Why Be Self-Employed
Why be self-employed? There are risks and challenges that are not part of the work-a-day world. One of the biggest challenges is that there is no regular paycheck. The world of a self-employed business person is often feast or famine.
One reason to be self-employed is to be able to control ones own destiny. In the corporate world, goals and agendas change almost on a minute to minute basis. The stress this causes can be incredible, especially in today’s business climate where even the largest companies are facing financial short-falls and even bankruptcy.
Working for one’s self, however, it’s possible to set clear, attainable goals develop the agendas and processes to reach them effectively, acquire the resources to support the goals and agendas and, finally, produce an environment that is less stressful and healthier.
Another issue of importance is age, since, as employees approach retirement age, their value to the company is diminished. Often they are set aside for younger, more energetic employees who will work for less money and carry less risk of illness.
The chart below is a kind of balance sheet, showing the differences between a corporate and self-employed environment.
| Corporate Environment | Self-Employment |
| Unclear goals, which change constantly making them difficult to achieve. | Clear, measurable, consistently attainable goals. |
| Unclear agendas that change with every new goal, making the path to achieving goals unclear and confusing. | Agendas that support goals and provide a clear, consistent, measurable “roadmap” to completion. |
| Resources which are limited, and not always adequate for the task at hand. | Resources that support the goals and agendas more than adequately. |
| Result: High stress and a negative impact on mental, physical and emotional health. Decisions are often made under stress and as a result can be incorrect and ineffective. | Result: Low stress, a healthier and more productive work environment that allows decisions to be made quickly and accurately. |
Where to Start:
Start with a commitment to yourself and your natural talents. These are your strengths. We all have something we do easily and comfortably. Something we look forward to as a hobby or just as something we do easily and well. This is our comfort zone, a place where we feel most comfortable.
Deepen the commitment by creating a business that provides a positive benefit to the customer, while also creating a healthy, productive lifestyle:
- The customer sees you as providing a service that solves a problem.
- The customer sees you as a trusted, valuable advisor.
- The customer sees your company as providing a service in a way that reduces their risk and enhances the benefits they receive.
Next be a little bit selfish. Its your life. Create a business that balances the needs to earn a living with the time needed to sit back and “smell the roses”. Yes, the needs of the client do have to be met, but so do yours.
Why be self-employed? When managed effectively a small business can provide a comfortable income and create an extraordinary lifestyle that is unmatched by a corporate job.
© 2009 Moody Publishing Co
Back In Boise
Back home and back to work. I still haven’t adjusted to getting up at 4 in the morning. I doubt I ever will. In some ways I envy those who can. I worked for two radio personalities who did the morning drive shows on their stations. They managed to do it for over 30 years. Amazing. There has to be a little bit of insanity there somewhere…
While I was driving back home, yesterday, I was talking with a friend of mine who works at an inbound call center (there are ALOT of them in Boise). In spite of how they appear (you are just sitting at a desk and answering calls all day), they can be mentally and psychologically draining – sometimes because of inconsiderate customers and sometimes because of the drudgery of taking one call after another for 8 hours…
He was telling me how he and his wife (who works at the same call center) have to literally force themselves to go to work every day. It is especially difficult because he is an entrepreneur at heart and was working for himself until this recent economic downturn. There is something to be said for being in charge of your own financial destiny…
He and I are going to get together later this week to see if we can create a marketing/escape plan for him. This should be fun!
NOTE: The reason there are so many call centers in Boise, according to senior managers, is because we have no “regional accent”. I guess that’s a good thing…
© 2009 Moody Publishing Co
Out Of Work? Hire Yourself
By Ray Littrell
I found an interesting article in the Idaho Statesman, today, about hiring yourself by starting your own business instead of looking for a new job. Currently in Idaho, there are about 50,000 people out of work and 300 to 400 applicants for every job posting at the unemployment office.
While there are challenges to start ups, in the long run, there will be more businesses, providing more jobs and creative opportunities when the economy recovers than thre are now, according to the Statesman article.
The Baker City Herald also published an article earlier this month about a little-used program in Oregon that helps people become self-employed. “It helps unemployed workers (who fit the profile) set up a business on a full-time basis, and still receive full unemployment benefits,” said Debbie Gargalis, manager of the department’s Worksource Oregon centers in Baker City, La Grande and Enterprise.
Out of work? Think about hiring yourself. The short-term challenges could well turn into long-term benefits in a lot of ways.
Copyright © Moody Publishing Co., LLC
Feedburner
-
