Having focused on entrepreneurial opportunity for the majority of my life and choosing to surround myself with the “movers and shakers” in my real world social network. From newly acquired friends, successful local business directors to the words of Richard Branson – the information that I have gathered and tested could place me inside the experienced field of self-employment. I’ve freelanced in over 3 fields of media and partnered or directed the creation of 2 branded companies that are still running today. To some of you this may seem like a small achievement, and you will understand that it is the beginning of much trial and error, successes and failures or just plain used time! This article is directed at those people who have the self-employment dream, but have never left the safety of a secure contract or established business, or someone who is questioning why they don’t seem to be very comfortable or struggling in their self-employed role. So lets work through 10 ways to see if you should be self employed and develop an understanding as to why it may be good or bad for you.1. Do you have Vision?
Vision places first in our list, a crucial factor in any project or plan. Self-employment is very reliant on having a stable basis of the reasons behind a product or service. Many people fall short or overlook this basic enhancement to their own goals and achievements. People who are able to develop, verify and constantly improve a motivating and convincing vision should always use this talent to enhance their own business. This is often defined as being a “leader of the heard” or having a “unique idea”, but having a vision and being able to drive a vision forward is really all these “great minds” or “powerful leaders” are doing.
2. Do you have a sense of Direction?
Imagine you are in the middle of a completely unknown area of town, what do you do? Do you search for a map, call a friend or drive around aimlessly hoping to find somewhere that is familiar? Direction isn’t always about knowing where to go or where you are, it is better applied as the ability to accurately and effectively get to arrive at where you are headed. Having direction often requires you to navigate while someone else drives, do you have the ability to convey important points of direction to yourself or supporting roles in your business? You may often need to rely on the ability to find a destination, being overwhelmed or heading out into a fast sea of business needs is one thing, but being lost is a completely different thing. If you are often lost with no hope of arriving where you intended then it’s time to develop this skill!
3. Do you understand yourself?
You may have a great business model, product or service. You may be able to market and deliver your assets or merchandise. But if you don’t spend time learning yourself completely, then you will not go far. You may be able to think of examples where completely lost souls have become ‘seemingly’ successful. The truly successful companies and business leaders know their role and know themselves. Can you accurately evaluate whether a task should be done by you or someone else? Can you analyze a requirement and apply yourself as a solution completely and effectively? Will you find joy in your own business? If these questions get you thinking rather than answering, you are probably suited more to a self-development book rather than being an entrepreneur just yet.
4. Do you have the ability to make decisions?
Yes, no or maybe? This is the core answer to most questions, and many of us are able to utilize at least one of them when required. The only downside is that there is always the fallback answer “maybe”, and most people love to use it. When it comes down to a 50/50 or yes/no situation – some people might feel like they’re taking part in a roulette spin and still have 50% change of getting it right. These people are still falling on the “chance” aspect of making decisions. If you should be self employed you should be answering yes and why or else the answer is no. Being able to make accurate and convincing decisions in a self employed role is nearly the most important thing that you can do. Most people love to fall into the “maybe” or “chance” options, or even try to get someone else to answer it for them! If this is your usual tactic, then you need to start taking some control over your life! Having informed and intelligent decisions made by yourself, whether they work out or not, is the best asset you can bring to your own business.
5. Are you flexible?
Your time, your money, or your ideas; are these things flexible for you? If not, then you need someone else to manage your time or you need to start making sure that you value yourself in a better way. If so, this is a great thing to put first in any self-employment role or task. Remember that your priorities are almost never going to stay the same when you are self-employed, some people might even behave as if everything is a priority when they’re handling their own business! Can you make that extra service effective? Can you deliver faster than you promised!? These are all customer and business oriented decisions that need to be made without any extra limitations like inflexibility! Is the only reason why you wake up at a decent time in the morning because, if you didn’t, you would get fired? Be flexible! This doesn’t mean keep yourself available for anything and any time, this means constantly update your circumstances and aim for the most effective way to achieve, regardless of small comforts or already allocated thoughts.
6. Can you deliver what you promise?
Even if a promise is made to yourself, can you come through with it? Having the ability to deliver what you have promised falls outside of being reliable or trustworthy, it outlines and entirely new requirement to being self-employed. I could elaborate on this and suggest that you should deliver more than what you promise, because this leads to great business! If you sincerely know that you are unreliable, you should get to work on this immediately! You will not be able to fluke your way through every role in your own business by only working within convenient circumstances.
7. Can you convey and motivate?
Do you have the ability to convey information, dreams, goals, vision statements or even a sales pitch to others? Do you have the ability to do it to yourself and provide motivated reasons behind each attribute of your own business. Can you do this when sharing your business to others? These questions should invoke some confidence in you if you feel like being self employed. Your ability to convey and motivate yourself, your customers and your team is a combination of many of the items we already have on our list of 10. While many people probably feel they don’t confidently wield the natural ability to do this, you can easily find someone who can bring this asset to your new business or you can enhance your own grasp on these skills.
8. Are you brand conscious?
Do you put thought into your image and brand? Your products and services require a branded and marketable evaluation, description or image. People who have the ability to take a product or service and assign market awareness and branding to it are perfect for self employment. Being able to sell your idea as a label and brand, even if the brand is your name and face, is something that no entrepreneurial minded person should overlook.
9. Can you network your brand?
Many people lack the extroverted potential to deliver there brand to the people. Many new entrepreneurs place no emphasis on simply introducing your product or service to it’s audience. This particular skill requires some natural comfort with social networking and interaction with other people. Without the ability to enhance the exposure of your brand; your business will not have it’s own motivation and direction to help take you to the next level. If you want to be self-employed you should be thinking about making sure your product or service comes in the right package!
10. Are you trustworthy and reliable?
This is a given, but many people truly believe that they are not reliable, or witness themselves failing to deliver time and time again. If this sounds like you, take hold of this shortfall and rectify it immediately. You may be able to come through some of the time, and those times may be enough to be mildly successful. But if you are not willing to deliver every time and guarantee reliability and trust with your services – then you should not be stepping into the field of self-employment.
These are 10 things that I place strong emphasis on in my own personality and I make sure that I deliver on every point made. By bringing relevance to a core group of qualities which I really resonate with, I am enhancing my own ability to provide myself with an independent and reliable income. So if you are chasing the self employment dream or are already relying on an independently maintained income, you can read through these points and really clarify if this is the right role for you to take in life. I would hope that you strive to obtain all of these qualities and take control over your own lives through self-employment.
This is here to define inspired living in all of us.
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