Pros and Cons of self Employment – To be
Whether it is better to be self-employed or not depends on personal circumstances, the most important of which are:
Personal financial situationPersonality, including work-ethicVocation
1. A high-flying CEO of an international company earning a six-figure monthly salary, with annual bonus, stocks and bonds , access to the company golf estate villa, etc. etc. really has no incentive to go it alone. But those people probably don't read Helium articles or debates of this nature the fairly "normal" Joe Average working in an office job earning just enough to stay in the middle class, may find it tempting to go out there and start to sell his work for his own account only. Conversely, for those who have just lost jobs and find it impossible to get another, there may be no alternative.
If you do have an income, and there is no certainty that you will get work on your own (and that's a scenario deserving its own discussion) it is better to resist the temptation. One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
However if you can afford to live on capital for a few months, and there are no major debts to be paid (like a house bond), and you are reasonably certain of getting at least one assignment/project/deal, being self-employed can be a most liberating and energising experience from which you may never look back.
2. Being self-employed means working harder and longer than in any job. Week-ends, vacations, once-in-a-lifetime trips mean nothing if there is a deadline approaching. Self-discipline is exceedingly essential. Nothing should distract you from sitting down and working not the kids, or the game on TV, or the bright sunshine, or whatever. You must be able to work alone without prodding from an overseer or reminding to take shorter coffee breaks. People who like to talk a lot usually have great difficulty with this situation. Also, the phrase "that's not my job" goes out the window once you're self-employed. Everything is your job. Including handling taxes, accounting, paying dues and all the other legal paraphernalia this can be quite daunting.
3. Some jobs just do not lend themselves to self-employment while others are ideally suited for it. Most professional people can be very successfully self-employed. Think of doctors and lawyers their practice is essentially a vehicle for self-employment. Service people like electricians, plumbers, and mechanics are mostly self-employed. However, if you are trained as a museum curator or a nuclear physicist you are almost forced to work for an appropriate institution. Similarly the days when research scientists could potter around on their own somewhere in an attic, and also pay the bills are, alas, over.
The greatest advantage of self-employment is control over your daily life. You can decide when, where, for whom, for how much and how often you want to work. Once you have taken on a project you are committed to its requirements, but at least you go into it willingly and with your eyes open to the cost-benefit for yourself. This is so unlike working in a job where you very seldom have a choice about these issues.
Once you have been self-employed and achieved some measure of success, there is really no reason for going back to the grinding stone. However, do your research carefully before you throw your resignation letter on the boss's desk and make sure you have at least some chance of making it on your own!
