Pros And Cons Of Being Self Employed

Gone are the days when business belonged to a wealthy few, with the majority of the populace working for them! Times have undergone a dramatic change now. Today, you can start your own business, work as a freelance contractor or work from home. There are a wide range of options that are available for you. Being self employed means owning your own venture and running it. On a single line, it might look awesomely amazing, temptingly easy, extremely lucrative and an overall flawless plan. But there is more to it than what meets the eye. Like every good thing in life, there are a few negative points attached to the self-employment as well. The pros and cons that are related to this delicate career choice and the odds should be weighed before making your move. Browse through the list of advantages and disadvantages of being self employed and make your own decision. Choose wisely, because any mistake can make or mar your career.

 

You can utilize your time as per your wishes. Your work timings will be flexible and you will be able to choose the breaks you take, manage your own leaves and decide your own cut. Impressive? Moreover, you can work at a stretch and then take a long leave too. Since the quality of your work will not be judged by someone else, you would have no additional pressure. All you need to do is put in your best and rate yourself as per the performance parameter.

Remember that guy who kept nudging around, making life hell for you and taking out his personal frustrations on you. Well, you do not have to see that guy around anymore, because you practically become that guy now! Jokes apart, being your own boss can be real fun. The feeling of being in total control of what is going on is sure to give you an adrenaline rush every morning. So, if you are not the one who enjoy being pushed around or being made to feel incompetent, being self employed is the way to go.

There is nothing that beats the feeling of sweet satisfaction for oneself. You will start feeling better when you realize that you are responsible for all the good things happening in your life. Just like choosing the kind of work, you will also be able to choose your own targets. These targets may be difficult, but will mostly be achievable and the sheer satisfaction that you get in achieving these will add to the overall ‘feel good’ factor.

Take a survey and you would fine more than 50% of the people not satisfied with their work. The feeling of dissatisfaction in the minds of the employees is one of the major nuances that are donning almost every workplace. It is here that self employment takes a big edge. Self employment gives you a liberty to choose your career. Choosing a profession would mean that you love your work and enjoy doing it. This would also mean that your are having fun at work, something that is not at all necessary with other jobs or offices. Having fun at work is extremely important in professional life, as boring work life can really affect your career negatively.

 

It is a universally known fact that corporations and bigger companies do not really provide employees with their fair share of profits. From a single employee’s work, the company may be makings thousands of dollars a month, but the person would only be paid low salaries which are fixed. This is albeit working at your full potential on your designated position. In contrast to this, self employment gives you an opportunity to reap the benefits of your work. Since you know that all the profit gained would be your own, you would be working harder than usual. Not only would your personal performance rise, but the company would also do well.

 

When you head a business venture, you naturally have more responsibilities to take care of. The level of stress and tension is comparatively way too high in self employment. This becomes all the more evident in case of one-man show, wherein everything which happens is that person’s responsibility. This can make you feel a bit burdened and weighed down. Ideally, self employment is not for ones who can’t handle their own work and responsibilities.

We had mentioned the freedom that you may possess in choosing your own work schedule and timings. But will it really come into effect, if your clients are working on fixed schedules or you are behind schedules? Putting in extra hours without getting any overtime can really be messy and stressful. It will hurt more if you have a family, which you can’t give much time or if you have best of buddies who might think you are ditching them.

 

In some cases, getting the total control of the business reduces to just an illusion. You may have loaned the capital or may be your venture started off with a financer’s help. Now, for better output from their investment, these people would try to maintain a vigil on your advances and interfere in company control.

The biggest and most fearsome risk is failure. If your venture fails, you must be ready to take the fall. The company can decide the course of your career and in some really bad cases, even your future. Some financiers can really strangle you and some business failures can literally leave you bankrupt. Whatever is the case, you must always be ready for failure. Do not expect failure at all times, but be ready to accept failure any time.