Working for yourself can be incredibly rewarding, especially if you’d rather have more control over your time. If this is something that you are starting to consider, it can be helpful to do your research first.
This can help you to figure out if your business plans are viable, as well as help give you the confidence required to go it alone. While there can be a number of benefits to being an employee within someone else’s company, there are also a number of perks you can gain from becoming your own boss.
The Perks of Being a Sole Trader
Lack of initial costs
You may be required to fill in a number of forms, and even pay fees, if you were to choose to set up a limited company. However, if you register as a sole trade business, you may not need to do so. Certain types of business may not even require any liability insurance or tools to get started. You may want to think about the different services you plan on offering, to figure out what costs might potentially be involved.
For certain parties, this could mean that you are able to start working immediately without needing to concern yourself with expenses. That being said, you may still need to keep a record of income received as a sole trader and submit it each year. This can allow you to pay the correct taxes depending on your total profits.
Work when needed
In some companies, you might be required to be present for a set number of hours. This means that, when you have completed your daily tasks, you still need to find ways to fill your time until your shift is over.
This bum-in-seat mentality can be seen as somewhat outdated, penalising those who get their work done more efficiently than others. When working for yourself, you may be able to consolidate this time, allowing you to only spend the required time working. This could enable you to get home much sooner than before, or even take on additional work for more pay than you used to get.
Live the way you want
Becoming a sole trader can help you to increase the cash flow, even potentially more than you earned while in employment. At the same time, you could also choose to book in work at times that better suit you. As an example, this could allow you to visit the gym when it is quieter, which may often be during the traditional working day, or even be available for the school run to cut down on childcare costs.
Realistically, this can allow you to do the things you would rather do during certain hours of the day, and work around it. Putting your life ahead of work may also help you to feel like there is more meaning to each day, and even reduce the amount of stress you are under.
Deciding to be a sole trader could benefit you both financially and personally. You may want to think about what experience, skills and knowledge you possess, to see if these could help to change the way you work.