Great if you stand firm (Self-Employment)

Member Name: dcmbarton

Product:	Self-Employment
Date:	26/12/08 (22 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: There are so many advantages, all too numerous to list

Disadvantages: There are few disadvantages, but I find that people still have a negative attitude towards the SE

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 are you going to get a proper job?' The government seems to hold an equally unhelpful opinion on the self employed which basically says that you make your bed and lie in it. If you can make it work, there are an awful lot of advantages to it. Just stand firm and don't let clients walk all over you. I now have to have contracts in place to make sure that I can claim unpaid fees etc. This is a growing problem

Summary: Stand your ground and don't let anyone put you off!