According to a 2019 study by Upwork and the Freelancers Union, more than 57 million Americans were engaged in freelancing. Several newcomers think of becoming self-employed as they prefer to have freedom of choosing the type of work, control life, and maybe their destiny too. Mostly these people are business owners, freelancers, professionals working as independent contractors, etc. This blog will give you an overview of what is self-employment and why people prefer it.
What is Self-Employment?
Self-employment means conducting independent work irrespective of time, place, and money for your benefits and not on the behalf of another person or by any third party. You will receive extra edges in entrepreneurship such as you can be your own boss, setting your working hours, working from home and spend time with family while working. Isn’t it mind-blowing? So let’s go through the reasons people prefer self-employment over a traditional job.
Reasons to become self-employed:
Workers in the corporate environment hesitate to give up on steady monthly checks therefore traditional 9 to 5 job grants them a perfectly acceptable way of life. Despite having complete financial security, some people choose to become self-employed for different reasons. We have chosen 10 reasons among plenty of them to make it easy for you.
1. Work from home
Not every company provides the facility of working from home for employees. But being self-employed can transform your home décor at the workplace. This will help to reduce the transportation costs and manage your personal and professional life. It avoids the rush of traffic, which is the indivisible part of the routine of working people. You can choose the work environment as per your choice to enjoy your work.
2. Better work life balance
When you are self-employed, you can work according to your comfort and can manage workload more flexibly according to the schedule. You can also manage your working hours and decide how much work you want to do. It allows you to take-offs as per your convenience or can have unplanned vacations too. This freedom of creating your timetable might bring work-life balance, which is very essential.
3. You can grow your skill set and knowledge base
People often leave their routine jobs and choose to become self-employed as they’re unable to grow on a professional level because of existing limitations at work. You can learn to fulfill customer acquisition, finance, marketing, accounting and other aspects of running a business in your space. You will get the time to educate yourself in the field where you see the future and better opportunities.
4. You get the freedom to choose your own clients
While working at a specific company, choosing colleagues or clients is out of your control. These clients might burden you with additional responsibilities beyond your job. Well, when you are self-employed you can decide your clients to work further and the ones who suit your working style and preferences. Similarly, you can make some value addition to the work culture if your ideas match them.
5. You can earn more and spend less
You are free to manage your sources of income and expenditures when you are self-employed. You can study financial resource management and educate yourself as well as others about investment tools. Also, you may save money on fuel, vehicle maintenance, health insurance, etc. You can be a partner with other businesses, allies and investors to get the share in profits as well. This is a cherry on your cake of extra hard work.
6. You can follow your passion
Being passionate about your dreams and working for them every day is the best definition of success. If you choose to become self-employed then the sky is the limit! You can explore in your career as much as you want. When you are working as a routine employee, you are granted a number of responsibilities and it limits your creativity as a human. However, being self-employed offers you the reward of getting self-satisfaction at your work. You feel empowered to acquire a proper work-life balance.
7. You can regain control of your life
When you are an employee, your immediate manager and employers seem to control your work-life and you often have to ask for their permission. This can stop you to take the control of your life and take your decisions. Nevertheless, when you are self-employed, you are your own boss and get to control your life the way you want and can challenge your potential to start over.
8. You can infuse your values into your business
When you are working for someone else, you have to follow their values and be true to them, even if you do not agree with them. Here you get the opportunity to follow your principles and hire people with similar mindsets. That’s how small startups become huge business adventures as their belief systems match with each other and there is less friction while working together.
9. You are more fulfilled
Being a self-employed person offers you time and scope to help by creating job opportunities for others. You are in a position to shape the economy by creating income sources for people based on their skill set. Aside from helping them financially, you are also providing a platform for them to practice their craft and improve their performance. You are making a value addition in society. This might give you the feeling of self-fulfillment.
10. You can build meaningful networks
As there is no limit for income, growth, and knowledge base in self-employment, there is a wide scope for building meaningful networks. In a traditional work environment, you have to work with your team every day have less chances to broaden your relationships and nurture them at the professional level. In your own business you can establish direct lines of communication with your customers and connect with them in a meaningful way.
Live Your Dreams
You can leverage numerous self-employment opportunities to make your dreams come true. There are more benefits than risks if you are brave enough to implement your idea into reality. These 10 reasons will illuminate your perspective for becoming self-employed person. In short, some people want to follow their passion while doing a job and entrepreneurship offers you the liberty to implement your plans. Hence, you might agree with businessman and speaker Farrah Gray, who said, “Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.”
Trupti Munde
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