If you are considering self employment you need to think about whether self employment will really address your current dissatisfactions and whether it will really help you achieve your dreams.
“What the hell do you want to work for somebody else for? Work for yourself!” said Irving Berlin to George Gershwin.
Many people hold the dream that working for themselves would solve all their problems. And for consultants who are used to serving clients and have specialist expertise to offer it can seem like an natural career move to make. If you are one of those people think about it, then think about it again, then think about it some more.
If you haven’t really thought through why you want to become self-employed, stop right there! For the simple answer to anyone who hasn’t really examined their reasons is – DON’T DO IT!
For some, self-employment is the best decision they ever made.
Others find that the reality is a terrible shock.
As someone who is self-employed and loves it, I can vouch for the fact that working for yourself has a lot going for it. You have freedom to work in your own way, you have scope to work creatively, you have a wide variety of tasks to complete and accountability only to yourself. You can work to your own time clock, set your own (achievable) standards and avoid the stress and politics that come with any bureaucratic structure.
But working for yourself – whatever your business – is NOT easy!
If it were easy, everyone would do it.
And if it were easy, three-fifths wouldn’t go under with in the first three years.
It takes courage, hard work, and, most probably, some luck too and there are a number of factors working against it. When there’s only you, you have responsibility for everything and have to take on tasks that you once considered well beneath your status. It can be very lonely with little if any colleague interaction or friendship. Since you’re always in charge, there’s no deferring and you can be often torn between priorities and juggling the many factors beyond your control.
People who make a success of becoming self-employed are motivated to put up with these less favourable factors because the benefits far outweigh the downsides. They know what they really want out of life, they’ve identified that self employment will help them achieve it and they’re prepared to put in the necessary effort to make it happen.
Only you can make a success of starting up a new business. So, from the outset you need to know, deep down inside, why you want to do this.
None of the following is a good basis for going it alone:
1. You have a fight with your boss and resolve never to work there again
2. You fail to get a promotion in the organisation and think you can do better on the outside
3. You are made redundant, fired or similar and think it is an easy option until another job comes along
4. You go on holiday and decide you want to live in a French/Italian/Spanish/Greek hamlet and raise pigs/wines/olives (delete as appropriate).
Discord, disappointment, desperation and daydreaming are not good reasons in and of themselves. That’s not to say that these elements might not be part of the mix but, like all things that are ultimately successful, trying to go it alone takes planning and commitment to the idea.
But most of all, it takes ENTHUSIASM, a real desire to realise a life goal and the will to succeed.
If you are considering self employment you need to think about whether self employment will really address your current dissatisfactions and whether it will really help you achieve your dreams.
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Antoinette Oglethorpe specialises in helping business leaders and professionals take control of their careers and realise their ambitions. Her special report on How to become self-employed confidently and successfully is available for download.
