Self Employment

[MooseBreath]

I run my own ltd company so technically I'm not 'self employed' from a tax perspective, but I guess its the same principle as this thread.

Love being abe to vary my work and have lots of clients. I find regular permanent employment a bore and wouldn't last more than a year in a job before I get itchy feet.

The down side is the amount of work I do, and it's so hard to say no when there's money on the table. 2 nights this week I've worked from waking to sleeping. Not a good habit really, but you do it when you're self employed. Working from home can also be very boring at times.

On the plus side, I take holidays when I want. I can take a 3 hour lunch break, start at 7am or 11am as I wish, and I suppose ultimately earn a lot more than I would in a regular job.

What do you do, monk?

[whoareyaaa]

woke up to over £100 profit, nice start to the day can't beat it.

[Chairman of the Bored]

Some interesting responses, thanks. Having watched the Spurs game (they were a bit of a shambles although Basil were excellent), I now feel guilty about not having worked but will double my efforts today and I've slotted in Sunday for work. I really enjoy being self employed, although there is a tension between doing the work and finding the work -getting the balance right can be quite hard and it is difficult to turn work down.

I might have to down tools at lunchtime today though as I'm guessing I will be unable to concentrate because of tonight's match (nervous tension!!). But at least I can make that decision.

[indierich06]

I'm trying to go down the self-employed route at the minute - I'm currently freelancing as a commercial copywriter in my spare time, I earn peanuts at the minute but I'm getting agency experience and plenty of stuff for my portfolio. I'm hoping to start getting my own clients in about 6 months or so, still working part time, but I'll start making some proper money from it.

The end goal is to be able to work from home and be my own boss - I don't mind my office job at the minute and I think there are some aspects I'd miss, but I think the benefits of self employment easily outweigh the downsides. Not looking forward to doing my taxes and I know there will be times when work is a bit scarce, but I love the idea of being my own boss so much. Wish me luck!

[James.]

Would love to be self employed but feel like there are too many hurdles now.

Firstly I have no idea what I'd do. I've wondered if I could be some kind of Excel consultant but it's such a widespread skill (not like programming, etc) that I doubt the market is there, especially in London.

Then there's the fact that I've created a lifestyle for myself that demands the sort of money I earn and it'd take bloody ages to get anywhere near that if I started again out on my own.

And lastly there's the fact I'm pretty much institutionalised into investment banking. Just doesn't lend itself to self employment unless you open a hedge fund but I have neither the contacts or the capital to do that.

My best chance is going into business with someone else where I provide business acumen, financial / accountancy knowledge as well as some capital. Would love to be involved some way in the travel or food industries.

I'll keep dreaming.

[Monk]

What do you do, monk?

Mostly data analytics, infographics , system implementations and custom apps in Excel.

[Monk]

I'll keep dreaming.

I started out with my first client was doing a project for a company is contracted for recently before. They preferred hiring me for a fixed price job and it cut out agency fees.

Since then I've linked in with a local consultancy and I do lots of data stuff as value added work on top of other work they do. It's a nice little arrangement.

Recently heard of the term 'Wantrepreneur' for those who keep talking about it but never take action.

There's no harm in starting a little something on the side.

[Guest]

If you are willing to put in the time and effort then being Self-employed is the way to go.

You can lose weeks of your life at a time, get in trouble for ignoring the wife/family, earn much more money than being employed by smeone else, buy back the love of your wife/family , and often fit in work around important events like sport.

highly recommended unless you're a slacker or thick.

[Tempwan Yierban]

I've had multiple successful ventures on the side, but never anything I've felt I wanted to replace my current job with.

[indierich06]

If you are willing to put in the time and effort then being Self-employed is the way to go.

You can lose weeks of your life at a time, get in trouble for ignoring the wife/family, earn much more money than being employed by smeone else, buy back the love of your wife/family , and often fit in work around important events like sport.

highly recommended unless you're a slacker or thick.

Just out of interest, what do you do FIF?

[Guest]

I made my first wadge self-employed in Property Management. Nowadays I top up my secure govt paid salary as an "English Consultant" which is simply a posh title (to charge a higher hourly) for an exclusive Professional English teacher hiring myself out to top business professionals.

[Guest MattP]

I made my first wadge self-employed in Property Management. Nowadays I top up my secure govt paid salary as an "English Consultant" which is simply a posh title (to charge a higher hourly) for an exclusive Professional English teacher hiring myself out to top business professionals.

I know a Scot in Hong Kong who pretty much does the same thing.

[danny.]

I used to be self-employed but found it really hard work and had to do horrible hours. Don't miss it!

[Daggers]

woke up to over £100 profit, nice start to the day can't beat it.

And out of that, how much do you have to give your pimp?

[MooseBreath]

Mostly data analytics, infographics , system implementations and custom apps in Excel.

Thought you did excel. What level of excel do you reckon is needed to get some freelance work in? I can do advanced formulas, intermediate vba, some application development, that kind of level.

[purpleronnie]

Moosey, the last daggers quote is actually lyrics from a song....not sure why I'm telling you this...but i am.

[Captain...]

I find this thread very confusing, people talk about being self employed as though it is a job, if you didn't enjoy being self employed then it was probably what you were doing, not being self employed, can people perhaps mention what they are self employed in doing, it would add a bit of context to their comments.

I'm technically self employed, but actually I'm just doing an office job, generally less than 9-5 and not normally a full week, but I work on a contract so get a daily rate, but if I don't work I don't get paid, an agency typically finds me work and sorts out all the contract stuff, the only difference for me is I have to send off an invoice every week, sort my own tax out, and get paid a hell of a lot more and work less.

I'm a Business analyst/implementation consultant/helpdesk support specialising in M3 an ERP system, similar to SAP.

[FoxesAreBlue]

I was a self employed Personal Trainer, operating out of a gym.

Now I am employed as part of the management of the gym and run the Personal Training on the side as a source of extra income. Quite lucky really as I can do my PT during scheduled "work" hours. Thus getting paid twice for the same amount of time.

Often the management side takes up a lot more than the official 8 hours per day but as I love the job (including the odd dickhead that I sometimes have to deal with) I don't mind. It's a cliché. But every day is different and the VAST majority of our members are fantastic.

[21st Century Fox]

I'm like a mystery shopper but I get paid by an agency to take a shit in showers in gyms and then go back to assess the speed and cleanliness of the clean up job.

[Webbo]

I'm like a mystery shopper but I get paid by an agency to take a shit in showers in gyms and then go back to assess the speed and cleanliness of the clean up job.

[FoxesAreBlue]

How did we (I) score?

[Alf Bentley]

I find this thread very confusing, people talk about being self employed as though it is a job, if you didn't enjoy being self employed then it was probably what you were doing, not being self employed, can people perhaps mention what they are self employed in doing, it would add a bit of context to their comments.

Spot on there, Cap'n Pancake! I'm a self-employed translator, working solo from home and the big downside to my particular type of self-employment is the isolation....which I counter by e-mailing friends and talking shite on Foxes Talk! I bet that isn't a problem for, say, a self-employed plumber, who has countless strangers starting boring conversations with him/her every day...

My particular type of self-employment didn't require heavy investment at all (a PC, a fax and a few hundred quid to cover cash flow until the work started paying). Other forms of self-employment (e.g. setting up a small retail or manufacturing business with staff) would require much heavier investment, with higher risks but higher rewards if you know what you're doing (I make enough to support a small family, but certainly not enough to get rich, despite my "professional" status). I'm curious as to what my old mate MattP gets up to, making millions, touring the globe and blowing it all. Spill the beans, Matt, if you read this...or are you just the WUM to beat them all, sending out Walter Mitty posts from your job at Leicester City Council?

People who are not self-employed seem to imagine problems with self-employment that never occur to me. Many say that they wouldn't have the self-discipline to get on with the work, would find handling their own tax too complicated or would worry too much about future work/cash flow....maybe that's why they stay in the employment of others? I know that's smug; I don't care!

Self-assessment tax is simpler than it has ever been - takes me about 30 minutes online once a year, I've never used an accountant & HMRC have yet to show any interest in me in 14 years (famous last words!)...mainly because I'm honest and don't make a mint, admittedly. Even so, you'd have to have a very complicated business/financial set-up to make tax hard to handle.

Self-discipline is no problem as I'm a fiercely proud, highly organised, energetic little shit. My problem (like many self-employed, I suspect) is in the other direction - the temptation to always work that little bit too much. No problem; when burn-out beckons, you take a week off (next week, thank you very much!). I hate the very idea of producing crap work or missing a deadline.

Self-employment is financially insecure? Yes, it is, but any more than PAYE employment these days?! I never seriously worry about money. Not because I'm complacent - my little business could collapse just like anyone else's - but because I'm confident that I/we would adapt if it happened. I've been dirt poor before and coped.

Enough gas already or I'll be opening a new business as a utility firm supplying Bristol Rovers....

[Captain...]

What do you translate sir Alf? I did a bit of Spanish to English translation for a bit of pocket money, enjoyed it, but personally wouldn't want to do it full time.

Is it easy to find work?

[Alf Bentley]

What do you translate sir Alf? I did a bit of Spanish to English translation for a bit of pocket money, enjoyed it, but personally wouldn't want to do it full time.

Is it easy to find work?

70% French, 25% Spanish, 5% Portuguese, all into English. I get plenty of work (too much, if anything), but not enough high-paying work, so make a living, not a mint. Do too much work for translation agencies and not enough for direct clients, who'll pay higher rates. Mainly working for same clients for 10+ years. Quite enjoy it mostly, apart from missing the social side of working in an office or wherever...

I thought of contacting Sousa to offer my services, but he was sacked before I could get round to it. Maybe I should offer to proofread Knocky's Twitter output....

[Carl the Llama]

70% French, 25% Spanish, 5% Portuguese, all into English. I get plenty of work (too much, if anything), but not enough high-paying work, so make a living, not a mint. Do too much work for translation agencies and not enough for direct clients, who'll pay higher rates. Mainly working for same clients for 10+ years. Quite enjoy it mostly, apart from missing the social side of working in an office or wherever...

I thought of contacting Sousa to offer my services, but he was sacked before I could get round to it. Maybe I should offer to proofread Knocky's Twitter output....

How'd you come by those 3 languages? More importantly, how did you become fluent? All my courses and professional interaction is in French these days and I still wouldn't feel comfortable providing definitive translations for people... Bastard.