The freedom of doing what you love, whenever you want, far away from office intrigues and an authoritarian boss, is what those who decided to become freelancers get. The development of information technologies also helps the trend of growing number of freelancers. According to official statistics, in 2014 some 14 percent of the UK citizens were working from home.

According to "Forbes" one out of five Americans prefers being a freelance worker. In Bulgaria it is still a relatively new phenomenon and is more common among IT experts, translators and journalists. "One of those freelancers is Georgi Boychev who has been self-employed for 12 years.

The young man is a programmer of web applications, and his customers are mainly from the US, but also from New Zealand, South Africa and some European countries. "When I have to travel or go on a vacation, the office is with me. This is a great convenience," he says. Instead of performing tasks set by someone else, Georgi prefers to seek for creative solutions and create products himself. Working irregular hours and the lack of office intrigues are the main advantages for him. He also says that the job helped him have a big family. "If it was not for my job, perhaps our choice would be having just one child, not three. Just think about how long it takes to take your children to school or to some other activities," he says. Georgi admits that being a freelancer has its disadvantages, too.

"I have already said that the biggest advantage is making decisions yourself. But actually this is also the biggest drawback, as you depend entirely on yourself and have more responsibilities. Stress is bigger when you work alone and you think constantly about your job.”

Georgi communicates with his customers using the various possibilities provided by the web.

"I cannot imagine how my job could be done 20 years ago. Many advanced technologies now allow us to overcome distances. I use email, ICQ, Skype, Viber, phone, and other products too, if I need to make a presentation in front of more people. The customer must feel security and, of course, I need to offer them the same or better quality of service in order for them to choose me over someone whom they can meet in person.”

Vladimir Karapetrov has been a freelancer for 2 years and says being a master of your own time is a great advantage. He is designer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Before he decided to turn his home into an office, he spent 8 years being a part of a large construction company. "I currently work alone and it is not practical for me to rent an office,” he says. Vladimir adds orders from customers can be infrequent and that it was often a challenge to achieve balance between work duties and personal time. Folk dances is what helps him let off steam

“I am working in front of the computer during most of the day and when I go dancing for an hour, it's pretty relaxing," he says.

English: Alexander Markov