The joys of self-emloyment

byEoinmac

452 followers

Updated 9 years ago

Self-employment - Swings and Slides

I've been self-employed since 2001, I'd like to keep it that way. That said, anyone who thinks it's great, because you get to be your own boss, work your own hours, and all that stuff, there is another side to it that is not so good. I'm not going to go into that side too deeply, but what I will mention is the financial side of things and my experience.

Show me the money

Unfortunately that hasn't been great. Sometimes I've made good money, but it was usually on the back of a lot of hard work. I've no complaints with that. Then there was times when I was putting in so much time in doing unpaid background work that I was earning below minimum wage, delivering professional services that should command much greater returns. I've no complaints with that either. Then there was times when I had no work and was therefore making no money. That's very hard to sustain when I'm the only earner supporting a family.

From Fantasy to Reality

One of the hardest truths about self-employment in the service sector, where you are the product, is that you ONLY get paid for hours worked. That means no holiday pay, no sick pay, no maternity or paternity pay, no free training and getting paid while your on the training. Are you getting the picture?

On a Shoestring

Many wouldn't see this as a good thing, but as a family we got used to living on a shoestring and are now really good at it. We don't get to many fancy restaurants or have expensive holidays or have a fancy car, and while we don't always get what we want, we have what we need. While our living standard is basic, we don't lack, and I believe that our experience has taught us a lot about what's really important. We appreciate what we've got.

The Rainy Day

The real difficulty with my working lifestyle is that when I am making money, I have to ensure that I am putting a portion of it aside for the times when I'm not making it. When I'm not making it or not making enough of it, our rainy day fund disappears in no time at all. We have had rainy days where I have had to rely on welfare to get by, and ones where I depended on my credit card, and when things turned good again I had a big credit card bill to pay before we were back on top. Not easy, let me tell you. It is also tricky when trying to plan for my autumn years. They're not that far off.

Residual and Passive Income

It has been on my mind for a while that although I am self-employed I am still essentially a wage slave, but without the perks and support of working for an employer. I've known for the last few years that If I am to continue in my current mode I will need a residual income stream that is passive to some extent. This means if I get sick or need to take time off for any reason then I still have something coming in.

On-line

On-line was one of the ways I thought viable. I could create product and hopefully develop an additional income stream. I could use my website to promote my product and at the same time promote my services. Hiring someone to develop this website was a no no with my financial resources. I would have to do it myself.

Web-master Mastering

Although I knew nothing about coding, I did manage to build a static website to promote my services and did a bit of blogging with Wordpress, However if I was to create a residual, passive income I would need to do a lot more. I tried, but kept getting bogged down, spending hours trying to do the simplest things, referring to YouTube videos to learn. It was frustrating, very time consuming, and sometimes it was a case of one step forward, two steps back.

Easy Money

Like most of us, I came across lots of affiliate type stuff promising that I'd be driving a Porsche and holidaying in the Bahamas in a month. I'm no easy mark and didn't buy into the nonsense, but I'm not averse to the odd gamble and did check out one or two get rich quick schemes. My attitude was that I was quite happy with the car I have, but if I could make a fraction of what they claimed I could, then that would be okay.

Scammed

I bought into one or two 'programmes' for very small amounts to test the water and sure enough - they were scams so I made a hasty exit. The gamble didn't pay, but it was a gamble I was prepared to take, so I cut my losses and ran.

Too Good to be True

I hadn't looked on-line for any 'opportunities' for quite a while until recently when I spotted a link to one when watching a YouTube video. I checked it out. Again, it looked to good to be true, but I decided to do a bit of research. Sure enough I found a review that exposed the scheme as a scam. The reviewer was none other than a WA affiliate who recommended that WA was worth taking a look at.

Wealthy Affiliates

Having a trial for beginners meant that if I was going to take a gamble then it wouldn't be immediate so I had nothing to lose. I checked it out and liked what I saw. I didn't wait to finish the trial period. On my 2nd or 3rd day I laid my money down. I liked the look of the odds.

So Far So Good

In the short space of time since I have joined WA I have built the foundations of a website with a fraction of the hassle I've had with my previous efforts. I am simply following the instructions and training and applying a tried and tested model. I am also enjoying the process, whereas my previous attempts had me pulling my hair out. I can see myself building a really good website over time using the WA model. I also love the fact that I can monitor and verify whether or not I'm making progress.

The Community

The community is the icing on the cake. Not only is there support, but I am also learning through my engagement with my fellow WA members. It's fantastic that I can get comments on my posts and feedback on my site, and at the same time know that if I hit a problem I'm not on my own. The goodwill from those I have engaged with has been amazing and positive, as well as practical.

The Future

I don't see WA as a 'fast buck' venture, rather - it is something that develops and evolves over time. I don't see myself driving a Merc any time soon, but I am very hopeful that I can eventually create modest residual income. I am also hopeful that over time I will become less dependent on being a wage slave. That would be so cool. The idea that we could take a holiday and still be earning some money! Wow.

The return on my gamble has been excellent so far and if it continues in this vein, I'll be sticking with it.