Being self employed can be very tough. The work is often lonely, the hours sometimes very long and the stress overpowering. What does it take to make self employment a success?
Being Alone
No one wants to sit in a quiet room all day long poring over tasks - unless that person is a self employed professional. Loneliness is part of the job when it comes to self employment, but even much-needed isolation can be maddening. Sometimes, being alone and working can seem like a trial - other times, being alone is what it takes to be successfully self employed. The ideal working environment is different for everyone, and usually impossible to achieve even in self employed situations. Learning how to get the work done, no matter what else is happening in the background, is one of the keys to learning how to make self employment work.
Being Brave
Believe it or not, being self employed means being brave. It takes a whole lot of nerve to chuck the safe job and go it alone, to deal with highly unstable self employed pay and the very real fear of being unable to find a single paying gig - or at least, enough paying gigs. Even with a cushy savings account to fall back upon, self employed professionals must rely on personal courage to give them the motivation to keep trying. Being self employed is often about endlessly trying - many times failing, but forging ahead anyway.
Being Persistent
The old adage “never give up” has to feel like a motto for every self employed professional. What does it take to be successful in self employment? Persistence is one of the most important ingredients to making work at home and working alone dreams come true. Think of endlessly looking for new work, mailing off resumes and cover letters and re-applying to the same positions over and over again. This is a very small portion of what being self employed is actually like.
Being Self Employed
Being self employed can be highly rewarding, giving professionals a sense of pride and a real sense of joy in what they do to earn their bread. But being self employed can be, at times, very dismal as well. There will always be highs and lows. There will be great jobs lost and great projects won, great disappointments and great rewards. There will be no paid holidays, no comfortable 401k plans provided by the employer, no health benefits and no security or stability whatsoever.
What does it take to be successfully self employed? Self employment takes self discipline, to complete every task; self marketing, to promote oneself and one’s work; self confidence, to keep trying even when it feels like all hope is lost; and it takes self sufficiency, because those who are self employed have no one else to really rely upon as far as the job market goes. But for many, the benefits of being self employed outweigh the sacrifices - and all the stress that goes with them.
KC Morgan - KC Morgan has been the featured writer in Self-Employment since 2006, using personal experience to create guides to being self-employed.
