As I mentioned in recent posts, I have been working for myself for just over a year now. I’ve been a business owner off and on for nearly 20 years, but this is the longest stretch during which I’ve done it full time. It’s also been my most successful.
I used to think working for someone else provided job security. It gave me a steady and dependable paycheque, defined work hours, and great benefits.
Then I was laid off twice in three years.
Over the past 13 months, I’ve grown to love working for myself. In fact, last week, I discussed 6 things I love about working for myself. To be fair, I thought I should point out things I don’t like about it.
1. I work long hours
I tell people that I don’t work 9–5, I work 5–9. That’s actually pretty typical. I have plans to hire employees in the near future, but before I can do that, I need enough work for them to do. Until I do that, I have to do all of the work.
2. I get no holidays
In the last 13 months, I have taken two weekdays off: Christmas and my uncle’s funeral. For Christmas, I moved all of my work to the following Saturday. For my uncle’s funeral, I spread my work throughout the other days; in fact, it took me three days to recover from the backlog.
Because I am my only employee, if I don’t work, the work doesn’t get done. If I took holidays, I either charge my clients for work I didn’t do, or I give them a reduced rate and take home less. So, no holidays.
3. Saturday is my Friday
I take Sundays off. It’s the only day I take off. As a result, Saturday is to me what Friday is to everyone else. I have a six-day work week.
4. Pay is intermittent
Some clients take months to pay me. Some clients have me do small job which are only, say, $10 or $20 worth. It’s difficult to budget when you have no idea how much money you’ll make, especially in the initial stages of the business. Things are starting to stabilize, so I expect this to be less of an issue before long.
5. People forget I’m working
Every so often, I will get a phone call from someone asking me to help them with something during the day. Sometimes I can help, but usually I can’t. They always seem to phone when I’m trying to meet a deadline, too.
Are you your own boss? What do you hate about it? Or do you love everything about it? Let me know in the comments below.
I appreciate your honesty – the first year is hard for everyone. As someone who has been self-employed since 2000, I can tell you that it does become easier in the long-run. What made it easier for me is developing systems that serve you and your clients more efficiently, also staying focused on acquiring and retaining your ideal clients (and letting those who are not very profitable and/or fulfilling to serve fall away).
Those are good suggestions, Stephen. I can already see a difference between now and a year ago, when I started. :)