Are you considering self-employment or new to the work-for-yourself world? Great! Self-employment has many advantages: making your schedule, determining your income, and reduced commuting.
However, self-employment, as exciting and popular as it is, is fraught with misunderstanding and myths. Here we expose some of these myths to shine a light on what self-employment is all about.
You Spend Your Day Doing What You Love!
Have you heard the phrase, “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life?” There is truth to it, but you do not always do work you love when you are self-employed.
Self-employment sometimes means you must buckle down and do some things you do not always enjoy. For example, you may love content writing, but some of the subjects you must write about may bore you. The self-employed may be living their dream, but the daily reality is it is still a job with ups and downs. Expect long hours, some problematic clients or customers, and challenging tasks.
Of course, self-employment is worth it for many people regardless of the challenges, but it’s not endless fun.
Being Your Own Boss Is Amazing!
It IS nice not to have a demanding boss breathing down your neck. But if you tend to have a laissez-faire attitude as a manager, you may find that work is not getting done on time. Even being your boss, you still can get frustrated at the boss!
Freedom!
‘Freedom’ has many different meanings. It is true being self-employed that you may not be cooped up in a cubicle farm in an office building an hour from your home. You may enjoy the thrill of picking up your kids from school and hitting the grocery stores mid-day when everyone else is at work.
But your freedom is limited by the need to work to keep a roof over your head. You no longer enjoy paid time off, 9-5 schedules, and weekends off. Everything is on you.
Being Self-Employed Is Risky
There is a risk in every part of life. Even if you work in a ‘stable’ full-time job, there is still a risk that you could be on the unemployment line at any time. You entrust your job security to a company and other people – that is a risk. If you work for yourself, you are assuming the risk.
The choice hinges on whether you trust yourself or not. Many self-employed people do not see what they do as a risk.
You Are Constantly Stressed
Stress is a part of life. Even if you love life on South Beach every day, you still have stress, even if it mainly concerns sunburn and that incoming tropical storm.
Being self-employed means trading one type of stress for another. If a regular work environment stresses you out – the long commutes, the gum-cracking guy in the cubicle next to you – perhaps you would rather have the stress of working for yourself. Sure, there is some stress involved, but the confines of a 9-5 cubicle life are stressful, too.
Yours Is Not a Real Business
Solopreneurs are common today. You do not need to have an office, zip code, or even a website to have a legitimate business. Self-employed professionals understand their businesses are the real deal. These gigs and projects produce income and fill a need. They are legitimate businesses.
The Bottom Line
Having choices is one of the great things in life. You can choose to work for a company or decide to work for yourself. Whatever myths you hear about self-employment, working for yourself lets you do things the way you want. Some people may misunderstand what you do, but you know what you do is valuable and has a purpose, and that is all that matters.