Just wondering what the self-employed do for a living? How long did it take to turn a profit? Please share the ups and downs!
- Jinx
I’m a freelance sound engineer/video editor with a sideline in After Effects animating/Photoshop-stuff and some DVD authoring to boot.
Been doing it for YEARS!!! My first year was the hardest because I was building up a client-base, but since then, I’ve done pretty darn well!!
PROS:
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You get to do a variety of jobs with LOTS of different people in different places
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It pays better than “salaried folks”
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You never get involved in “office politics”
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No day is EVER the same
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You can claim a precentage of the cost of CDs, DVD’s and a whole host of other stuff back off tax because it’s “research”
CONS: -
The Tax Bill!!!
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Being 100% dependent on the whim of your clients to earn an income.
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The leans times are sh*tty, but the good times more than make up for it!
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Mortgage lenders look at you as if you are a new and particularly icky species of dung beetle
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You don’t form any sort of real “social ties/bonds” with the people you work with and are forever known as: “The Freelance Person - y’know who I mean; ‘Thingy’ (or ‘Um’ or ‘Oi! You!’…)…”
Wouldn’t change it for the world!!!
I am a freelance copyeditor. Made a profit the first year, as my main expenses were computer and office equipment and supplies, and my “product” comes out of my own brain.
Ups: I am completely in charge. I get to decide when, where, how, on what, and for whom I work, and for how much. I get to decide how to decorate and arrange my office, what computer stuff to buy and when, whether and when to drop a difficult client. I am a vendor, not an employee; clients may not order me around as long as I stay within the terms of the contract that we both agreed on. If they want to change specs (deadlines, amount/type of work) midstream, they have to renegotiate. I cannot lose my job; if a client dries up, I can find another to take its place (came in handy when hubby got downsized in 2001; he’s still looking for a decent job while I continue to pay all the bills, and regularly turn down work because I’m already booked). I can surf the Web while I work and no one cares. I don’t have to put up with co-worker nonsense or office politics.
Downs: I am completely in charge. When the computer goes down, I must either fix or replace it or pay someone to do so; there’s no IT department to simply bring me another machine. When I’m sick, no one else will do the work and I must still meet my deadlines. Vacations can be a nightmare to schedule if I still want to have workflow when I return. As both employer and employee, I pay double the SS tax of a person who works for someone else, and I pay for all my own health insurance and retirement plan. I have to hunt down my own clients. I wear all the hats: editor, courier, computer guru, receptionist, bookkeeper, financial manager, marketing/salesperson, trainer, and janitor. Even though I enjoy the solitude, I go a little stir-crazy sometimes; a trip to the grocery store can be an exciting break in the day.
Having said all that, and having been self-employed for nearly 10 years, I must say that I’ve been throughly ruined as an employee. I’d be miserable if I had to go back to working for someone else. I value the autonomy way too much to give it up.
Jinx, are you weighing your options?
I’m personally in business for myself. I’ve been in business since I have incorporated myself two years ago, however I have had to hold a full time job this entire time to support myself and my wife.
I have yet to turn a profit. I have yet to have a paycheck from my business. If anything, my business is breaking even. The business has some debt, and if it was called in by my creditors, would bankrupt my business, but it is all on credit.
You have to be patient. You have to be frugal. You have to have a plan, a backup plan, and a contingency plan for every scenario. You have to be realistic, yet driven at the same time. Stay organized, and always call your customers back.
Sounds interesting…how did you get started in this?
Please share, if you would be so kind…
Thanks,
- Jinx
Long story short: I studied up on the subject, decided that I was capable of doing it (many of us believe in a copyediting “gene”; you can’t learn the skill if you don’t have the innate ability), sent lots of resumes and did lots of cold-calling to generate a few clients, and went from there. I learn more about my job every day.
Sorry I can’t go more into detail . . . lots of work to get done today! (I need to work up some boilerplate; it seems I’ve told this story a bazillion times! I might have done so here; you could try a search.)
From the ages of 17 through 24, I started and ran a small software development company, with 8 employees at the peak.
The biggest lesson I learned: what you’re actually doing is the smaller part of what you have to pay attention to. I.e. if you’re mowing lawns or writing software or writing articles, those are almost secondary. The big things to watch are sales and support. You have to constantly be looking at how you’ll get your next sale and how you’ll keep your current customers happy.
Also, you really have to be persistant, especially in the early days. It can take a while to turn a profit, and it can look pretty bleak at times. You really have to have a solid sit-down first with your spouse and have an understanding because when those bleak times come, you can have some serious stress at home.
After that company, I was at a big company for five years. Then, during the last decade again all of my jobs have been starting up companies. I don’t know if that’s precisely “self-employed,” as from beginning of each, the intent was to bring in lots of folks and build it to a big thing, so by design I quickly became a small piece of the machine, and also by design, I quickly lost majority ownership.
It depends on what you like, but if it’s right for you, you’ll never go back to a big company again. You really make a difference at the end of the day. That’s a dual-edged sword of course, cause when you screw up, it can wreck things pretty good.
My experiences have all been in high tech, specifically in networking hardware and software.
My wife is self employed while I have a standard job. It works well because I can cover our insurance with my job and she can make the bigger bucks with her housecleaning business.
The biggest downfall I see with her is that she has no paid days off. I can call in sick if I have a little sniffle, but she has to be incapacitated before she can decide to cancel. Also, she always has to work extra hard the weeks before and after vacation to make up the clients she missed.
When Mr. S had his job, we used his insurance also. When he was downsized, we scrambled to find an affordable insurance plan for self-employed folks. Luckily we found one (we have no chronic conditions or meds, and no kids, otherwise this might not have happened). Now we’ve decided that even if/when he does find a “real job” again, we’ll just stay on my plan, because it’s too much hassle to switch, and in the current climate, who knows how long he’ll keep a new job anyway?
I run a business but I also work 30hrs/week at a “regular” job.
I sell my artwork and related creative services. Pretty much anything I’m good at, I’m willing to contract myself out for (no, not THAT you perverts.)
Turned a small profit the first year, even better the second year; this year has been pretty miserable so far though. No real explanation for it. Just the general state of the economy, I guess.
I stopped working as a flight instructor back in February to pursue a business opportunity with one of my students. We are still in the research and development phase, so I have been almost five months without income. Thankfully, both of us were able to deal with the lack of income. Risky to do it, but thats part of the fun- not knowing the outcome.
The upside: neither of us answers to anybody but ourselves. We have the freedom to take long weekends sometimes, without ever getting permission. We have command of the entire situation. I dont have to deal with idiot coworkers. Setting my own schedule means I work sometimes at night, sometimes in the day, weekends, whenever. But I can also be off work at any of those times.
The downside: no income in 5 months, and not likely for at least another 5. The risks are all on our shoulders. If the venture fails, we lose our investment. The other downside is that I really enjoy flying, and I dont get to do it nearly as often as I want to. But if this succeeds, then the payoff is well worth the investment. Just one of those things. You cant get a big payoff without taking the risk.
Insurance tip - join a professional organization. Often you can get good group rates that way.
I do project-based work (usually on a 1099) so I don’t really think of myself as self-employed. It’s more like I job hop every three to six months…
How did this happen? I spent a lot of years working with groups who use freelances and contract jobbers and … I don’t know. Networking is really the answer. Someone called up and aske me to do this or that, and then someone else called me, and the next thing I new my account was annoyed by all the paperwork!
Although I have worked for a dozen clients in the last year, I’ve been working for and with people I’ve know (at least to speak to) for years and years.
Financially, I’ve taken a hit. But I have so much free time, I don’t really notice.
I just started contract IT work this week, and today I submitted my very first invoice. I hate it.
I have an interview today for a full-time Gov’ment IT position, which I hope works out.
Oh dear god, that was the sloppiest post ever.
Scarlett67, I wasn’t trying to give you a heart attack.
Well I’m a teacher during the school year, but I have a business on the side. I am an environmental psychologist, I usually work with urban planners, and architects helping with all sorts of design issues from color and lighting to ceiling height and counter height. I love it. On occation I do private work but that gets expensive. I don’t do my own taxes so I don’t worry too much about that.
Pffft. Writing like that puts food on my plate! 