What is Self Employment

What is self-employment, and is it right for you?

Self-employment is working for oneself as a freelancer or business owner rather than working for an employer. If you are self-employed, you won’t get paid a consistent salary like you would if working for an employer, and you won’t have the same employment rights, such as holiday entitlement, sick pay and maternity leave. You can be employed and self-employed simultaneously, such as working a job during the week and then running your business on weekends.

The success of your business will significantly rely on the strength of your product or service, but there are specific attributes that you will need:

Innovative and imaginative to create new ideas for your business.
Knowledgeable in your market and understand your consumer while being able to adapt to their needs.
Leadership and management of independent projects and a team of people.
Focused and goal-orientated to be able to set and meet realistic objectives.
Believe in yourself to succeed and be confident in your product or service to network with others.

Advantages

Creative freedom – you’ll oversee the decision-making and have the freedom to explore a solution while seeing your ideas through to completion.

Independence – you’ll be able to set and manage your hours to fit around your other commitments.

Job satisfaction – you’ll be reaping the rewards of your work.

Location – you’ll be able to choose where you work from and might not need to worry about the daily commute.

Salary – your earning potential is higher as the amount of work you do is your choice.

Variety – you’ll have the opportunity to work on different projects and gain skills in various areas of starting a business.

Disadvantages

No employee benefits – you won’t get sick pay, holiday pay or the backing from an HR team.

Long hours – your working day may be more prolonged and irregular; you may spend less time with friends and family and struggle to separate your work and home life.

Increased responsibility – you’ll oversee your pension, national insurance and tax returns. The success of your business is in your hands.

Social isolation – you won’t be in a social workplace environment (at least at the beginning).

Starting at the beginning – you will have to create your business and establish a client base from nothing, and progress may be very slow.

Irregular finances – your income is based on the success of your business. It may not make a profit initially, especially if you pay for rent, insurance, internet and staff.