middle of the middle' within the company transformed into confidence that I might be comparable to 'upper middle' in society.
Well, I'm not sure if it's good to be confident or satisfied here.

Certainly, if a company's level is high, your own level will be relatively lower.
But I have no intention of being satisfied with this, so I will work hard to keep progressing.

People's growth and how they are evaluated differ completely depending on where they work.
Among them, there must be people who go to a very low-level company and become satisfied.
They will surely realize they are completely useless when they change jobs.
We must continue to strive so as not to become a frog in a well.

I realized that work is freedom.

When I was in a company, I felt that work was something like a set of rules.
Perhaps there was a feeling of arranging what was always repeatedly done within a fixed industry and seeing how much quality could be improved.
It was like there was a single path laid out in front of me, and the image was how perfectly I could walk on that path.
But when you become independent, that single path branches out in all sorts of directions.
Even if you're walking on a single path laid out in front of you, many other paths branch off from it.

For example, I was doing website production, but I also ended up discussing with clients, 'Why don't we do this kind of business together?'
Normally, it would just be a simple quote and done, but even the form of money and technical provision becomes dependent on ideas, such as 'How about this payment method?'
As a result, if I receive a proposal and feel that it might be better for the future, I might even change the payment method.
Doing business, running a venture, is truly freedom.
Earning money, generating revenue, spreads out in incredibly diverse directions.
In such an infinitely expanding path, how you negotiate and choose your way.
I realized there's joy in being able to create my own path within freedom.

However, there are also actual aptitudes and inaptitudes.

When you become independent and work for yourself as a freelancer, you need to do everything yourself.
For example, tax filing is one such thing, and for me, who originally loves to 'create,' while there's freedom, the parts I don't want to do have also increased.
If you want to work as a specialist and focus only on the work you want to do, I think being a company employee is better.

However, if you want to be active in various fields, not just as a specialist or in the areas you've worked in so far, then freelancing and independence are perfect.
Because you can create work by utilizing your specialized techniques and skills.
If you can approach it from the perspective of how to utilize your specialized skills in future work creation, then becoming independent is more suitable.
I think it's important to consider whether you are realistically suited for freelancing or if it's better to become independent, and then take the plunge.

However, in future society, at least for technicians like us involved in website production, multiple skills will surely be required.
The world is evolving rapidly, and honestly, I can't see how much value ordinary designers and engineers will continue to provide.
For ordinary web designers, specialized fields should exist, but I wonder if only truly highly skilled people will survive.
If you have moderate skills, then work speed and understanding of other fields will become important, won't they?
Because the nature of entrepreneurship emphasizes speed, and marketing will deeply involve product development itself.

The group of entrepreneurs I met in Los Angeles previously are succeeding precisely in such consulting, so I think Japan will follow the same path.
I believe that if you don't intend to thoroughly master technology, it's better to deepen your understanding of multiple skills, especially marketing, as soon as possible.

Summary

I believe I've grown somewhat since becoming independent.
I was able to vastly expand my range of thinking, range of ideas, and capacity for values.

I have various worries and problems, but looking back now, I often think, 'Why did my old self do that?'
I often realize that if it were my current self, I could have made much better decisions.
Human relationships, negotiations, and points to decide.

My former self only knew how to attack, and looking back now, it was incredibly simplistic.
Thanks to that, I sometimes caused trouble for many people.

But strangely, I don't feel hazy because there will be many more decision-making moments, and I believe I'll surely do better next time.
Knowledge and experience are meaningless if only inputted into the brain; only by experiencing and outputting them yourself do they become power and true know-how.

There were many things I had known for a long time, but surely back then, I hadn't yet made them my own.
Since becoming independent, all knowledge has settled in my body, I've had vast experiences, and I feel I've grown to some extent.
That's why I've come to believe that I can repay those I've troubled.

After becoming independent, I'm often in a pretty tight spot, feeling like I'm constantly on the verge.
However, thankfully, I've also gained many people who help me.
I can calmly grasp the situation, and above all, each obstacle even starts to feel enjoyable.
From the bottom of my heart, I truly feel it was good to become independent.