Successfully Self-Employed: How to Create a Lifestyle Rather Than Just a Living
In the past week or so, I've had
three distinct occasions to speak with others about the joy of being
self-employed and working from home. The first came about as a result of being
interviewed by a newspaper reporter from Berkshire (MA) Eagle. One of the
questions he asked was about the earning potential of people in the Virtual
Assistant industry (the interview was about the side of my business where I'm an
Internet Marketing Virtual Assistant). I gave him the upper tier of earning
potential of the busiest VA, and when he asked if I earned that much, I told
him, "No, I don't. That would require me to work way too hard." However, he
seemed to be most impressed by my intangible benefits of self-employment, in
which I said: "What's cool about my business is that I don't have to commute to
work. I work the hours I want and with the clients I want. I save money and time
on traveling and gas. And I can work in my bathrobe."
The "working in your bathrobe" theme appeared again in a conversation with a
client this week, who was lamenting her early 6 AM departure to a business
appointment. She said, "This (early hour) is tough, but I know people do this
every day to get to work. I'm never up this early. I finally walk into my
office at 9 AM in my bathrobe with a cup of coffee in hand and maybe take a
shower around noon." This sounds suspiciously like my life on many days..:)
The third occasion was with my sweetie, who told me how jealous he was that I
show up to work about 9 AM, knock off between 4-5, only work 4 days per week
with clients, take breaks during the day as needed, work in my bathrobe (see the
recurring theme here?) and yet still manage to make a decent amount of money.
He, in contrast, works 4 12-hour days (or nights, actually, as he works many
graveyard shifts), is off 3 days, is bored out of his mind at his job, and has
to endure the bickering and fighting and backstabbing politics that make up the
workplace. He constantly refers to himself as "being owned by the man". That
sounds like so much fun I can't stand it..:)
In the 7 years I've been in business (wow, it's hard to believe I've been
self-employed for longer than I've ever had any job!), I have been approached by
well-meaning friends, colleagues, and business associates who have cajoled,
encouraged, and coached me to "grow" the business. By this they mean create an
enterprise in which I go out and find clients and farm out the duties to a bevy
of independent contractors. As someone who supervised both directly and
indirectly 70 full-time, student, and part-time staff in my higher education
career, I swore I would never be in a supervisory position again where I had to
manage that many people. It just wasn't fun.
I'm a firm believer in the "small is beautiful" concept of running a business.
Granted, what I've done in my business is to create a job, rather than a
business, but that was done purposefully. Chellie Campbell expresses similar
sentiments in her new book,
Zero
to Zillionaire, "There are 17.5 million of us solo-preneurs in the
United States. The ads say, 'Go big or go home.' Bah. We already are home.
With work we love, cash in our pockets, and family around us --happy, rich
enough, and fulfilled."
What's standing in your way of "going home"? Initially for me, it was fear.
Fear of failing. Fear of losing my health insurance. Fear of being financially
decrepit. Fear of losing respect of my former work colleagues. Fear of simply
not being able to pull it off. What propelled me to follow this dream of being
self-employed? Finally discovering an industry that would enable me to do what
I loved to do, what I was good at, and used my natural skills and abilities.
The discovery was a long time in the making, as I failed miserably in my first
business venture when I followed the advice of many of the self-help business
books to create a business from a hobby.
Guess what? Most of my fears have been realized. I have failed in starting a
business. I have lost my health insurance. I have been financially decrepit. I
have lost the respect of some former colleagues (though most are jealous of my
new-found freedom <g>). I have failed at always being able to pull something
off. But, nothing killed me -- I have survived. It's like learning to walk --
you pick yourself up and start again.
What I discovered in my journey was that I was creating a lifestyle rather than
a living. I'll probably never get rich from what I'm doing, nor will there be
any business assets to sell upon my death, as I am the business, but I'll die
happy and fulfilled and doing what I love to do, and plan to do it (or some type
of business) well into my 80's. Traditional retirement like my parents have had
sounds terribly unappealing to me, and extraordinarily boring.
If you've been sitting on the fence, with those dreams of self-employment
floating by just out of reach, here are 7 issues to ponder if you'd like to
create a lifestyle, rather than a living, for your life:
1. Where are you living? Is it a large urban metropolis, small
city, or rural town? Is it on the coast or in the mountains? What kind of home
do you reside in? Is it a comfortable townhouse downtown, or a patio home in the
suburbs?
2. What's your ideal neighborhood? Do you live in a bustling part
of town where all the action is, or do you live in an area where everyone knows
your name? Are you close to convenient shopping, or live isolated out in the
country?
3. What does your community look like? Are you active in many
civic organizations, or do you spend a great deal of time at your children's
athletic events? Are country clubs and social groups a part of your network, or
do you prefer to socialize at your church or temple? What do you do for fun?
4. How are you connected to the world? Do you travel
extensively, or are local day-trips how you spend your time? Are you
politically motivated? How do you show it? How do you participate in/impact
what's happening in the world around you?
5. What do you love to do, and what are you good at? Are there
activities in which time seems to mysteriously disappear when you're engaged in
them? Are you doing it alone, or with others? Do you work from home or an
office? Do you want to work for someone else, own your own business, work with a
team, create a giant company, or work as a solo practitioner? Who needs the
skills and activities that you're good at/love to do? How much will they pay
for it?
6. What does your ideal day look like? Who surrounds you? What
are you doing? With whom are you doing it? Where are you?
7. How much money do you want to make? What would make you
comfortable? What kind of life would you really like to lead if money were no
object?
I did an exercise very similar to this in 1998, after the failure of one
business and just prior to starting my current business. I ran across the
journal containing my answers in 2001 or so, and was amazed at how much my life
now resembled what I had written down as my vision 3 years earlier.
If you're stuck and hate the direction your life is headed, take an afternoon to
daydream and create your vision. I realize I'm now ready for my next chapter,
so it's time to dig out that journal and get to daydreaming again.
(c) 2009 Donna Gunter
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You
can, as long as you reprint the article in its entirety
and include this blurb with it:
Online Business Coach
Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses
by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a
baby boomer business online. Would you
like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results?
Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your
FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==>
http://www.OnlineBizU.com
Return
to Index of All Articles
Want to receive more articles like
these? Subscribe to my free weekly email newsletter, Get Clients Online,
where you'll learn the proven strategies I use every single day in my business
to get 95% of my clients from Internet marketing.
Subscribe below:
|
