I wanted to write an article about going self employed for a couple of reasons. First, in the current economic climate, many people are losing their jobs and being forced into a situation where they are either having to go self employed or remaining unemployed. And which would you rather be? Certainly not unemployed, that’s for sure!
Secondly, although it’s certainly possible to get rich working for someone else, you put yourself in control of your own destiny when you go self employed. You are the one who makes the decisions about what to do with your time and energy, you are the one who reaps the benefits when things go well and you are the one who carries the can if things go wrong (and believe me, there are many things that can go wrong when you work for yourself!)
So the first question you are probably asking is “how do I go self employed?” Well, although there are various aspects to it, it’s a lot less difficult than you may think. First of all, you need to have a think about what it is you are going to do. You need to ask yourself some serious questions. What product or service can you offer to the market? Who will be your customers? Where are those customers located? How will you reach them? How will you convince them to buy what you are offering? How will you deliver those products and services? Who are you competing against? How will you differentiate yourself? Why would people want to buy from you? And one of the most important questions of all, how will you finance yourself and your new business?
If you can answer these questions, you are in a good position. Congratulations, you have taken the first step in going self employed!
But having ideas and answering questions in your own head (or writing those answers down, which is better because it helps you clarify your thoughts) is only one small step and is, quite frankly, the easy part. The hard part is actually knuckling down, getting started and doing the work. Think about this for a second. How many self-employed people do you know? How hard do they work? I’ll bet they are some of the hardest-working people you know.
So you’ve decided to go for it. Where do you start? Well, depending on which country you are in, there are various resources you can check out if you are looking for help going self employed. A good place to start is always your local chamber of commerce. They usually can provide you with all sorts of guides and information on how to go self employed, which are worth checking out. It’s also worth visiting your bank manager and discussing your ideas with him/her. Again, they will be able to provide you with useful guidance.
You will also need an accountant, so take a look around and see if there are any in your area who specialize in helping new businesses get off the ground. Talk to a few before you decide which one to go with.
Once you’ve made your decision and taken the plunge, you won’t regret it. Going self employed can be one of the most satisfactory experiences of your life, as well as one of the most challenging. But if you are up for it, it is definitely worth it!
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