Sense of pride

Potential of growth and learning

Improved quality of life
Flexibility
Control over all business aspect
Use of your own skills
Disadvantages
Multitasking all the time
Socially isolated
Distraction at home
Unsteady pay
No more paid leaves
Paying more taxes

Sense of Pride

Growing your own business is often more satisfying than helping another company grow. You don't
have to become a nationally known brand to feel proud of what you've accomplished. It's often the
little milestones that mean the most when you're self-employed: finding your first client, moving to
your first commercial space, expanding to a second location. As your company grows, you can look
back to see how far you've come and know it's all because of what you started.

Potential for Growth and Learning

Self-employment gives you hands-on experience in all aspects of running a business. Working for
yourself requires you to be resourceful and may involve doing lots of research on different aspects of
business. That includes things such as sourcing materials, managing people, marketing a business
and handling bookkeeping. Those skills stay with you as you grow your business, start a new
business or even decide to go back to work for someone else.

Owning a business also gives you the chance to become an expert in your field. If you start a
computer repair service, people in your community see you as a good source of information. As you
continue learning more about computer repair and staying on top of the latest technology, you
continue establishing yourself as an expert.

Improved Quality of Life

Being self-employed isn't easy. It comes with unique stresses and responsibilities. The success of
the business lies on your shoulders. But being your own boss also opens you up for an improved
quality of life. When you're doing what you want to do, you may feel greater job satisfaction that you
could never achieve working for someone else.

You also have the power to structure your work environment the way you want it. You can work from
home to eliminate a long commute. Or you can find commercial office space in a part of town where
you want to work. Since you create the company culture, you can enjoy an environment that fits your
preferences, even if you grow and start hiring employees. For example, if you dislike the politics that
often happen in corporations, you can set up your business to avoid that.

1.

Control Over All Business Aspects

Tired of being told what to do and how to do it? One of the biggest advantages of self-employment is the
control you have over every aspect of the company. You decide what your company does. You choose the
target audience. You pick the branding elements that make your business unique.
You also have full control over things such as where the business is located and what hours you work.
When you're just starting, you might work on your business from home to keep your overhead low. In the
beginning, you'll likely spend a lot of hours building your business. That may mean putting in a lot more
than the standard 40-hour work week. As your business grows, you may be able to hire managers and other
employees to handle more of the workload so you can scale back your hours.

Being self-employed also means you get to set your own goals, company mission and standards. You're in
charge of the quality of the goods or services you offer. You choose all of the employees you hire, so
instead of getting stuck with co-workers you can't stand, you get to hand-pick the people you work with
every day. That ability to control everything can be motivating because you're doing something you're fully
invested in.

Use of Your Skills

You're creating a business from scratch, which means you get to decide the focus. For most people, that
means starting a company that focuses on an area of expertise or passion. You get to put your skills and
expertise to work in a way that's fulfilling to you. When you work for someone else, you're limited to the
scope of your position, even if that means some of your skills aren't being used. That can feel stifling.

On the other hand, as the owner, you can control what you don't do. If there are some aspects of running a
business that you don't feel comfortable doing or don't want to do, you can hire someone to do them. You
may not be in the market for a full-time employee, but many tasks can be outsourced to freelancers or
contract workers. Say you're passionate about gardening so you start your own landscaping business. But
the bookkeeping and marketing aspects are things you don't want to spend your time on. You can hire
experts in those areas to handle those parts of your business so you can focus on the work you love.

Flexibility in Your Work

A traditional job working for someone else usually requires set hours. Some companies offer flexibility, but
you'll still need to put in your time. You get a certain number of vacation days per year and that's it. When
you're self-employed, you have full control over your schedule. That means you get to decide when you
work and how much you work. The downside to that is that when you're not working, you're not making
money since you have no paid time off. But people with an entrepreneurial spirit often crave the flexibility
over the promise of a regular paycheck.
 If your business is internet-based, you also have flexibility in the location from which you work. As long as
you have access to the internet, which is basically everywhere these days, you can work. That means you
can travel with your family while still keeping your business running. If you want to live in another country
for a few months, you can do that. That location flexibility doesn't work with all self-employment options.
For example, if you start a brick and mortar boutique, you likely can't be away for too long, even if you
have employees. But you still have more flexibility overall to work how you want.

Multitasking all the time:

Since you are working as a freelancer, you will have all the responsibilities of
getting the project, executing it and closing it.

Socially you are isolated:

Being on your own comes at a price of being socially isolated. If you

are working alone then there would be no social gatherings like that of
corporate jobs. There will be no social contacts or friends that you could
make through your workplace.

It might get a little lonely after a while and you might begin to miss the
charm of working with a huge team and the celebrations that come with it
when you reach the milestones in your project.
Working alone might achieve your milestone but celebrating with yourself is
not that inviting and exciting!

Distractions at home:

Before getting comfortable working from you, you might want to think
about the various distractions that come with it.

If you have children then their running around and the urge to play with you
might distract you off from your work. Your helpers making the noise of
cleaning and other activities they do.

Unsteady Pay:

There is no guarantee that every month you would be getting a minimum of

say 1000 bucks. Some days or months you will earn exceptionally well while
you can also end up with no payment at all as you had no projects in hand.

You need to be ready to face the unsteady pay structure of being a

freelancer and plan your financeaccordingly. You need to be prepared for
the month where there would be minimal payment or no payment at all.

No more paid leaves:

There will be no more paid leaves for you. As a freelancer if you are working
on daily requirements and have taken few days off then there is a possibility
of you missing out on those requirements and hence on the monthly
payment.

You need to keep in mind that as a freelancer there is nothing called as paid
leave.

Paying more taxes:

Even if you’re a sole person working as a freelancer you would realize that
freedom from corporate world does come with a price.

You would end up paying a little more taxes than you used to as a corporate
employee. You would be responsible for filing your taxes on time.

- Industry and market disparities

- Process vulnerability/Process needs
- Incongruities
- Demographic shifts
- Changes in perception
- New knowledge
- Distribution or dealership
- Network marketing
They don’t worry that there are too many
They know it is easier to keep a client than to find a new
one
They are able to close a sale without even selling
They pay attention to what people around them say
They know that selling more isn’t the only business model
They don’t give up when they face critique or negative
opinion
They know that a NO now doesn’t mean ‘no’ forever
They know they need to be visible
They have high energy
They know their dream clients
They know their dream clients– their desires, their fears,
their dreams and limiting thought processes. They know
them, hence they are able to help them more effectively.

They have high energy – they do what they love with

passion. This way even the toughest tasks or problems
are transformed into lessons, which tell them what they
can do better next time.

They know that a NO now doesn’t mean ‘no’ forever –

they don’t panic, as they know sometimes the potential
clients may not be ready or may not be in need of their
services/products. They don’t burn the bridges and remain
in touch with their leads.

They pay attention to what people around them say – they

listen to their potential clients, even if they don’t buy in the
end, because they know the more they learn about the
market, the better product or service they can create. They
are also not afraid to ask questions, interview and develop
from the conversations they had.
Cameron, K.S. and Quinn R.E., 2006. Diagnosing and Changing
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Harnden, R.J., 1990. The Languaging of Models: The Understanding

and Communication of Models with Particular Reference to Stafford
Beer’s Cybernetic Model of Organization Structure. Systemic
Practice and Action Research: New York.

Tepstra, V. and David, K.,1991. The Cultural Environment of

International Business. 3rd ed. South Western Publishing: Cincinnati.

Zentes, J. and Swoboda, B., 1999. Motive und Erfolgsgrößen

internationaler Kooperation mittelständischer Unternehmen:
Überprüfung kontingenztheoretischer Hypothesen. DBW: Stuttgart.