My 5 Top Reasons to Love Working for Yourself
Depending on your side of the fence, working for yourself can feel like the ultimate sun laden fantasy or the biggest, hairiest nightmare, and I have personally found both to be true.
Some days I work from the beach; I drink coffee and sit overlooking the sea and write and converse with incredible people all over the planet — the ultimate fantasy job. Other days I work from my living room or kitchen, up against a tight deadline with 10,000000 other things still on my already overflowing to-do list and wonder how TF I am going to get through it without completely losing my shit. However, in all of those days, I tend to eventually land on the bright side of the fence because, for me, the benefits of working for myself far outweigh the risks and the headaches, and I suspect that if you’re reading this, then it might be the same for you.
Today in the month of all things love, I’m sharing my top 5 reasons to love working for yourself.
Working from anywhere
This is probably my favourite thing about working for myself. If I have somewhere to sit and a strong Wi-Fi connection, I can pretty much work from wherever I choose. Being location independent brings flexibility so that even if something comes up, I can still satisfy my promises and get stuff done. I’ve also found it to be a massive creativity boost when I want to write or produce something that requires out of the box thinking. Beach latte, anyone?
Doing the things I love
Making the things I love to do the main focus of my business has been game-changing. Of course, there are elements of my work I’m not good at, and there are things I straight up don’t like to do but being in charge of the workload, I get to decide. Sometimes I do them anyway, and other times I outsource to people who are, quite frankly, much better and faster at those tasks than I am. Also, when you outsource to another small business, you’re tapping into what they love, and the cycle of awesomeness continues. Winning!
Building an asset
Done well, building a business is creating a future asset. Designing my own future and building something that could one day be sold is empowering. Working for someone else used to mean job security but not so much in today’s market, and ultimately, you’re building someone else’s asset that they can cash in at any time without owing you a thing. Keeping this in mind spurs me on to continually grow, and I’m learning all kinds of new things along the way!
Taking time off and working to my schedule
Holidays, sick days, family issues, and, let’s face it, the occasional duvet day are all things you have to ask for or prove you are worthy of when you work for someone else (don’t ask your boss for a duvet day off, it might not land well). Not so when you work for yourself. I get to decide what I need and when I need it, and I manage my calendar accordingly. Of course, it also requires a level of discipline not to take every Monday as a duvet day or watch SATC instead of updating my website, but as long as I get the balance right, I never feel guilty (or am made to feel guilty) for taking care of myself and those I love first and foremost. Similarly, if I need to take one of the cats to the vet in the middle of the day or visit the dentist, I can choose my working hours to suit myself. I can also, and frequently do, take longer in the mornings to enjoy my coffee and quiet time and set myself up for my day or switch off at 4 pm because I can’t take any more screen time.
Boredom is not an option
Running my own business is a bit like having 100 internet tabs open all at once; it’s never dull, and there’s usually random music coming from somewhere. There’s no one to hand me work to get on with, I have to make my own way, which presents an entire host of new challenges. Over the years, I have learned to build websites, grow mailing lists, live stream, coach, design, write, produce, interview and a million other things I never even had to think about before. Some challenges were fantastic learning experiences, and some I’d much rather forget, but each has taught me something that brought me to where I am today. Do I have my ducks in a row? Absolutely not, but I’m never bored.
Overall I have found making the jump into self-employment both exciting and challenging (in a great way). I have learned about myself and my fantastic capabilities, as well as my distinct lack of fridge picking discipline, and it’s all OK. It’s been one of the best experiences of my life and one I wouldn’t trade for all of the handbags in Gucci (well, maybe ALL of the bags, I know my weaknesses).
There are days it can be a challenge to remember the above, and your list will likely be filled with different reasons. In all honesty, I could have given 50 once I got going. The key is to remember why you started and make your own list. Be thankful for all of the freedoms and opportunities self-employment offers, and when your resolve starts to wane, think back to the commute, windowless offices, being told when you can take a break or have a holiday and proving that you’re sick. In either case, it’s not ALL good, and it’s not ALL bad.
Find your balance and love it like your livelihood depends upon it because, essentially, it does.
Tricia Scott is an author, speaker, passionate startup business mentor and the Founder and Editor of The Female CEO — Create Evolve Overcome, a digital platform and magazine holding the space to showcase female entrepreneurs from all over the world.
The Female CEO is growing and gaining global recognition daily and Tricia is able to bring her own level of expertise as a start-up coach, mentor and multi-company director to her very exclusive table along with her team of brilliant Guest Editors and Contributors. You’ll usually find her with her MacBook in one hand and a coffee or a glass of something fizzy in the other and she always has sunglasses in her hair. Reach out anytime!
