What You Need to Realize as a Self-Employed Professional

Becoming self-employed is exceedingly popular these days, especially with the proliferation of the gig economy and marketplace apps like Uber. Of course, this does not only apply to just menial labor, but also university-level professionals as well. Aside from managing your finances, there are more modern nuances when it comes to being self-employed in this age.

Dependency on Online Platforms

Due to most people finding information on the internet, everyone needs to have an internet presence. And since having just your website isn’t enough anymore, professionals are at the whim of high authority websites to maintain and rank their profiles.

Examples of platforms may include attorney search websites for lawyers or the AMA doctor finder for medical professionals, or at an even higher level, having a social media presence on Linked In, Facebook and Instagram has demand in most industries.

If one’s profile were to be removed or lowered in search rankings, their career might as well be over. This is why most top-performing professionals invest in social media managers and SEO to make sure they are one of the first to be discovered by internet users.

Professional Help

When you decide to become independent, it’s quite easy to think you will be this lone wolf pulling more money than when you were under the thumb of a boss. Once reality sets in, you will realize that you will be investing more time and energy while chasing after your slice of the pie.

For example, you may need to hire lawyers to go through certain legal processes that you may not have known to exist. Since your tax situation may be quite uncertain, you may also need accountants and tax experts to help sort you out.

Aside from that, you never know when you will be overburdened by work and need someone qualified to take over certain operations. If you want someone who is qualified and can do the job correctly, it won’t be cheap. If you want to hire the best budget option available, do so at the risk of your company’s reputation.

Your New Boss: Everyone

Assuming your business model is working with the general public, instead of being underneath a boss and a group of managers, you are at the mercy of everyone you conduct business with. You may find the stark contrast in personalities, managing deadlines and trying to please everyone a bit harder than just working with a boss. There is a certain abstraction layer that large companies have so employees don’t know what goes on in the background with managing clients.

This comes with its advantages, like you keeping all the profits for yourself or being able to pick who you don’t want to work with. Ultimately, you are left to your own devices to build business relationships to continue making money and keep your small business afloat.

Using software to track customer relations can help to meet deadlines and keep cases fresh in your mind. You may also consider hiring someone to work with the general public so you can keep your nose in the more technical side of things.

Say Goodbye To Free Time

When you are responsible for meeting deadlines and making clients happy, you may find that your work spills into your time. If a project is botched or you are overloaded with work, don’t be surprised if your workday ends right before you hit the bed.

Perhaps I’m exaggerating a bit, but you need to learn time management skills if you home to have a social or family life. Apps can help to a certain extent, but knowing how to prioritize tasks is one of the more critical factors.

Wrapping Up

It’s really up to you to figure out if the self-employed lifestyle is worth it, considering everyone has different life goals and working habits. If you plan on diving right into it from a traditional job, be sure to have plan B and a resume ready since small businesses are quite volatile.