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Fancy being your own boss?
Being self-employed has a huge list of benefits, from working your own hours to choosing exactly what type of work you want to take on. You make all of the decisions and the only person you need to answer to is yourself (and the taxman).
There are also a number of negatives when it comes to being self-employed, so it is not all a walk in the park. For example, you won’t get holidays or sick pay, in the way that people working for an employer will. You also have to set up your own pension scheme, so you won’t have employer contributions like many workers are entitled to through the company that they work for.
If you are thinking about going self-employed, an important thing to ask yourself is whether you are suited to it. Will you be motivated enough? Will you be able to persuade people to use your services? Can you earn enough money with the skillset that you have? There are a number of online tests that you can take to assess whether you are suited to self-employment.
Having the right skills or a good business idea is critical to working for yourself. Thanks to technology, a lot of people have been able to move into freelancing, where they can provide work such as design, writing and many other skills to companies online. It can work well for both sides, the company doesn’t have to employ full time staff and the freelancer gets to work for themselves; choosing what type of work that they accept.
There are also lots of other skills that are suitable for self-employment. A lot of tradespersons are self-employed, such as plumbers, electricians, builders and painters. Many of these types of skills can be certified by doing a quick course.
Another type of job that lends itself well to self-employment is tuition. This could be musical instruments tuition, educational tuition or even driving tuition. By registering with the necessary bodies/gaining the relevant qualifications you can soon start to make money from teaching people in whichever domain you have the skills for.
You can get lots of support and guidance from groups that other professionals in the same industry belong to. If you are going into driving tuition, you will be able to get assistance from the driving agency website and you can use websites that provide theory practice tests (get more information here).
Becoming your own boss could be the best decision that you ever make but before you make any big changes, make sure that you are prepared. There is a wide range of support available through the government to ensure that you comply with the legalities and you can also download a business plan template. By completing the business plan template, you will be able to assess how marketable your skills or products will be and understand how to develop an effective marketing plan to sell your services. You may even be able to pick up some tips from doing competitor analysis.
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