How to Succeed in Self-Employment

When people make a transition into self-employment, there's a lot of things they need to consider as a new self-employed professional. Even though you often still have a lot of the same skills as an employee in the same field, you need a different thought process to succeed. Here are some things I think are helpful to someone just starting out:

1) Get Yourself on a Schedule That Works For You:

One of the biggest advantages of self-employment is flexibility. When you're getting paid by the project instead of by the hour, a 9 to 5 and Monday-Friday format may not work for what you do. It may be easier for example to have 4 long days of 12-14 hours, but then you have 3 days off to do what you'd like. You may be more productive at 2 A.M. in the morning than most people are during the day. Factoring in the nature of your business, try to experiment and find what works best for you.

2) Always Be in a State of Learning About Your Field and Business in General:

When you work for yourself, often you don't have anyone directing you toward what you need to learn. You need to be very proactive about this. Subscribe to magazines and buy books related to your field. Go to seminars and workshops. Also, be sure to check with your accountant to find out what can and can't be considered business expenses as far as your taxes.

3) Learn How to Keep Your Finances in Line:

If you start doing this while your business is small, it makes things easier when you do grow. Take some time to learn how to track your finances and budget your business to where you'll grow with stability. Keep good records and have them all in one easy place such as a designated filing cabinet.

4) Become Active in Your Local Community:

When a lot of people talk about networking, they often make it sound like this cold static event where people shake hands and trade business cards. One of my favorite things about being self-employed is genuinely getting to know other people I wouldn't have met sitting in a cubicle all day.

5) Love What You're Doing:

One of the things I see people do a lot with their jobs is they live their life in compartments of job, family, hobbies, friends, church, and so on. It doesn't necessarily feel like the same life all the time as much as it does a series of roles that they're playing. Self-employment at it's best is more of a lifestyle than a career.

More Tips:

• Starting out, you're probably going to have to work more hours than the average 40 that many employees work. However, as your business develops and grows, things should gradually get a lot easier to the point you're better off than most employees within a few years. It's a trade-off that just involves a lot of delayed gratification.
• From my personal experience, it is better to keep your business debt-free from the beginning and grow slower than it is to leverage yourself into quicker growth that may or may not happen. I run my businesses through a checking account with a debit card and have never had any issues. Your bank statement serves as a back-up to your recorded income and expenses.