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It's Not Worth Being Self Employed, or Is It?

By Lee James of Black Country Solutions Ltd  (22/08/18)

"Maggie Thatcher, your boys took one hell of a beating"

Said the Norwegian football commentator after a famous victory against England. And Maggie was one of the biggest advocates of entrepreneurship and self employment in our times. Well some long standing self employed people (myself included) have felt lately where's the reward for the risk taken. The risk of security, the risk of reliance on reputation, the risk of illness effecting performance, the risk of the added time finding work. Oh of course we all know there are advantages - being your own boss, coming and going as you please. When I became self employed (over 15 years ago) I quickly bought a set of golf clubs, for I was going to earn enough money in six months to be on the golf course the other six, and readied myself for the wonderful adventure ahead. The golf clubs have long been gathering dust and my handicap has long since been a secret between me and my maker.

So is it what are the advantages of being self employed

Every person embarking on self employment will enjoy copiuous advantages.

  1. Working Hours - your the boss, you decide.
  2. Control over income - the more you work the more you earn. Simple isn't it.
  3. Utilise your abilities - you can work how you feel best and most effective and will prosper from your own techniques and expertise.
  1. Do what you enjoy - yes you can turn down work and go for what you enjoy best.
  2. Tax advantages - Forget PAYE and NIC, you can now claim more expenditure against your profits to reduce tax. And you can mitigate tax with tax planning and engage your expert accountant to help beat the tax man.
  3. Contract out - you can earn off others by outsourcing or subcontracting out your work and marking up.

Well....

What are you waiting for?.....

But....

Before you go and have a word with the boss, let's think about this carefully

Let's expand a little on these advantages....

  1. Working Hours - your the boss, you decide.
  2. But don't go rushing out to buy a set of golf clubs just yet. You will be answerable to the pressures of work. The days of taking a sickie will be over. That lazy day at work, is over. Time is money mate, that will be your cry. And every hour will be valueable to you. The clock is your enemy and the best way to beat it is to put your working hours in. And imagine, sometimes you may even spend time working on your business that you may never get paid for.
  3. Control over income - the more you work the more you earn. Simple isn't it.
  4. Well that's true, the more you work, the harder you work, the more you'll invoice out. But will you ever be in control of your income? You won't be able to guarantee an income any more. You might have fluctuations. You might have barren spells. Self employed income isn't a tap you can switch on or off, unless you are ectremely lucky. And, you might have more work commitments than you can meet which will cause you stress, strain or quality issues.
  5. Utilise your abilities - you can work how you feel best and most effective and will prosper from your own techniques and expertise.
  6. But any training will cost you out of your own pocket. And any learning or development will be in your own time. Will you therefore be tempted to do it?
  1. Do what you enjoy - yes you can turn down work and go for what you enjoy best.
  2. We'd all like to work on the things we love. But frankly, the question is will you be tempted to work on less enjoyable things if they earn you more money?
  3. Tax advantages - Forget PAYE and NIC, you can now claim more expenditure against your profits to reduce tax. And you can mitigate tax with tax planning and engage your expert accountant to help beat the tax man.
  4. But you'll have to pay for accountancy services yourself. And tax breaks seem to be less favourable than they used to be. A good accountant will find them, but do you have access to a good accountant? 
  5. Contract out - you can earn off others by outsourcing or subcontracting out your work and marking up.
  6. But then you may have quality issues if you outsource and they don't have your high standards. And can you win enough profitable work to make a mark up? And does the end customer expect you to do the work and not outsource?
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OK, let's just hold it there, I've not made the greatest case for becoming self employed in this article.

Well let me qualify this. Being self employed is not for everyone. Being self employed can be stressful, lonely and bewildering. But....
It can also be highly rewarding and fulfilling. I have been self employed for many many years and I would never go back to employment - absolutely not.

But, I have learned some harsh lessons about self employment over the years and my advice would be, anyone contemplating the move to self employed status should carefully consider their own options, ambitions and preferences and speak to those that have experienced self employment, it will be a good way to start to your journey.

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