Self-Employment

I've been self-employed for the last two years, following ten years of employment as an engineer. I really enjoy the challenges and opportunities of being self-employed, but I can see advantages and disadvantages of self-employment vs. employment. I really believes it comes down to your personality and personal preferences regarding work. If you find yourself frustrated by management decisions, and genuinely find yourself wanting to set the direction, then self employment might suit you. It is important to be goal-orientated and self-disciplined. Self-employment will inevitably bring periods of plenty, and periods that are quieter. It is important ...  Read the complete review

Self-employment; only the seriously masochistic need apply. Having been self-employed for the best part of thirty years, I think I am ready to make a judgement on whether it's better to be employed or self-employed. You may be reading this because you are considering the possibility and I hope this article will aid your decision. Many years ago, I had a job advising people on new business start-ups. They would come into the office to explain their idea. 'Why do you want to be self-employed?', I'd ask. The answers were generally very similar - 'More money, more time, be your own boss!' 'OK, but what if I offered an alternative description; would you still ...  Read the complete review

I went self employed a long time ago - I started sub contracting in the 1980s, from a kind of agency, and after a few years of that, I'd really had enough, so I went in with another colleague I'd met there, and we've been working together - self employed, doing our own accounts, but cooperating constantly - ever since. And that's twenty years now, of successful self employment. I'm a counsellor, I started working professionally in 1987, when I was in my early thirties. I'd already had two previous professions - I'd worked in export finance and for national charities. The charity work opened my eyes to what was possible - that work could be positive, that ...  Read the complete review

I have a very good job, and have had ever since I left school, but after 10 years in the same place, I found myself stuck in the proverbial rut, and not sure how to get out of it. This coincided with the sudden death of my Father, who had not yet reached retirement age. I had been given the kick up the backside I needed - life is too short to be unhappy at work, and if I wanted to, I could do something about it. I didn't want to move from one rut to another, so I decided to retrain and do something completely different - I quite fancied learning reflexology, so I found an evening course and signed up. Not happy with just finding myself a new ...  Read the complete review

I have always been self employed, that is for the past seven years. I work as a private music tutor teaching from home, and as a composer. Like someone else said, it isn't for the feint hearted. It requires a lot of hard work and dedication, often for little or no return. The other side of the coin is that when the hard work and dedication pay off, it can be very rewarding. Even seven years on, I still feel like I'm finding my feet sometimes and I'm constantly finding new and improved ways of doing things. The biggest problem I have found is people's attitude towards the self employed. A lot of people still think it isn't 'proper' work, and I'm quite often asked 'when ...  Read the complete review