There’s a lot of appeal to becoming self-employed. You are your own boss. You don’t report to anyone above you or having someone hover over your shoulder to complete a task. You can create your own schedule based on when you want to work. Plus you can work from wherever you want.
So why wouldn’t everyone want to be self-employed then?
It’s tough, really tough. Not only is it hard to get a self-employed business off the ground, but it is also challenging to maintain. You have to be as prepared as possible for anything and everything and have your entire life organized. But if you can survive the challenges, the rewards of being self-employed are endless.
So before you consider making the switch, here are a few things to consider.
1. You Do Everything
When being self-employed, there’s no one to pawn off a task that you don’t feel like doing. You are responsible for absolutely everything related to your business. Creating, developing, marketing, networking and anything else that comes to mind, you have to do it.
When you are in charge that also means you are responsible for any bumps and challenges that may come. When something goes wrong, you have to take responsibility for the situation. You are the business you created.
2. You Need to Be Strong
Self-employment can be lonely, very lonely. Chances are you are sitting in a little office you created at home, day-after-day all alone. When you go to an office building, you at least have coworkers around to keep you company. When you’re self-employed, you are all on your own, and you need to be able to handle that feeling.
Being strong also means handing when failures happen, and they will happen. You cannot expect to take your business to the top after one day. You will hit brick walls all the time at the start. You need to be able to pick yourself up and continue down the path you created.
3. Organization is Your Best Friend
When you are self-employed, the more organized you are, the easier your life will be. If you have papers all over the place, multiple calendars that can’t keep track of meetings and projects, how do you expect to get anything accomplished?
Usually, in an office, there is a manager that organizes everything to accomplish in the day. But now you are the manager and the employee, so you must make sure you have everything organized so you can be successful.
4. Benefits Are On Your Own
Unlike after your probation period of a new job where you get benefits, you are on your own for that. You will have to search for your own life insurance, health care and any other benefits you need.
You are in charge of planning out the future of your business which affects your future. What do you need to have in place if a disaster occurs? Is there life insurance to cover your business if you suddenly die? Do you have the best long-term care insurance possible in case you no longer can take care of yourself? These are the types of questions to consider to make sure you have all the coverage you need.