The good bits about working for yourself

There are many articles online about how are hard it is to work for yourself, how you will fail and how your life will never be the same again. You will realise when you work for yourself that your job you have waited years to leave was actually not as hard as you may have thought. Depending on the industry and company and off course what type of management you were lead by. The difficulty in being your own boss isn’t the your working role but all the decisions you will now be faced with with no one to ask. You will also realise that the complaints about how your are not paid enough will seem futile as you battle to get paid each month. But – you know all this and if you still want to work for yourself then go for it.
Working for yourself  is the most rewarding thing you will ever do. Each day is different. Some good, some bad but always your day, your way.
Below are a few things to think about to remind you how great it is that you plan to be or are your boss.

1. You don’t have to worry about loosing your job

Even though you will have to work hard each day to plan for income in the coming months, you will always know as long as the work is coming in, you will have a job to go to each day. Unless you are going to sack yourself for poor performance or choose to do nothing all day to get the work in then you have a job to go to.

2. You can arrange a Dr’s appointment without having to ask if you can go

After working for other people and having to action your every move, it is wonderfully liberating to know that you can book yourself an appointment without feeling like you have done something wrong. You now only need to check that you are available and that you don’t have a deadline or meeting lined up. The freedom!
Now that you do work for yourself, your health is more important than ever. There will be no one to work if you are ill and there is definitely no sick pay. So look after yourself and don’t keep putting off that appointment.

Which leads nicely into time management…

3. You can manage your own time.

Every industry will have different requirements for how their time is spent but for ours (web design and development) it can be very flexible. However to get it right a schedule is still extremely useful. As with most freelance or small businesses the time you will get to actually complete your client work will be minimal. You also need to consider the following into your weekly workload.

1. Meetings
2. Accounts
3. Book keeping
4. Quotes and estimates
5. Phone calls and response to client via email
6. Updating your social media channels
7. Ongoing training to keep yourself up to date
8. Keeping your website up to date

4. Your commute to work is hassle free.

If you work from your own home, you may have an office in your home or on your property. Either way your commute to work will probably not include trains, buses, bikes or getting stuck in traffic. You won’t get rained on, sneezed on or sworn at by angry drivers also running late. Your commute to work is now one of the best things about your day. You’ll be home quickly too! Hooray!

5. Earning potential

Initially your earning potential will be a lot less than you are used too. Top tip: whilst still in your day job dreaming of the freedom of being your own boss, put aside enough to give you a buffer to make the first year easier on yourself. I would recommend 6 months worth of mortgage and bills, give yourself the best chance to succeed. Especially if you are self funded, however once you have got through the first few years everything becomes a bit more regular. You will be able to pay yourself a set amount each month and plan ahead to increase this amount as you go.
Even though you may have struggled, once the business is established you open up your earning potential. If you work for somebody else, your earnings are set. As your business grows, so will your income and each tax year as you plan for the next you will start to see the growth has no limits. If you continue to put in the hours, your earning potential will grow each year. Unlike a salary which tends to reach a certain level and stay that way.

To summarise, working for yourself is undoubtedly hard work, however it is totally different working that hard for yourself than someone else. It is challenging every single day but rewarding at the same time. If you have drive, determination and a will to succeed by creating your own income then go for it! It will be one of the bravest but most rewarding things you will ever do.

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