Do you want to know how to work for yourself? Many people who are a little tired of their full-time and part-time jobs decide to start a “side hustle,” which can be an e-commerce store, a freelance business, a food cart, or any other type of entrepreneurship.
Quitting your job and working for yourself looks like a great idea so many people become full-time entrepreneurs. However, there are many factors that you should take into account before you decide to pursue a new career.
Ready to learn how to work for yourself? Well, first of all, you won’t be able to quit your job until your side business grows and brings you enough money.
The transition from a regular employee to a solo entrepreneur requires preparation, and you should carefully move towards this goal step-by-step. If you want to start working for yourself, we recommend that you read this article so that you will know what to focus on.
Are you capable of working for yourself?
Before you decide to work for yourself, you should make sure that you are ready for it. All people are different, and not everyone is able to be self-employed. On the one hand, working for yourself gives you more freedom. On the other hand, you also get more responsibilities. Here are some questions you should ask yourself:
Are you good at decision-making?
First, you should understand that nobody will help you make important decisions. You are responsible for the success of your business and your brand. You should also be ready to accept criticism and to constantly work on improvements.
Are you disciplined enough?
To succeed, entrepreneurs need to adopt a proactive approach. So if you’re wondering how to work for yourself, then self-management is one of the most useful skills you will have to master. When you’re working for yourself, the ability to manage your time effectively is simply paramount.
For example, many people imagine freelancers sitting in their robe and watching TV all day long, while in reality, successful freelancers have to work a lot, planning their work hours and sticking to their schedule.
Do you need a stable income now?
When you have a nine-to-five job, it gives you a stable income. In contrast, working for yourself gives you no guarantee of when you’re going to get your next check, especially if you’re a beginner. You might need to wait for a long time until your business starts to bring you stable revenue.
Are you good at multitasking?
Even small businesses have multiple departments. When you’re a solo entrepreneur, you are the only one who works in all of these departments. Communication with clients, marketing, and accounting are just a few tasks that you will deal with on a daily basis. If different responsibilities and multitasking don’t scare you, it’s one of the signs you should be working for yourself.
How to work for yourself: 5 Key steps to success
1. Prepare your savings
As we’ve already mentioned above, when you work for yourself, you might need to wait before your job starts to bring you a stable income. In addition, you should prepare for expenses.
For example, if you’re going to be a freelance writer, you may need to pay for a website, your logo, ads, business cards, etc. All these things may cost you more than $3,000. Therefore, you should have enough money to get started.
2. Have an exit plan
As soon as people start a side hustle, they often ask themselves, “can I quit my job and work for myself?” The worst thing you can do is go all-in immediately after getting your first customers. We recommend that you keep your primary job until your side hustle starts to bring you enough money.
However, how much is enough? It’s up to you to decide what income allows you to quit your job and never come back. Set clear financial goals so that you can quit when you achieve them. You should have an exit plan to protect yourself from any unexpected circumstances.
3. Build your network
This is one of the most important steps to working for yourself. You should communicate with people from your industry and search for clients. You never know who will recommend you to their friends and colleagues, and when you’re a beginner, recommendations are crucial for your success.
A great way to build your network is to use LinkedIn because people rarely change their LinkedIn accounts, in contrast to phone numbers or emails. Communicate with people from your network often but don’t spam. Just let them know that you’re open for business.
4. Work as hard as you can
When you’re self-employed, you may often work more than when working for an employer. First, you will have to work twice as much as you used to before your business turns into a source of stable income because you will work on your primary job while also having your side hustle.
Besides, in an office job, you always have some people who can help you when your workload is overwhelming. When self-employed, there’s no one you can rely on so you should be ready to make short-term sacrifices to get long-term benefits.
5. Be ready to take risks
Starting a new business is always a risky idea, whether it be an e-commerce shop or freelancing. You will have to make investments, and even small investments might turn out to be quite risky.
To grow your business, you should get out of your comfort zone and be persistent, even if your efforts don’t bring the desired results at first.
10 Jobs that allow you to work for yourself
Here are some of the jobs that can be done from home and don’t usually require being present at the office. While most of them require either a professional background or in-depth knowledge in a certain area, some of them have low entry barriers and can be easily started on the side. For a full, in-depth list of the best work at home jobs, check out this article.
1. Bookkeeper/Accountant
If you’ve worked as an accountant or bookkeeper, nothing should stop you from working for yourself. Freelancing becomes more and more common so many entrepreneurs look for freelance accountants who can help them handle their taxes, expenses, and income. The best way to get started is to target other solo entrepreneurs because they always need such professionals.
2. Online English Teacher
This is probably the most obvious option for native English speakers. If you’re good at grammar, you can help millions of people from all over the world to learn English. You can work from home, and all you need is a computer and a stable internet connection.
3. Consultant
If you have in-depth knowledge in a certain area, you can make money by sharing it with others. For example, if you’re a professional lawyer, you can help small businesses with helpful advice.
If you’re an IT expert, you can consult your clients on how to adopt and use different types of software. To promote your business, you can create a website or blog, host webinars, and partner with influencers in your niche.
4. Web Designer
There are thousands of people who need their own website but most of them don’t have the necessary knowledge and skills to create it. Some of them use various online constructors, but those who are looking for high-quality websites know that the only solution is to hire an experienced professional.
Even if you’re a beginner, you can create simple websites for clients with limited budgets. Just create an account on one of the many freelance websites.
5. App Developer
This is one of the highest paying self-employed jobs. App developers are in great demand, and they have impressive average salaries of $100,000 a year. The main reason why app developers are so successful is that now we have apps for almost anything, from photo editing to fitness and grocery shopping.
On freelance websites, you can find hundreds of clients that want an app for their business.
6. Internet Security Expert
You can also work remotely as an internet security specialist. Your responsibilities will include monitoring networks for security threats and installing systems that protect data from hackers. As the importance of online security continues to grow, such a job becomes a great choice for people with the necessary knowledge.
7. Ghost Blogger/Ghostwriter
Ghostwriting is writing content on someone else’s behalf. There are many people who need high-quality content for their blogs or books. However, not all of them were born brilliant writers. If you’re a good writer, you can work as a freelance ghostwriter.
Quite often, such jobs pay better than other kinds of freelance writing because you have to both write content and match it with the author’s style. Perhaps, the only drawback of this job is that you cannot put your name on your work.
8. E-commerce Seller
Thanks to big online retailers, starting your e-commerce business is easier than ever. For example, if you want to sell your products on Amazon, the platform will do a lot of work for you. Amazon will help you ship your products to sell them directly from its warehouses.
In addition, Amazon provides customer service so you won’t need to worry about returns or other problems. Walmart’s marketplace is also very simple and doesn’t require you to pay setup or monthly fees.
9. Editor/Proofreader
These are also jobs that allow you to work alone. If you’re good at writing but you don’t want to create textual content from scratch, it can be a perfect option for you. Many people have good ideas and know exactly what they want to write but their poor grammar skills are a big problem.
You can edit and polish their writing so that they can publish it. Freelance writers also often need help from editors and proofreaders. Therefore, if you create an account on one of many freelance platforms, you will get orders from both regular clients and freelancers.
10. Social Media Marketer
Any business needs to build a strong online presence to succeed. However, managing multiple social media accounts not only takes a lot of time but also requires you to know the specifics of each social media platform.
It’s not enough to simply post content — you should also make sure that the right audience will see it, and that this content will fulfill its marketing purpose.
Therefore, if you have many followers on social media, keep up with the latest trends, and understand what content is the most effective, you can work as a freelance social media marketer, helping your clients increase their sales.
Pros and cons of working for yourself
As you can see, there are many options that allow you to leave your job and work for yourself. However, it must be an informed decision. Working for yourself indeed offers you many benefits that you cannot get in the office, but there are also numerous challenges that you should be aware of.
As you think about how to work for yourself, even the very first steps toward the new lifestyle of being your own boss can be scary. So is it worth it? Here are the key pros and cons of being self-employed.
Pros
First, you can have a flexible schedule. Many people hate to work 9 to 5 because they cannot find enough time for their families. When you work for yourself, you can manage your time more effectively, sticking to your own schedule.
You can work as much or as little as you want. However, you should understand that your income directly depends on how much time and effort you’re willing to put into your work.
A flexible schedule will enable you to balance your professional and personal lives. In addition, it will significantly decrease stress levels, making you more productive.
Another big advantage is that you don’t have a boss. Of course, some people have good bosses who understand the needs of their employees and don’t micromanage. However, quite often, bosses try to exploit employees or even act as bullies. If you have a terrible boss, you will certainly appreciate working for yourself.
If you have your business or startup, you don’t need to follow someone else’s orders. The same goes for freelancers.
You may also appreciate working for yourself if you have a hard time dealing with different types of personalities. When working for yourself, you still need to communicate with customers, but you get rid of the communication with managers and bosses.
An opportunity to avoid corporate politics is also one of the most common reasons to work for yourself. Big companies often have strict policies, and all employees have to comply.
If you think that a certain decision is wrong, or if you have a better solution, you may face problems with managers, and your critical attitude can damage your career in the long run.
When working for yourself, you don’t have to deal with the wrong decisions taken by someone else. You are the only decision-maker, and you have freedom of choice. No matter how you want to work, the main thing is to get the work done.
You can also grow professionally and experiment with different approaches. Big organizations often stick with proven methods and don’t want to experiment. As a self-employed professional, you can explore new approaches and strategies, with no need to ask anyone for permission.
Given that you don’t have a strict schedule, you can also find more time for professional growth. You can not only take courses and improve your skills but also explore other jobs, as well.
Cons
First, you should maintain a high level of self-discipline. When having a flexible schedule and working from home, you may find yourself wasting a lot of time procrastinating. Given that nobody controls you, you should be able to come up with an effective schedule and stick to it.
When starting a business, you should also make investing in your business the main priority. Quite often, beginner entrepreneurs need to cut their regular expenses to have more money for their business.
Another disadvantage of self-employment is that your progress can be very slow. Businesses don’t grow and expand in a day. You should be ready to put a lot of effort into your work and to be consistent in your efforts.
At first, you might feel disappointed because of the small amounts of profits. However, it shouldn’t stop you from moving towards success.
You should also understand that any failure can result in significant losses. When you’re a beginner entrepreneur, you have to cover any losses from your pocket. Therefore, you should make sure that you have enough savings to deal with unforeseen circumstances.
If you have a family, you should also discuss starting a business with them. Your loved one might not be ready for the fact that you’re going to invest all of your money in a business that isn’t going to bring enough profit at first.
Working for yourself also means a lack of job security. For example, when you’re working for a company that starts to face difficulties, you can simply switch the job and start to work for a more successful company.
This is not the case when you’re working for yourself. It’s not always possible to predict whether your business will bring profit or loss so you might feel insecure about your job.
Still, the freedom of being self-employed is definitely worth the risk for most people who are tired from typical 9-to-5 work grind. No matter how hard or frightening the world of self-employment may seem at first sight, figuring out how to work for yourself is worth all the effort.
Now go start working for yourself!
Many people ask themselves the same question: “Should I quit my job and work for myself?” To find the right answer, you need to analyze many important factors. On the one hand, working for yourself enables you to have more freedom, with no need to deal with bosses and managers.
On the other hand, you get much more responsibilities. Starting your own business might be a very difficult and stressful thing at first. However, if you’re determined and disciplined enough, you will certainly appreciate all the opportunities that self-employment can give.
So if you’re completely unsatisfied with your nine to five job, we hope that this article will motivate you to quit it and become a successful self-employed worker. Not ready to take the leap?
That’s fine, we hope that at least we gave you enough information on how to work for yourself so you can use it in future.
Thanks to the internet, people with different backgrounds and professions can work from home, creating their own schedules, and setting their own goals. Follow our tips, and working for yourself will be not as difficult as you might think. The main thing is to be ready to tackle challenges and to change your life.
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