Self-employment Support?

[leslieann]

I am in my second year of self-employment, after a whole career of working in salaried positions. I am painfully aware of the limitations of my situation. I have to work to earn money. When I take time off, I don't earn money. I don't have a pension plan (they still have those here in Canada, at least in the public sector), I don't have unemployment compensation or disability benefits (I could pay for them but boy, are they EVER expensive) and did I say that I don't have vacation? I have lots of flexibility...sort of. In my work, I schedule appointments with clients several weeks in advance and these are face to face meetings. I don't do work for people in between sessions, I just get paid for the session (lawyers have a better compensation model when self employed). ETA correction: I do some work between sessions but don't usually get paid for it.

On the positive side, I can earn a lot if I am willing to work a lot. There does seem to be a demand for my services but of course that could change. Oops, that's not on the positive side, is it? I work out of a space I added to my home, so there is nice flexibility there and it keeps costs low. Lately, though, I have been looking at the no-benefits side and wondering how I can provide myself a similar safety net to what my DH has with his long term public sector job.

I have been thinking about applying for a job, but when I really consider it, I realize that I do enjoy not having to answer to anyone, taking a day when I need it (even though I have to schedule it pretty far in advance), and working on stuff that I am particularly interested in. So I guess for me this self employment is a good option. (My years as a prof were pretty good, too, though....lots of autonomy plus a salary and benefits.....).

I can't wait to hear about what you are planning, fidgie, but good idea to take time with the house project going on. Looks wonderful, by the way!

[puglogic]

Great thread to start, fidgie! I'm self-employed, and although I sometimes worry about things like unemployment, cost of insurance, and all of that, I don't think I could go back to working for someone else (a partnership, maybe)

It's good to have a home office because I can have the dogs with me all day, save on gas and eating out, play "mood music," and all of those good things. But sometimes things happen like this afternoon: I was on a conference call and there was this huge crash from right below my window. I looked out the window and down onto the back of a huge elk that had knocked over the compost container and was helping himself. Luckily my client thought it was funny too!

A big kick for me lately has been keeping up with John Williams and his http://screwworkletsplay.com web site. His book's all about self-employment in creative fields, with good emphasis put on earning your first "playcheck"

Looking forward to hearing how you fare, what you choose to do, etc. There's a lot of opportunity out here.

[mtnlaurel]

Those of you that have replied, could you share what fields you are in?

[Bastelmutti]

I am a translator. Going it alone is the norm in my business - many companies have gotten rid of their translation depts. in recent years or have transformed them into project management depts. Some people do work for companies or the government/agencies/courts, etc., but there are many, many freelancers (and agencies - some more mom-and-pop than others).

[flowerseverywhere]

I always worked for "the man" but yesterday I had an interesting experience that I think could be helpful to people here.

Yesterday I called a local petsitting service because I will be out of town for a few weeks when the new grandchild comes. I wanted to have someone in place that will come to my house to care for my cats. Of course, cats only need a visit every day or two not like dogs.
I called a woman who had advertised in the paper. She told me she relocated here in May and once she put some ads out she has been absolutely so busy. There was no-one anywhere near here who was insured, bonded and licenced to do this service. She gets calls from people who are twenty and thirty miles away, but her limit is 15 miles round trip, and she has more than enough business to make a full time living. She also will take in your mail and paper, and put your garbage to the curb if you want. Price is $15 per half hour which includes litter boxes, food and petting and visiting with the cats (I live in a low cost area where you can get a decent house for less than $125,000). With two cats boarding it would be three times that per day and I don't think they would get personal attention.
I have no idea how you would break into this but I thought was a great way to make a living if you are an animal lover.

One more thing, sicne I only work on call I have slowly built up a sewing business. I am very far from making any kind of decent wage but you would be surprised how many people are looking to have hems done, buttons sewn on etc. Not my favorite thing to do but I make a little money here and there. I am currently making placemats out of fabric to match someones drapes they had made. Not a lot of money but some.

[fidgiegirl]

flowers, do you find that doing the sewing for your own business makes it more enjoyable? I'm trying to say that I read in Making a Living Without a Job that it's a whole different deal to do certain work when it is for yourself, or the tasks related - like stuffing envelopes. That's why I like her profit center model and am really working toward that. You could start with the sewing and the petsitting, and if one grew big enough or you thought of another, you could drop the sewing if it was no longer profitable.

I also find people are scared of the sewing machine. Not that I'm good at it, and probably take way too long accomplishing sewing tasks . . . haha but I can usually get 'em done in some way or another!

[Bastelmutti]

Petsitting - that is a good idea. We pay a friend $15 to take care of our cats in the same way, but this is a higher COL area, so the market rate would undoubtedly be higher. Not bad, esp. for cats (no walking).

[Bastelmutti]

flowers, do you find that doing the sewing for your own business makes it more enjoyable? I'm trying to say that I read in Making a Living Without a Job that it's a whole different deal to do certain work when it is for yourself, or the tasks related - like stuffing envelopes. That's why I like her profit center model and am really working toward that. You could start with the sewing and the petsitting, and if one grew big enough or you thought of another, you could drop the sewing if it was no longer profitable.

I also find people are scared of the sewing machine. Not that I'm good at it, and probably take way too long accomplishing sewing tasks . . . haha but I can usually get 'em done in some way or another!

Is that book saying that the tasks are more enjoyable because you are doing it for yourself? I have also heard the converse is true. A lot of people like to do crafts, but if you make 100 prs. of earrings for a craft show, it can get tedious and kill the fun of the craft.

[catherine]

A different attitude toward your tasks does occur when you're doing it for yourself. When I was in corporate, I got a salary no matter what I did. So I tended to subconsciously look at the task as whether or not I was happy doing it. If I was working a 70 hour week, you can bet I wasn't that happy doing my tasks, no matter what they were.

But now, doing the same tasks for myself, I do think about the intrinsic "enjoyment score" of each task, but I get a bit more satisfaction in being able to say, "oh well, this task is not fun, but it's my car payment (or, half my mortgage, or the phone bill, etc.)." For instance, I had to write a report over Christmas, when I was visiting my kids. If I had to write the report at my salaried job, I would have been resentful having to work over the holidays. But I was able to tell myself, OK, it's a few hours away from the kids today, but it pays for Christmas and our visit to see them.

There's more of a direct link between the sowing and reaping as it were.

AND there's the added benefit of recognizing that I took on the work. It was my choice. I could have turned it down. Try telling your boss, "nah, I don't want to write that report. I'm visiting my kids."

[Float On]

We've been self-employed and incorporated since '97. Today I'm sitting down to do one of my least favorite tasks. Quarterly taxes. It wouldn't be so bad if I just had to do our state and federal but because we travel to do art shows I've got more on my plate. Some states only require a sales tax report right after a show (easy) but I've got 8 other states that require me to fill out quarterly reports, every quarter as well. Each one is different. And by far Texas is the worst. They treat us like a franchise owner (like a McDonalds). Their reports are the worst for an out of state incorporated company.