Self-Employment: Things You Should Know Before Quitting Your Day Job

There will definitely be days when you seriously consider quitting your day job for any number of reasons, but if you are considering the option because you want to go it alone and start your own business, there are few things you should know before taking the plunge.

Depending on your type of business, being off the road when you are self-employed, might require the services of someone like Craig, Kelley and Faultless, to help you recover some of your lost income, and this is just one example of how running your business means you need to have all the angles covered, if you are going to survive and grow.

Take your time

Quitting your job and starting your own business is not a decision that you come to on a whim or overnight, as you need to take some time to think things through and make some viable plans for your proposed business venture.

It may well turn out to be the decision you ever made in the long run, but you should consider how your decision will impact your lifestyle and your family commitments.

Working from home can save you on start-up costs, but you need to work out if it will affect your work-life balance and there are also some tax implications attached to working from home that you need to be up to speed with before making your decision.

Research your idea

You may well believe that the idea you have come up with for your business is a certain winner, but whilst it is good to be positive and optimistic about your prospects, you should still aim to thoroughly research the market you are entering into.

Many new business startups tend to be focused on a market or a service that you have industry experience and knowledge of. It could well be that you see how your existing employer is doing and then decide to find a way of improving on that or developing a niche, where you see an opportunity that has yet to be fully exploited.

Try to do some market research if possible, by networking discreetly with influential people in the industry or if you are launching consumer service, try to get some valuable feedback on your products or service, before you launch.

Researching your business idea and testing the water beforehand, can help you to eliminate some aspects that don’t work and should save you time and money when you start trading for real.

Do you have the right mindset?

Not everyone is cut out to be self-employed. You don’t have to be a gung-ho maverick to run a successful business, but you do need to some inner qualities that will help you cope with the pros and cons of self-employment.

You need to have a good degree of self-discipline and motivation, as you may well be working on your own to start with, meaning there is no work colleague or support to help you complete a task or bounce some ideas off.

You also need to be honest with yourself about your risk-profile. What is your aversion to risk?

If you are prepared to hope for the best, but plan for the worst, and understand that the first few years are likely to be tough, then you may well have the right mindset to make it on your own.

Isabel Barry has been self employed for several years, and hasn’t looked back once. She encourages others to take the leap and do what they love and shares her tips and knowledge on what you need to do to get started.