12 reasons to begin self-employed work
Table of Contents
Life is worth living.
Let’s address the elephant in room from the get-go, self employed work is “not easy”. Quite often, some individuals will state this to you. But here’s the thing, you’re not necessarily looking to be self-employed because it’s easy. But rather you want to be fulfilled in the work that you enjoy doing. It does not have to be easy, it just has to provide you with satisfaction and a sense of progression in life.
Occasionally, you may experience the stress of having to deal with clients from hell, manage multiple deadlines, dealing with incomplete tasks and endlessly slog in collecting new leads to no avail. It can make you feel forgetful as to why you became self-employed when weeks, months and years pass through in your life.
Just remember that self-employment can be awesome. Building a career can take time. But, it can pay off in the long term. So, let’s take a look at twelve reasons to work for yourself.
#1 - In control of work and life.
This is an overt reason. Everyone dreams of becoming their boss and by realising the potential of self-employment you may be able to escape the headaches of employed life and begin your true ambitions.
Start controlling how work is conceived, organised and executed. To your standard. In self-employment, there are no executive members of staff dictating what you can or cannot do, or rather how incorrect you are or “just listen to me because I’m your boss”. You can do what you do best with your clients in mind. You can develop a journey for your clients in completing the work and you can make it as awesome as you like. Without limitations.
#2 - A fulfilling prospect.
Throughout self-employment, you can be motivated to create opportunities in reaching your full potential. This can allow you to see direct results from your skilled efforts. Quality most definitely prevails over quantity. Therefore, it is not about the number of hours that you exert within work but rather how confident you are in providing quality solutions to client problems.
Your knowledge, skills and experience have value. Take pride in what you want to provide and feel accomplished in the results that you receive.
Not all employers ignore their employees. Some motivate and respect their staff to excel. Therefore, it’s not about leaving employed work because of the boss, motivation or respect, but rather because you dream of fulfilling your desires that may have taken years to plan.
#3 - Potential for an increased wage.
Freelancers have the potential for their work to yield more than traditional employment. Self-employed workers may be allowed to deduct specific expenses from their business that employers may not be able to. Thus, allowing for a greater generation of income.
#4 - Fewer life expenses
Whether employed or self-employed, there will always be work expenses to account for. However, you can reduce or eliminate some expenses, if you perform your professional duties from a home office, that you would otherwise incur in employment. Let’s take a look at some examples that would benefit you in self-employment:
Tax reduction: You may earn less gross income in self-employment compared to being employed. However, keep in mind that you could be taxed differently and you may be able to retain more of your hard-earned income. You could only be taxed on any profit that you generate from freelance earnings.
Claiming for business expenses to offset tax: In some cases, you may be able to allocate a percentage of property rent, gas, electricity and other household bills as a business expense. Also, supplies used for your business can be claimed as an expense, including a computer, the internet and stationery expenses can be offset too. Potentially, you may even be able to claim child care and daily lunches as a business expense. Make sure with an accountant that you are eligible for expense claiming.
Eliminate purchasing work clothes or fuel for commuting: When working from home, you do not need to wear expensive suits and other sombre attire. If you like, you can work in your PJs. If you do have a meeting, then you can just wear a smart casual outfit. Also, two big savings that you could profit from is the lack of commute expenses (car, bus, train) and the time that you can save on commuting (time is money).
Savings from no work-related social expenses: Not to sound scrooge-like, some employed folk may not have a monthly budget to be able to contribute to never-ending birthday or celebration gifts for team members every month, not to mention Christmas parties and secret Santas. These expenses can add up. Money can be saved that would otherwise be spent from having lunch at canteens or eateries throughout the week.
Flexibility in income: Self-employment can be a risk from variable income each month and year. Although, variable income can rise just as much as it can collapse. By working hard and providing a range of sustainable products/services you could essentially give yourself a pay rise.
#5 - Consistent diversity.
Being an employee may require you to stick to a set weekly schedule, but most definitely you will be required to stick to the script. This means being provided with a manual or being instructed by your boss in what to do day-in and day-out. You know what to perform in your job and there is no reason to grow beyond that. Because your career and sense of progression stagnate.
A new client presents a new challenge and being self-employed allows you to adapt and evolve on the go, try new things and take risks. You’ll need to consistently adapt, learn and update your skills, knowledge and experience. All of this allows you to be creative and what a great feeling it is when you solve a problem for a client whilst improving your business outlook.
#6 - No co-worker and no drama.
Self-employment means not having to work in a noise-infused complaint-filled hierarchy-dynamic environment, where a colleague enjoys talking loud, another mentions their everyday personal life fiascos, a different one de-energizes the workflow and so on, so on and so on.
Although, having said that, there will always be one, two or even a handful of ace co-workers who become something more and are likely to be part of your friend circle.
#7 - Flexible rest days.
When working for a corporate environment, it can seem like a fact of life that you are never allowed to take one day off in a year because of personal reasons or even feeling super under the weather.
Just keep in mind, in self-employment, a day without work may go without pay, but in doing so you do not need to beg for forgiveness from your boss or even feel shackled to prove the extent of your absence.
There has to be a work-life and personal-life balance. Even though the lines between these two can blur together when working from home, make sure that work fits into your life and not the other way around. Mental and physical health is important to everyone and by being flexible with rest days you can prevent burning out and in turn harming your business.
#8 - A bespoke work environment.
It’s good to work hard and developing an environment that is unique to you and supports your workflow is paramount for successful self-employment. This can range from the setup of your workstation, utilising dual monitors, standing desk, framed photographs or personalised trinkets, and so much more.
There are no regulations on how you decorate your working environment from home. Although, if you are going to perform video calls then maybe try toning down any offensive/uncomfortable materials in the background. Other than that, spruce up your workspace to condition a happy and productive work life that suits exclusively you.
As mentioned in number four (#4) you can wear anything that you like within this bespoke working environment. There is no reason to wear a suit with a tie, a cheap polyester polo shirt, or uncomfortable footwear. You can wear anything that allows you to be efficient. Do keep in mind though, you do need to wear smart-casual gear when meeting clients in person or on a video call.
#9 - Scale processes and equipment.
As an employee, working in an office or retail environment will provide you with a hierarchy experience of requirements. ‘Please, sir, I need a pack of pens’, ‘I can’t do my work because my computer doesn’t work’, ‘Dave, can I ask Gary to give me a hand with the work’, and the list goes on. To perform work, you first need to ask through the ranks to gain confirmation. How laborious!
Rather than spending a few hours to a few weeks to receive equipment, maintenance, or assistance, in self-employment, you can simply find, organise and implement solutions for you to complete a project.
#10 - Customise daily and weekly schedules.
As a self-employed individual, you can set your schedule to be as flexible as you need it to be. This can involve a familiar and fixed set of routines or just wing it and freestyle your work time. After all, you are your boss and you create your rota.
This flexibility is one of the biggest reasons why people love to be self-employed and take control of their destiny. Choice is an ability that impacts effort. The right choices in your self-employed work-life and personal life can improve how much rest you receive and in turn how much of an effort you can impact into a business.
Want to sleep more in the morning, no problem. On the other hand, want to wake up super early, fantastic. You do you.
#11 - Increased value from impact.
Money and supporting a lifestyle are essential in a person’s life. It is, however, not the only reason for being a hard-working self-employed individual. Helping to develop communities and improving lives can fuel greater prospects in self-employment.
Opposite to employment, being self-employed will no longer involve being incorporated within a hive mind. You have no eyes peering at from behind, no mumbles from around the corner and no BS from not being respected. Displaying your services/products to the world can allow you to be highly valued because it is clear that you know what you are doing.
You decide what you can be valued for and how you should be credited for solving a problem for a client. As time progresses, businesses and individuals will begin to notice your recognition, not just from long-time clients, but also from new potential leads.
#12 - Selective client-base.
The ultimate reason for being self-employed is fairly straightforward. You have the privilege of selecting your client base.
When you are employed, you are stricken to serve a niched manner of customers/clients within that place of business. That may be off-putting when having to deal with a couple arguing between themselves, unsupervised children causing a ruckus, a confused elderly individual who is now angered by not understanding your crystal clear communication; or simply a client who has called your office phone number to inform you that they have sent you an email notifying you that they have posted a letter to the office.
Things are different now because as a self-employed individual you are in complete control and if a lead wastes your time or aggressively communicates to you (without any unintentional fault of yours) then you have the wrong client. You can choose how to provide your epic services/products.
The final point.
Take a leap of faith in being self-employed and start living life.
