So why would you want to become Self-Employed!

Starting your own small business can be both REWARDING yet STRESSFUL, and EXCITING yet SCARY.  Taking a business idea and developing it into a successful small business can be one of the most exhilarating ways to take control of your own life.

However before you start dreaming of your future success perhaps you should start by asking yourself a few pertinent questions: -

• Do you have the skills and attributes required to run a small business?    
• Can you deal with the isolation factor that often affects the self-employed?    
• Have you thought about your own Strengths and Weaknesses?

Many people start their own business to maximise their earning potential, but the fact is that there are very often many personal reasons why individuals become self-employed today.  So are you looking to: -    

• Take more control of your working day           
• Create more flexibility in your life        
• Build/restore self-confidence and self-esteem        
• Improve your quality of life        
• Get a better work-life balance    
• Spend more time with your family!

You may imagine that going-it alone is only going to affect your life but nothing could be further from the truth!. If you have a family you would be well advised to discuss your plans with them because their emotional support will be very important to you when the time comes to get going. There is no doubt that your business, and the effort you will have to put into it to get it going, will have an impact on your family.  It can be mega stressful getting a new business off the ground with often little or no time for anything else so get the basics right first and get your family on board and keep some balance in your life!

If you are not reallysure of the real difference(s) between Employment and Self-Employment then CLICK HERE and let the Inland Revenue tell you.

Finally there is one more point to think about. Becoming self-employed is no easy option and starting up a new small business will almost certainly mean saying goodbye to a regular 'wage', 4/5 weeks paid holidays, the company car and all the other 'perks' that often go hand in hand with 'having a job' and a regular income.  You need to think about this as you contemplate your future.  You will still have all the personal outgoings you had when you were employed only now you will have to ensure that your new business creates enough income quickly enough to allow you keep all these 'lifestyle' expenses going.