Self-employment, The ultimate goal for most people.
I managed to accomplish this at the age of 23! I quit my job in August of 2016. I prepared in every way imaginable, Growing several sources of income, And even using my vacation time to "practice" the self-employed life, For three weeks to see if I was capable of handling it.
Your Emotional State
Being self-employed is a little harder than I expected on an emotional level. And It turned me slightly into a hermit. While this may not be the case with a lot of self-employed people. This was the case with me. Being self-employed changes your life in a lot of ways you wouldn't expect it to. And you don't fully see the effects until you become self-employed. Which is something to keep in mind!
I always forget that other people have 9-5 jobs, So It's always bizarre to me seeing people drive to work. Haha. Little things like that make your life truly unique.
Also, it can be a lonely life, If you don't have a lot of friends, Or if you don't surround yourself with people. I Underestimated how happy my Coworkers at Ups made me each day. And this was a hard thing to deal with when I became self-employed.
What Is Your Financial State?
You obviously need to be able to cover your bills once you quit. But you also need to make sure your business or self-employed gig, Will be around for a long period.
You also need to have back up plans in place in case something falls apart, As well as multiple sources of income.
Here's an example of my income sources currently.
- Steemit (For Emergencies only)
- My Shirt Business (It's diversified on four platforms)
- My Coloring Book Sales
- My Kindle Book Sales
- My Ecommerce profits that are owed to me the next two years.
- UPS
Currently, my biggest income sources are my shirt business And second place Steemit. Let's say tomorrow; Amazon bans me. That would cause 1/2 of my Shirt business to be shut down in one day. And that's if Amazon were to ban BOTH my Merch And my Seller Central Account (Usually only one is banned at a time)
I would obviously be in big trouble.
But guess what?
I'd survive.
Because even though 2 of my ships would have "Sunk." I still have my other sources and platforms to provide me with money.
Can you REPLACE Your Job?
No I'm not saying you should bank on the fact that you'll need your job back. But when I say "replace". Think deeply about the benefits that your job is offering, Can you replace those things?
The good health insurance?
The discounted movie tickets?
Every little thing that you use, You need to keep this in mind.
When I left UPS. I left some of the best health insurance you can have. Plus I was only required to work part-time, And NO I never even had to pay 1.00 out of my paycheck for it.
That's a pretty big sacrifice, The insurance I have now, Sucks. So if I need any health or dental care, I pay a lot out of my pocket.
The Less Obvious Benefits
If you work a labor-intensive job, Going from that, To potentially working a desk/ Self-employed job. Will cause you to gain weight. That's a big reason I went back to UPS. Because I started gaining all this weight, Even though I was running 6 miles per day. It got the point, Just to maintain the weight I was at, I'd have to have an almost perfect diet.
Which was hard.
These benefits can add up; You need to find a replacement.
For me, I could have gotten a gym membership. But why pay money to work out for a few hours every day to keep my weight down. When I can go to UPS and load boxes as fast as I can and keep my weight down that way. Plus get a weekly paycheck.
Becoming self-employed is a wonderful and empowering thing.
But it also can have downsides that many fail to anticipate.
Hopefully, this helps you get a clearer view from other angles so you can prepare better.
It's a massive leap! Because of the state of the UK economy and the rise of 'gig' jobs, I ended up going self-employed by accident. That is, I was 'hired' by an SEO company who later told me I had to register as self-employed, or as a sole trader in the UK. Since then the only work I have is on a self-employed basis. I do prefer the freedom it gives - and if the value of SBD keeps going up maybe Steemit will be a valid source of income!
Sorry to hear about your insurance difficulties, btw - I'm in the UK and we have the NHS, which is free at the point of delivery. It's maybe the most beloved institution in the UK, although not without its problems. I feel really sorry for Americans, because on average they pay almost double what we pay for expensive insurance premiums, but get worse healthcare and often not even full coverage. But it's also hard to comment on another country's politics!
Fantastic writeup. I might add you will be missing an employee sponsored 401K as well. For my mental health & wellbeing self employment is very attractive to me, esoecially the older I have gotten. I'm currently in between jobs right now as my physical therapy contract at my job got cut at 12 weeks instead of 13 ( common for this to happen. ) I love my job in PT but have some health conditions that make doing it full time, difficult. So right now as I am between jobs, I'm glad to have three extra income sources steemit, nutraceuticals ( Have sold nothing yet but it'll come), and crypto trading. Are these enough for me to bare bones survive.... not yet but they help a lot. That's why I am trying to be a more successful blogger. I Have so many interests it is hard to "brand myself. " I love art, fitness, running, photography, steemit help, paranormal, fiction writing. Yeah that is a bunch of stuff. And working on ECS curation ( @eastcoaststeem my account to support primarily ECS through thoughtful curation)
It is alot and my expectations don't always match up but I'm thankful anyway. Great post, hope your leg is continuing to feel better
I often see people give up when they do not see progress . But being motivated and staying to your word and making it happen is how it should be . Nothing comes easy in life
@kaylinart Hey Lady keep the Content coming the SBD is now over $12.00 per.................Love It !!!
RIGHT!? I just want to buy ALL of it right now LOl.
@kaylinart You Warm my Heart, I want all the Best for you too young Lady.
girl you are totally awesome! tshirts, coloring books, and more - so creative! what kindle books did you write? :)
I wrote a couple basic Money saving ones back when I was 19 LOl.
Thank you! It took a while to build up. Certainly didn't happen overnight lol.
Yes of course, you are soo inspiring! i have interest in making a kindle book and also maybe some shirts (with fun pole sayings!) ... :P I really need to look into it! I kind of started with the book a couple years back but didn't finish the project lol
Aww you totally should. Even shorter books do surprisingly well.. and you can sell them on amazon with kdp.amazon.com
Thank you so much :) IF you want to make funny shirts, you can also get an account with Merch. They print and ship all the shirts for you, It's a great program. But it can take a while to get accepted. So you'll want to sign up asap hehe.
merch.amazon.com
oh thanks kaylin!! Ill definitely start taking a look into these - amazon is so cool that they will print and ship it!!! :D
Some people (like myself) are probably "unemployable" and need to work for themselves. I don't mean that we are incapable of working for others but we will never be happy doing it. As you get to know yourself, you might find that this is the case.
I know how that is, I'm similar. I need that massive amount of freedom to be happy. lol
You are one of the most creative author today. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about self-employment. God bless!
Thank you so much :)
Self employment is the way to go, some of us hate working on mondays, but we do work the other days of the week.
Great article. Why Amazon should ban one of your tshirt selling acc?
I also have a suggestion, save 5% of your income in a stocks. They will be a relief in a 5 years period
Another great article. I became a real estate agent and started at the beginning of the crash and may be the most introverted real estate agent in the business. However, where there is a will there is a way. Fascinating to see your insight.
If you ever need someone to bounce ideas off of please reach out to me. I've been self employed for 10 years and while I am still growing I know I've tackled some major obstacles.
I was self employed for a while but it didn't turn out to be the dream life style that I wanted. As you said you will be a bit out of sync with others that have 9-5 jobs. Further more it was hard for me to keep good routines.
Self discipline is not all that easy as it is hard to kick your own butt I guess. I think to have a main job but other projects on the side is really good. You have many channels that leaves you options and that is the ultimate freedom
Postingan yang sangat berguna @kaylinart
Saya sangat menyukai postingan anda
Anda sangat jelas menjelaskannya
Good 👍👍
excellent post,very good job
thanks @kaylinart
hay regards my introduction to you yes. allow me to join you. to get to know all your friends. and I want like and participation from you too. please ya friend
The article is very impresive and interesting.
wow really nice & mind touch blog..
Thanks mam for your excellent post..resteem it.
Thank you.
Well you certainly have done well for your self, the health care and dental is probable the worst part like you said.
Membaca tulisan anda sungguh sangat inspiratif.. Jarang mnusia mau berfikir untuk membebaskan diri dari rutinitas pagi siang malam. Mendapatkan hasil akhir yang mksimal selalu tidak peecaya diri.. Padahal wiraswata pekerjaan paling mnyenangkan kiya bisa ukur dan mengatur sendiri hasilnya. Sagat bagus karya anda ini.. Saya senang. Sukses selalu untuk anda.
Your posts are always so informative and insightful...Never thought about the hidden benefits of having a laborious job. Reading your posts, I realized something about you: you always look at the positive side of things.
When you worked as a concierge, you tried to get all the knowledge you can get from this experience; When you worked for the ups, you saw the physical activity and health benefits it gave you. More people, including me, need to apply the same mindset as you.
Great post as always Kaylinart :D
Regards,
@inspirationalrag
Congrats to you accomplishing self employment at such a young age.
Hopefully you won't have any ships sink but a good strategy to be prepared for if one or two do.
Good read this morning, thank you!
Congrats to you for accomplishing self employment at such a young age.
Hopefully you won't have any ships sink but a good strategy to be prepared for if one or two do.
Good read this morning, thank you!
You are so beautiful, do you already have a husband? @kaylinart
You are so beautiful, do you already have a husband? @kaylinart
I am completely straight, but watching this photo I can make an exception!
Regarding to your state of hermit, get a co-working space :)
Yes ,I am ready to be Self Employed.your post is outstanding ,I like your post.
Thank you for this article I think I will benefit from you a lot
Left corporate world to be a work at home / full time mom for two kids. Your post is useful for people like me.
Yes - Awesome.... Add some Youtube revenue .... an extra $100 / month ... it Adds up.
love to read it.....
Inspiring post! I think it's wonderful that today's technologies allow creative workers to make a living by doing what they love
You are very motivating! Be self-employed is one of my dreams, I have to say that this year I have been doing a great step towards this direction, it is not going to be easy but with constancy and sacrificies you can accomplish anything. :)
This post resonated with me. I like how you mention having several jobs happening at all at once so that if you lose 1or 2 it's not so much of a big deal. Also, your thoughts about insurance are so true. I laughed about you moving boxes with UPS and how it's a great workout. In my day job I move record and stationery boxes around all the time and my Lose-It app says that you can burn around 400 calories an hour doing that.
This was a great read! I always think of being self employed as not having to report somewhere daily but in reality you have to work harder. I also didn't think about lack of insurance or just interactions with people daily.
Very introspective post as well as forward thinking. I am a small business owner and have been through many changes, ups and downs, etc. since my business was started years ago. It has been harder the past few years because of the slow economy but as you can see many have several jobs to make the dream of one's own business come true. Best of luck to you!
Hmm really interesting post
But requires a hell lot of willpower.
Anyway, good luck with the T-shirt and Steem business. Looks like you have a decent plan and I'm rooting for you. Keep crushing!
Nice post!
Super interesting topic! I like your writing style very much!
I'm impressed with your story and outlook. I can certainly relate to much of what you say. I began freelancing and being self employed while still in high school - did that for many many years and this was before the internet - it was a lot slower to communicate and send art through regular mail - i sure love this instant online world - but never can give up my joy of painting and selling art in a local venue also.
Wonderful post. I wish someone had mentioned the whole health insurance part to me when I left the military a decade ago. That is the one thing I really wish I'd kept. Right now my husband works but we don't have health, dental or eye wear care, but if I'd known it would cost me almost $800 for a pair of glasses and how much it is just to get a cleaning/checkup at the dentists I would never have let the insurance from my military days be cancelled.
I'm going to resteem this for anyone else that might read it and realize the same. :D Thanks for posting this.
God bless you and have an awesome day! :D
Nice Post You have there @kaylinart. Most times, it is advisable one put the loneliness that self employment will bring into consideration before plunging in (Gradually Becoming a hermit as you put it.).....Footing your expenses alone and growing bigger in weight might not actually be good reasons to remain stuck in the rat race plus the inability to decide your pay. I left my paid job hurriedly as well to take up a full time position in network marketing (foreverliving products). Although it was never easy at the onset, but now am really enjoying it since it affords me the opportunity of building a viable network even across the globe, touching lives positively, learning new things (including digital marketing), relating with people (meaning i cannot be lonely), visiting my team members (Which explains why i cannot add weight)....So maybe you should think in line with network marketing especially those that will help you master online sales, work and talk with people....
A very motivating contribution. Thanks for that! :) I can identify with your statements. I am 24 years old, live in Germany and start the way to becoming a book author. In two months, I will reduce to part-time and I am looking forward to this new path. It's exciting. But I realized, I really want to become self-employed and do every day what is fulfilling me.
I want to write my own novels for people.
Respect for how you built that up and now have so many jobs.
No way! I became self-employed at 23 too! But that was in 2003. I'm an old-man now.
4 business failures later, I can safely say, I've become quite unemployable, because I love running businesses. Even if I fail today, I'll probably cook something up and make a few phone calls, and I'm back.
But lately, I've been thinking though, if it's the fear of going back to employment that's driving me. Perhaps it's something I need to evaluate that fear too, because they could be some validity in it.
I know it's only about a year plus in, but do you think you will go back to employment?
Great read and encouraging for those of us moving our lives in the same direction.