Self-Employment is a growing career option for many people. Approximately 6.6% of the work force makes their living in this category, or over 8.5 million workers nationwide. This category represents a wide spectrum of jobs such as: graphics, gardening, plumbers, accountants, human resources, photography, just to name a few categories. It covers every conceivable skill level and opportunity, from white collar to blue-collar jobs.

Although self-employment is an option for many people, it is not the right fit for everyone. It must be something you want to do, have to do, and not for lack of choice or lack of thinking about the process.

A great resource book entitled, Making It on Your Own, by Sarah and Paul Edwards, will assist with your thinking process (whether or not self-employment is in fact a career option for you).

Why People Go into Self-Employment?

• People venture into self-employment for a variety of reasons:
• Having a great idea or product
• Wanting to have more control over decisions and their destiny
• They are stagnant in their current jobs
• They want to make a difference
• Joseph Anthony, author of, Working for Yourself (Kiplinger Books) recommends that those considering self-employment have a variety of skills, motivators, and attributes, for example:
• Having Self-confidence
• Sense of timing or business intuition
• Viewing security as a state of mind
• Willingness to invest in your savings
• Ability to live with irregular checks
• Competitiveness
• Comfort with not receiving a regular check

He also gives the reader practical tips that will help in good or bad times. Anthony also alludes to three prevailing myths among those considering starting a business:

Myth 1: You don’t have anyone to answer to.

Wrong. In fact, the reality is that you have many customers, vendors, partners, and governmental agencies to whom you must report. Whether or not you work for yourself or for work for someone else, ultimately, there is someone to whom you need to report and to whom you are accountable.

Myth 2: Self-Employment is easy.

Many self-employed workers state that work goes well beyond the traditional 8-5 hours. Being a self-employed person requires using a range of skills and talents, as well as tapping into the resources of others.

Myth 3: Very little preparation is necessary. You need only say Yes or No to self-employment.

There are hundreds of decisions that need to be made before becoming self-employed - questions about logistics, about equipment, about the structure of the organization, how to market.

Sarah and Paul Edwards believe that three main qualities are essential in making this transition to self-employment:

1. Creating, a new self-reliant mindset. You need to transform or shift your mindset from paycheck to paycheck, to relying on your own skills.

2. Having a direction and purpose. Understand and be willing to use the full scope of activities to get the job done. In other words, do the full range of what it takes to complete an assignment.

3. Becoming your own boss. As your own boss, you need to manage yourself, become self-motivated, and perform well under pressure, and deal with setbacks.

As part of this mental shift process from receiving a paycheck to earning your living as a self-employed, there are a variety of specific mental changes that must take place.

For instance:

• Security is not external (outside of you), rather, it is internal.
• The concept of money must change. In the old system as an employee, you earn to spend. In the new mindset, you spend to earn.
• Embracing ambiguity as a means to look at new opportunities.
• Moving from your previous role of being motivated to becoming a coach, cheerleader, and colleague.
• Going from following rules to following results.

In addition to looking at these important psychological and philosophical issues, starting a new business is also filled with lots of questions about physical and hands-on, logistical things such as:

From where will I operate my business?

What kind of phone should I get? Should I use voice mail?

Do I get a fax? A copier?

Technology? What kind, and how much will I need?

The book mentions that personal computers can perform a variety of jobs and functions (from creating business forms to creating data bases) However, the computer alone is not a sole solution. The use of technology and administrative overhead must be continually re-examined. How are you maximizing your efforts while reducing costs? When do I need help?

Marketing. Getting the word out is key. The Edwards list 35 ways that you can market. You can get your message out by word of mouth, through public relations, direct marketing, and inventive advertising.

• Every new or continuing self-employed person needs to ask some basic questions:
• How are you unique? How can you take advantage of your uniqueness?
• Are there any special ways to showcase your talents?
• Should you give away samples at first?
• You need to demonstrate what you offer in as many different ways as you can. Becoming a self-employed worker is filled with many special circumstances and challengers you ordinarily would not have as an employee.
• You need to be in touch with what motivates you. Before you start a small business, there are many hard questions you need to also answer about money:
• How much money do you need to live on?
• How much money will you need to have coming in?
• Do you have other financial resources?
• Do you have long-term financial planning?

Typically, self-employment comes from the experience and skills you currently have, however, some individuals sometimes consider other options as well, if they have financial resources:

• Buying a franchise o Buying an existing business
• Manufacturing or wholesaling And sometimes, individuals ease into a different work style through part time work.

Joan Sotkin, author of, Starting Your Own Business (Build Your Business Inc.), states that there are a number of reasons why small businesses fail. Businesses sometimes do not develop because of:

• Poor management/management skills
• Unrealistic expectations including cash flow
• Inadequate marketing o Poor Planning.

Sotkin suggests 10 Building Blocks for Success:

1. Form your business through your personal values
2. Choose a business that satisfies and fills a current and specific need for a group of people
3. Foster an attitude of success
4. Develop a business plan
5. Market, market, market some more
6. Network with other people
7. Give your customers value and value your customers
   (philosophy/practice)
8. Take care of your money (be prudent)
9. Take care of yourself
10. Be honest; tell the truth.

There are numerous books and resources for small business owners and organizations targeted for the small business owner including the Small Business Association and your local Chamber of Commerce.

It must also be noted that starting a business does not have to be an all or nothing proposition. Mini-steps can be taken towards your eventual goal. In building up your eventual goal of starting a business, you can do a number of things to fortify your goal:

• Taking marketing classes
• Learning about your customer
• Learning about the pitfalls of businesses
• Learning more about yourself and how to manage others
• Learning about technology and financial management
• Joining professional associations in your area of expertise.

Why not consider a part time job, or do an apprenticeship while you are working to sharpen your craft? This time will be spent in assisting you through a difficult transition period.

Three excellent books from which these concepts have been taken also include lots of other resources:

Making It on Your Own,
Sarah and Paul Edwards, St. Martin’s Press.
Starting Your Own Business, Joan Sotkin,
Build Your Business, Inc.
Working For Yourself, Joseph Anthony, Kiplinger Books