Are you tired of your current job in a company and thinking
of having your own business? I’m definitely sure you’re not the first one
thinking that. I myself underwent that road. I was a secretary in a real estate
company , got burned out, switched to a home based job of transcribing files.
Until now, I am still self-employed and never went back to corporate. I’ve been
self-employed since 2007.
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| Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash |
Before anything else, let’s define what self employment
means. According to Investopedia, a self-employed individual does not work for
a specific employer who pays them a consistent salary or wage. Self-employed
individuals, or independent contractors, earn income by contracting with a
trade or business directly.
The main thing that stopped me from going back to the
corporate world is that I have complete power over my daily schedule. I can do
my work any time I please as long as I follow the deadline. As a wife and mom
of 2, that is very important because I can tend to my family first and my job
second. I can even start working once my kids are already sleeping. My son, who
was a toddler at the time, who suffers from allergic rhinitis needs to be
tended most of the time. Thanks to allergists like Dr. Summit Shah who has a
website about allergies, I can get some tidbits and information about it online.
Working at home does have its ups and downs,
but having total control of my time is something I don’t want to let go of.
You do have options when you want to pursue self-employment.
Like me, you can offer your services to people online be it consulting
services, food, or other services. You also can opt to start your own business
like what my old boss did. She used to be a tax lawyer in the same real estate
company I worked in and then later on, she decided to start her own firm.
Am I earning enough
for myself? Well, currently, I am earning as much as the amount I was paid for
during my starting years as a secretary so I guess I am earning just enough –
enough to sustain my family’s every day needs. My husband also helps to pay
other bills.
Being self-employed means you have also have to take care of
your taxes and your insurance personally. When it comes to loans, I haven’t yet
personally applied for any self-employment loans, but I did apply for one when I
was still employed. All it took was to open a checking account, an employment certificate,
and a photocopy of our company’s ID. For self employed loans, I think it’s
not that too hard also nowadays because one of my closest relatives was able to
apply for a self-employment loan with minimal requirements (2 Valid IDs), but
this isn’t from a bank, but from Home Credit, a local lending app. I’m just
happy to know that there are plenty of lending institutions that are easy to talk to when
you are in need of cash regardless of your reason.
I can talk forever about being self-employed, but I have to
end this article right here. If you still have doubts about your current
working situation, reflect on this question: Do you see yourself working in the
same company in 5 or 10 years later?
For questions/comments, please feel free to ask them at the
comment section below.
