Whether you’re looking to start a business and earn more money, be your own boss, or work less hours, being self employed offers a wealth of advantages.
Becoming self-employed is a huge step to take and doesn’t come without risks. But those who manage it generally find the no-boss lifestyle highly rewarding. Let’s take a look at some of the main reasons why self-employment can be so fulfilling.
5 advantages of being self employed
Ditch the 9-5
Unless you agree to work on a daily basis for a client during business hours, there is absolutely no need to build a routine based on the working day.
Many clients I work with have young children and prefer to set their hours around their family. Some creatives I know prefer to work in the evenings because that is when they are at their creative peak. I chat with freelancers who work early mornings and finish mid-afternoon before heading out to meet friends and family. Undoubtedly the ability to work within self-selected hours is one of the key advantages of being self employed.
Financial freedom
If you’re employed right now, you’ll probably have been told your salary when you got the job. You might have received incremental increases (usually based on inflation), and you may have received pay rises.
Self employed life is very different. For a start, there is no guarantee of what you’ll earn and you may find peaks and dips in income. Your income will rely on you finding work, then doing the work, and then invoicing for the work. This is often the bit that puts people off becoming a business owner. But if you have a niche, can build a roster of paying clients or have a natural ability to sell yourself, you should find that you’ll be earning far more.
If you’re stuck on how to build up a client base, check out my online sales coaching page to see if it might help you.
Enjoyable work
Work takes up a huge proportion of most people’s lives. In fact, if you were to work from aged 20 – 60, with 5 weeks of annual leave per year, you’d work a total of 8,000 days of your life. That is a LOT of time spent working! Self employed folk have somewhat of an advantage as they get to decide what work they will take on – ideally, something interesting and fulfilling.
I’d recommend anyone just starting out to think deeply about the kind of work they want to do and will feel passionate about, as the can make a real difference to the enjoyment factor of self employed life.
Kiss goodbye to office politics
If you find yourself irritated in boring meetings, complaining about your co-workers, or generally fed up with office life, then self employment might be for you!
In fact, pretty much every freelancer and business owner I have spoken to has said that this was one of their number one reasons for going self-employed. If your workplace is toxic, you have a useless manager, or your day looks like a black hole of meetings, you’ll know what I mean.
I have been self-employed for five years and the person I share my office with is my dog. It’s bliss.
Meeting new people
The ability to meet new people and make friends in one of the big advantages to being self employed. People are a little surprised when I say this because they usually associate self employment with working alone from home. But the reality is that there are massive networks, memberships and communities for self employed people and wherever you are, you’ll be able to find something that suits you.
You can show up and get to know others like you and make friends, connections and clients. Or if you can’t travel, you can try online groups.
Most self employed people I know have far better social lives as a result of working for themselves.
Or, of course, you can work your business around your leisure activities and hobbies.
Self-employed life
Working for yourself is not always easy, and many struggle with the responsibilities of being a business owner. But if it suits your personality you can most certainly reap the advantages!
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