Dreams of defining your own occupation, setting your own schedule, not answering to difficult bosses, and doing something you are passionate about are tempting. The reality of self-employment is that it’s not for the faint of heart. Starting out as a freelancer takes long hours, working with multiple clients, and being responsible for all aspects of business, like bookkeeping and marketing.
Self-employment can give the right individuals greater flexibility than a traditional job, such as the flexibility to balance work and personal responsibilities. Flexible schedules can easily be interrupted which means you need self-discipline and a cooperative support system. Self-employment can be a great option for those who can handle unpredictable monthly income until work becomes regular.
The pros of being self-employed
Gone are the days of a 9-to-5 routine, stuffy business attire, and difficult colleagues. Self-employment is well-suited for motivated individuals who thrive working independently and can commit to long hours. Decide how much or how little to work, what type of work to take on, and discover new professional strengths that could prove lucrative in the long run.
- Choose your schedule: Self-employment gives you the flexibility to arrange your work schedule around your personal life. You get to choose what days to work and how many hours a week to work.
- Location flexibility: There is no traditional office with self-employment. So long as you have a reliable internet connection, you can work from any geographic location.
- Choose your work: Freelancers have the luxury of choosing what type of work to take on as their finances permit.
- Earning potential: Clients don’t have to pay in-work benefits to freelancers, they only pay for the time you work, which means a higher hourly rate than a traditional full-time job.
Self-employment gives you the opportunity to learn new skills and discover other interests. You’ll need to further develop new skills by taking advantage of professional courses. python for finance and data science is designed to teach the tools needed to become a software developer. The data science course, created by Nick McCullum, covers data analysis, how to create a data visualization, data points, python programming language, and more.
The cons of being self-employed
There are two sides to every coin, and self-employment is no different. When starting out as a freelancer, you’ll have to put in long hours. Working independently means there is no one to cover you if you are sick or need a personal day. Getting your foot in the door could take months depending on the nature of your business. You will have to assume all essential business roles and responsibilities while earning limited income. Freelancers don’t have workers’ benefits like insurance, retirement coverage, workers’ compensation, or disability benefit.
- Unsteady work: freelancers work on a per-project-basis and only have work when there is client demand.
- Variable income: Jobs don’t come to you, you find them. You need to be self-motivated to find work and create earning potential.
- Working for free: Not only is your time spent completing work projects, but you also have to handle administrative tasks, accounting, marketing, and client relations without additional compensation.
- Isolation: Working alone without camaraderie, the ability to discuss work ideas, or the opportunity to learn from peers and develop your career isn’t easy for everyone.
Illness or injury can prevent a freelancer from working. Income protection insurance is a type of insurance that pays you up to 75 percent of your regular income to help you manage your financial responsibilities while you are out of work. iSelect allows you to compare the best income protection insurance quotes from a range of insurance providers. Income protection insurance is an invaluable insurance policy for self-employed business owners who lack the peace of mind of having disability insurance. Compare income protection insurance with iSelect and find a policy that suits your needs.
Self-employment can be professionally fulfilling when you know what to expect and how to make the transition.
