Are You Ready for Self-Employment?

You might know of a friend, family member or colleague who recently quit their job to pursue the adventure of being self-employed. You might be considering the leap yourself as the need for independence is steadily rising among ordinary workers.

In America alone, an estimate of 27 million people will join the ranks of the self-employed by 2020. As the gig economy grows, more opportunities are revealing themselves to people, thus growing the need to become self-employed.
As you consider this option, it is important to decide whether you have it in you to become self -employed. Here are a few characteristics you might have to tell if you are ready for independence.

1. A Strong Need to Acquire New Skills
Self-employed people thrive on up-skilling themselves and acquiring new ways of working and seeing the world. Learning is a lifelong journey, so this trait supercedes age, gender, and ethnicity. A self-employed person is usually self-taught or well-read, and/or holds a degree or masters. An education combined with a desire to continue learning is a good place to start.

A freelance content writer might consider joining a term paper writing service to earn a steady income. There are always new avenues to make money in self-employment and that is why it is important to focus on learning new skills to challenge yourself and succeed in self-employment.

When you are stuck in the humdrum of a traditional job, increasing your skills set may be compromised and this might be the reason you pursue self-employment. Instead of the daily routine and predictability of a 9-5 job, self-employment takes one out of their comfort zone into a space of constant learning.

2. How Does Your Money Look?
Self-employment removes the financial security of expecting a salary every month. The shift comes with a lot of challenges, and you need to stay one step ahead of them. One way to get ahead of challenges is by ensuring that you are financially secure enough to take the leap.

Before you take the leap, you might consider taking advice or mentorship from someone who is already self-employed. Money is hard to come by and every cent counts when you are self-employed. One of the ways to gain self-employment is by providing services in the email marketing for B2B prospects.

Financial security not only comes from steady work but from already having some saved up for a rainy day from your salary. Financial difficulties are extremely hard to overcome and may push you into a corner of not believing in yourself or being depressed.

If you are still studying and you have some custom coursework, you may consider finding some help to keep your head above water. You can prepare yourself for self-employment by taking the following steps:

- Save as much as 50% of your salary.
- Pay off outstanding debts - the last thing you need is creditors hounding you while you are trying to get your venture started.
- Budget for your needs and ensure that you stick to it.
- Always have something saved for a rainy day.

3. Ready to be Your Own Boss?
Being your own boss means that you need to motivate yourself to stay focused, with nobody tapping on your shoulder or keeping tabs on you. Completing your tasks on time and avoiding procrastination.

Self-motivation can be hard at times but the focus is important. You need to have a strong desire to take control of your destiny. Working with a company like resume writing services may ensure that you are able to work towards achieving your goals by outsourcing writing services.

Some of the best paper writing services like my perfect words have also become a steady way to earn an income for self-employed writers. The work is interesting as you deal with students from varied backgrounds and from all across the globe.

The work is mainly centered around theses, dissertation writing, college essays and term papers for college and university level students. Not only is it a great source of income, but it also enhances your knowledge of the subject that you are working on. And all of this from the comfort of your home. In peak season, your income can be many times higher than the usual.

As the term "self-employed" dictates, you are largely responsible for how your business turns out and how you strategize in offering your services. To determine how self-reliant you are, you should answer the following questions positively:

- Do you know how to accept responsibility for your mistakes?
- Do you trust your decisions and are you able to stand by them no matter what?
- Do you have a wide range of practical skills?
- Are you good at looking after yourself?
- Are you able to deal with feelings of negative emotions?
- Do you have a healthy way of expressing your feelings? (e.g. a hobby)

4. Are you confident in your skills?
Confidence is key in achieving business success and in keeping your momentum going against all odds. In self-employment, things can go horribly wrong and confidence in solving a bad situation comes in handy.

This means that if you have a weak character, then you might not be suited for the journey without confidence in your ability to push through hard times. You need more than optimism to operate a functional business. Rather, you need to rest assured that you can solve any problem that comes your way.

Self-employment is a challenge on its own that requires self-determination and self-motivation. Success is rooted in confidently applying what you know to your daily operations.

5. How do you deal with rejection?
Rejection is probably the most central aspect of being in business for yourself, as not everyone you approach or pitch to will bite.

Do you have the ability to remove emotions from your perspective and focus on the positive aspects of feedback, even if it is negative? Dealing with rejection positively means that you will be able to handle some of the blows that come with day to day business dealings.

If you no longer find a sense of happiness in your full-time job, it might be due to a lack of challenges. Most self-made people thrive on challenges and diverse feedback, which is why you might be considering this brave leap into self-employment.

Dealing well with rejection even when it hurts, adds a sense of satisfaction to your work as long as you understand everything as a learning process. Rejection also builds a solid understanding in you of what works for your solo business and what does not.

A clear vision and focus enable you to understand rejection as not being part of your overall goals. This provides ample opportunity to learn through your mistakes.

The bottom line
Taking the leap into starting your business starts off with a good knowledge of your industry and the willingness to learn new skills and take on fresh challenges. Understanding whether you have the above-mentioned traits will determine if you have what it takes to succeed in running your own business.

The perks of running your own business include setting your own
hours, choosing assignments that excite you and being able to plan around creating more flexibility in your daily life. The most important thing is being prepared for hard times as much as looking forward to the positive aspects.

Opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of WITI.