Editor's Note:
Leaving the security of your employment for the world of being a self-employed
entrepreneur is risky and requires much thought and planning. But
becoming an entrepreneur is something that means having a plan in
place, and knowing exactly why you want to do it.
There are many
reasons to own your own business. Many of these reasons are
good, others are not. Making a career move to
self-employment should not be precipitated by a catastrophic event
and it shouldn't be the only thing left, and something that you
otherwise don't want to do.
When To Make
Your Career Move To Self Employment
by: Bill Frist - Staff Writer
Self-employment isn't for wimps.
The decision to abandon your previous job is a mind-bender at
best. Even if you are not currently employed, choosing the
self-employment route is risky and time-consuming and there is
definitely the risk that while you are working on this
self-employment venture, you will pass up other opportunities.
So why are you thinking of
self-employment as a viable option anyway? What are your motives?
Or is it simply another option? Here are just a few
questions you should answer for yourself before choosing
self-employment:
Is this something you really
want to do or is this the only thing left because you've not found
anything else?
Being an entrepreneur should not
be entered into lightly. It should never be your default
option because all others have failed. Sure, experiment with
it on the side until you land something else or even just to get
the feel. But making a full-scale movement into the often
wild and wacky world of being self-employed should never happen
just because you don't have something else to do.
Do you have what it takes to
be your own boss?
With nobody to answer to if you
don't start until 10 AM, will you have the personal discipline
that it takes, day after day?
Can you tolerate long hours of
working by yourself?
Self-employed people generally
work alone - A LOT!
Does your family support you?
Being self-employed is a risky
venture and one that should be considered by all family members,
especially a spouse. Their future is on the line too you
know.
Do you have a specific field
in mind for self-employment?
That sounds like a strange
question, but many people don't. They like the idea of
self-employment, but they haven't got a clue and they are simply
out there searching. There's nothing wrong with that so long
as the decision isn't make hastily and/or without due
consideration of the downsides as well as the upsides.
Do you have adequate
experience/education in the field of choice?
Self-employment means that you
are responsible for your own income and that is going to be held
back quite a bit if you are in the middle of the learning curve
for your chosen profession. It probably also isn't going to
help you land clients either.
Can you wear all the
self-employment hats that you must wear?
There's nothing saying you cannot
hire bookkeepers and other service professionals, but you must be
able to afford to do so. You also must realize that there
are certain people you probably will not be able to hire.
You probably cannot hire salespeople until your company actually
has some clients and some sales to show.
Are you a good decision maker?
Running your own company means
that you are the boss. You gather the information, decipher
it, put it together and then YOU make the decisions. You
will take all the credit, but all of the blame as well. You
will make the bucks, but you will also suffer the losses.
Are you prepared to work long
hours?
Self-employment means being
tough, working hard, and working long hours - no exceptions
despite what those silly infomercials tell you. Let's face
it, if there were really a plan to make $60,000 a year in your
spare time, don't you think everyone would do it?
Being self-employed means that
you may have to delay or eliminate vacations or possibly bring a
laptop with you so that you can work while you are gone. If
you don't, it means that the work is still there when you get
back.
Do you have a place to work?
Okay this sounds a bit silly, but
let's be real. Self-employment isn't going to happen at your
kitchen table unless you just happen to be single and living
alone. You need a place to call your own where you can close
the door and just do business.
Do you have the necessary
finances to support yourself and your business?
That may be the biggest
self-employment question of them all. Most businesses are
not going to have adequate customers to support the business the
first week, the first month, and often not even the first year.
You can figure on having to have other means of support for 1-3
years on average.
