Self Employment

Welcome to the Self Employment section. One of the greatest challenges to starting a home based business, or any business for that matter, is knowing where to begin.

Where to begin is to engage in some critical thinking.

Critical thinking is a thought process that questions assumptions as a way of concluding whether something is true, false, or sometimes true and sometimes false, or partly true and partly false. It's thought that focuses on deciding what to do or what to believe.

In terms of self employment, critical thinking is the act of exercising informed judgment about whether to pursue it or not. If you don't have a clear understanding of what working for yourself entails, you can't make an informed decision about whether it's right for you.

Probably one of the biggest pitfalls encountered by new entrepreneurs is the ability to be their own boss.

I realize that sounds a bit strange since most people become self employed, at least in part, because they hate having to answer to a boss. What they often fail to understand is that they'll always have to answer to a boss. But when you're working for yourself, you're the boss. And having yourself as a boss can be a blessing and a curse at the same time.

Think about that for a minute.

Can you see why it could be a blessing and a curse?

Some employees - the lazy ones - hate answering to a boss because they want to get paid without having to do all the work. They would probably never admit that, and may not even consciously realize it. But that's the attitude of many unhappy employees.

When people like this start their own business to get our from under the boss's thumb, they often fail. The reason for this failure is their inability to motivate themselves to do what needs to be done to make their enterprise a success.

Other employees are just the opposite. They have a solid work ethic. These are the people who, while they have a boss at their job, don't need to be ridden roughshod over. They'll get the job done with minimal supervision, and the boss knows it.

These folks carry that strong work ethic into their entrepreneurial endeavor, and are far more likely to succeed because they're self-starters.

So the first step to successful self employment is to ask and honestly answer the question; "Am I a self-starter who sees what needs to be done, and does it?"

If your honest answer is yes, you're probably good to go. But if the answer is no, you need to get to work on yourself and develop a more productive attitude and work ethic. Once you've done that, you'll stand a better chance of success when you become self employed.

Next comes preparation and planning.

Sure, you could just print up some fliers for your new dog walking service and start indiscriminately hanging them on doors and mail boxes. You might even get a few customers and make a few bucks. But if you do, it’ll be out of sheer luck.

Without preparation and planning, your long term success is, at best, doubtful.

That’s where the Self Employment section can help. This is where starting a home business really begins. This is where you’ll do the preparation and planning for your new business. So start using these resources right away.

---

Return from the Self Employment section to Home Based Business School home.