The fear of instability is a major factor that stops people from becoming self-employed. Many people dream of working for themselves but they worry that they will end up in financial trouble. You’re responsible for sourcing your own work and if you can’t find any, you don’t earn any money. When you’re in full-time employment, you often don’t have that worry, so people assume that it’s always more secure. But is that really the case? Although there are risks involved, self-employment is actually more secure in a lot of ways. Here’s why self-employment can be more secure than you think it is.
There Are Stable Options
When people think of self-employment, they always picture going out on their own trying to source work, but there are more stable options. If you become a barber or hairstylist, for example, you are technically self-employed but you can rent a chair at a barbershop or salon, meaning that you always have work coming in. You’ll have to go through hair/barber school (Be sure to do your research to find out how long is barber school or cosmetology school and which one is best) but once you are qualified, you will have a lot of stable job options while still being self-employed. As the economy changes, there are a lot of positions open for self-employed people to do contract work, so you have the stability of full-time employment without the restrictions.
You Can’t Be Fired
People say that full-time employment is more secure but there’s always the chance that you could be fired or laid off/furloughed. When you’re self-employed, you can’t be fired unless you fire yourself. Sure some clients might not return or may choose to go another route and you do have to deal with sourcing your own work, but it’s unlikely that you will suddenly lose all of your income in one go. Diversifying (the next reason) can be a way to prevent that from happening.
You Can Diversify
The beauty of being self-employed is that you have full control over what you do for work. If you are struggling to find work in a certain area or you just want a change of direction, you’re completely free to do that. If you have skills that are transferable, it’s easy to start looking for work in different areas, which makes it a lot more stable. The more income streams you have, the safer your finances will be.
Your Income Is Unlimited
When you work for a business, you get paid what they decide to pay you. You can negotiate with your boss but they don’t have to give you a pay increase if they don’t want to. You could always leave, but that’s a risk and you have to find a new job. When you’re self-employed, you set the prices, so you can earn what you think you are worth. You also have full control over how much work you take on, so your earning potential is unlimited. In fact, successful self-employed people tend to earn a lot more than people in full-time employment.
If you are holding back on your dreams of being self-employed because you are worried that it is unstable, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. It’s actually a lot more stable in many ways, so just go for it.
