Self Employed - how do you do it?

[Pickle]

I have a family to support, a mortgage to pay, but have always wanted to go self employed......

How is it done?

I would need an office (I have one in mind), computers, phones etc, and in my business (residential lettings) it would take a while to build up an income stream close to my current salaried income.

So, how do you make the transition from employed to self employed yet still afford to pay the mortgage etc?????

 

[cchris2lou]

save now and prepare .

 

[Andy B]

I'm making the transition now.

I have my full time job & I'm starting up my own business.

It's a slow process building up a customer base and hard work, but I'll get there in the end.

Although I only have myself to support, but all the household bills are paid by me alone, luckily they're under £700PCM

 

[Craig Nicholson]

With a lot of hard work, a couple of stress related heart attacks and lots of coffee!

On a serious note though, it ain't easy to be honest. I made the transition 8 years ago and would not want to go back but I was fortunate enough that my wife was working and earning a very good wage.

You have to be sure that the work is there which in this climate ain't that simple. Have money behind you to pay the bills for the time it takes to build up and then hope upon hope that the economic climate doesn't get worse.

I know it sounds a bit doom and gloom but if you work hard and use your brain, it really does/can work.

One thing to get right is promotion (that's my business - I dsign and sell cards, letterheads, flyers etc). Without promotion, you are going no where fast and it's one place you don't want to skimp! Ensure you get quality materials to sell yourself with. Poor quality leaflets look shoddy and reflect on your image. Full colour, double sided ones makeyou look lie a quality outfit who really care.

If you want any info from my point of view, email me at info@sign-workshop.co.uk. I'll sort you some good forum discount on promo items too. Maybe free artwork also?

 

[magicmistertea]

Ive been self employed for 8 years now !!
Let me tell you its brilliant. I cant tell you how much i love it.
The thought of me having to work for someone else now is just plain rediculous .
I love the fact i can work the hours i want when i want(within reason), Allthough because its for myself i work twice as hard , The money i earn is miles better than i would be getting for the same job if i was employed.
Its allways a worry getting work etc etc.... but so far i have been okay.
I dont have a mortage but i do have rent so i surpose its similar ?
my advice would be to save a bit of cash to cover you over your first few months and then work as hard as you can to MAKE SURE your business is a success..
P.S im not sure how stable your employed job is ? but in the current climate not many jobs are 100per cent safe... is being self employed that much different ?

 

[missmyfat]

To be honest pickle if you think like that you will never do it.
The best way is to start part time and build it up but not many can do it that way. I took redundancy and just started but you need a slush fund to tide you over as you build it up.
There are benefits to it, not "answering to the man" is the best feeling but there are many downsides to it as well. No holidays,sickpay etc and when the phone is not ringing as happened to me its a horrible feeling. Think very carefully if it is what you want, its not for everybody.
If you have a good job then I would stay where you are at least until the credit crunch eases. But if you really want to do it then go for it, its better to do something you regret than regret not doing it!

 

[Tad]

For the official ins and outs and what to do, what not to do I found Business Link a great place to start. Mind you, I'm not a shining example, I've gone back to working for the man.

 

[missmyfat]

For the official ins and outs and what to do, what not to do I found Business Link a great place to start. Mind you, I'm not a shining example, I've gone back to working for the man.

Yes i used business link they are very good and helpful.

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

The transition? It's easy, you just get some complete cock to make you unemployed and arrange a massive depression/armagedon to remove any chance of further employment.

Still don't think its going to work though. Business Link/Access to Business were helpful.

Not the 'to' in Access to Business is actually a '2' but there are some things I just can't do.

 

[john the sparky]

I started whilst I was working on shifts, and tried to build a customer base.

I invested my earnings in equipment at the start, and then ended up taking a loan to buy a van and the rest of the kit.

I couldn't imagine working for someone now!

When I first set up, someone said to me......

You'll spend the first 6 months worrying about earning enough every day, then the next six months worrying about earning enough every week, then from then on worrying about finding enough hoursd to do the work....

that's near enough how it went for me...

another important tool, is networking.... so what are you going to do? and can anyone pass work your way from the forum?

good luck

John