Monday, August 12, 2019

Switching from Employed to Self Employment


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.

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.    

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