4 Ultimate Pros and Cons of Self-Employment
In this day and age it is easier than ever before for the average person to be self-employed. This style of work is more of a lifestyle than most people might expect, and might not be for everybody. This article will lay out some of the pros and cons of self-employment, some of which might seem obvious while others may require serious consideration.
1. Not Having a Set Schedule
It’s true that most self-employed persons do not have specific times of the day during which they are required to work. While this has its benefits, and is seen as a major draw to self-employment, it has its drawbacks:
Pros:
The average self-employed person has a very flexible schedule that can facilitate short-notice events of a professional or personal nature.
Getting ahead on work means that self-employed persons may find it easier to “find time off”.
Cons:
Some self-employed persons find it difficult, at least at first, to find the motivation to start working when they know that they won’t get fired for not showing up at nine O’clock.
The regular nine-to-five worker is generally able to stop worrying about work at five-fifteen, while the self-employed person is never really “off the clock”, and may never escape the feeling that they could be working, or may have emails waiting.
2. Working from Home
Being Self-Employed means that one can work from where-ever the essential equipment is found. This too is one of the more attractive facets of self-employment, but also has less publicized complications:
Pros:
Working from home gives the self-employed person a sense of comfort, as they have their own chair, their own dress-code, etc. Many self-employed persons will suggest that this relaxed atmosphere increases productivity.
Cons:
Because the self-employed person is not usually part of a larger firm, all upfront costs of business fall on the individual, who is now responsible for the purchase of software, printers, office supplies, etc.
Some self-employed persons find working from home to be a distraction, or that they have trouble motivating themselves, and will elect to seek office space, or close off a part of their homes devoted to their business anyway.
3. A Vast Job Market
Because self-employment is so popular these days, there are a number of websites and programs devoted to helping the self-employed person find work.
Pros:
It can often be easier than expected for the average self-employed person to find work once the proper venue has been located.
Cons:
It can be difficult for a beginning self-employed person to appear reputable online regardless of real-world experience.
With huge numbers of like-minded people competing for the same job, how one represents one’s self is, in some ways more important for the self-employed person.
4. “You’re Your Own Boss”
In a sense, this phrase is true to the self-employed lifestyle, but in other senses, people without bosses don’t have jobs at all.
Pros:
The self-employed person isn’t always stuck answering to the same person day after day, and has many more liberties than the conventional worker.
The average self-employed person is able to pick and choose what jobs to take rather than having someone else assign them tasks.
Cons:
The client pays for work, and can be just as obnoxious, demanding, unforgiving, and under-educated as a conventional employer.
Because the self-employed person may not have to answer to the same person for every job, it can be difficult to establish a consistent set of expectations from job to job.
This list is composed of only a few of the general assumptions about self-employment, and every self-employed person will be able to come up with their own pros and cons for each of the above topics, but hopefully it provides some insight into the self-employment movement.
Cain, Molly. “13 Signs You are Meant to be Self Employed”. Forbes. 12 Apr. Web. 10 Aug 2015.
Demers, Jayson. “10 Great Habits for Working at Home”. Inc. 28 Oct 2015. Web 10 Aug 2015.
Kendall, Len. “Working Remotely Doesn’t Mean You Should Work from Home”. The Next Web, Entrepreneur. 23 Jan 2014. Web. 10 Aug 2015