Have you thought about leaving the nine to five rat race and working for yourself? Before you hand in your notice to the boss, you might want to find out how to be successfully self-employed.
Working for yourself means you are now the boss.
Although this can be liberating, it carries a lot of responsibility.
You will want to make sure that you have everything in place so you can be successful in your own business.
Tips on How to Focus for Your Business
Make Work-Time for Work
When you are working you need to be working and not spending time watching TV. If you are a day trader, then probably watching business channels is advisable.
However, most professions don’t require you to watch TV as part of your job.
Take breaks, sure. Watch your favorite show at lunch or after work is done.
It is easy, when working at home, to get lazy, and then you don’t get your goals met or work done.
Rules for Family and Friends
It is a good idea to have rules for your family and friends regarding interruptions.
It is tempting for friends or neighbors to drop by unannounced since they know you are at home.
However, what looks like a quick visit can turn into many hours. This makes it difficult to get work done when this happens.
Also, if you have a spouse, they can see you are at home and it makes it easy for them to involve you in a task or two.
While this might not be a problem all of the time, it can bet to be time-consuming.
So let everyone know that between certain hours you are unavailable and then stick to it.
Don’t answer the phone or emails from these people or they might take advantage.
Have a Plan for Your Business
This is important. You need to have a plan for your business as this will determine what you need to do in order to be successfully self-employed.
Once you have a plan in place, you will be able to set up tasks that will help you accomplish the plan.
As well you will want to have goals for your business. They can be adjusted as you go along, especially if you aren’t reaching your targets.
Find People Who Have Similar Work Situations
This is a good idea since you will have other people who understand your situation. They will be able to offer support.
You can set up meetings on a regular basis to discuss ideas and this is a good way to expand your network.
You might want to consider joining the local Chamber of Commerce or other business organizations.
This way you can promote your business and they will also serve as social gatherings.
Prioritize Goals to Become Successfully Self-Employed
Before you start your self-employment you should ask yourself what you really want to achieve.
Once you have an idea of what you want to achieve you can set some realistic goals.
You might have a dream, but in order to succeed you need to know if that dream is realistic.
If you decide to become self-employed you should do it right.
Here are some reasons for setting goals before you start on the self-employment route:
It Might Be Urgent But is it Important?
Being self-employed means that for the most part, you are working on your own so it is possible to get overwhelmed.
The best way to deal with this is to make sure you prioritize your workload. This is how you can decide what is important from what is urgent.
It is possible to reply to urgent emails, but they may not be important at the moment where other work needs to be completed.
How to Stay Motivated
In order to stay motivated it is important to set specific goals. Every success you have will help to fuel your determination and success.
It is also important to make sure you have short-term goals in order to maximize your success.
Bigger long-term goals are important, but short-term ones will help you feel more successful and motivated.
In fact, setting weekly or monthly short-term goals will help you accomplish the long-term goals.
If You Don’t Prioritize Your Goals, You Can’t Grow
Goals keep us focused and organized. If you don’t prioritize goals, you won’t have a clear direction on what you want to achieve.
In order to grow and succeed in being self-employed, you will need to know if you are succeeding.
You won’t have an idea if you don’t know what you want to achieve in the first place.
Keeps You on Track by Prioritizing Your Goals
When you are self-employed you are going to work harder than everyone else.
This means working long hours especially at the beginning of starting a new business.
You are going to want to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals.
It can be easy to stray from your goals and forget what exactly you want to achieve.
If you prioritize your goals and review them regularly, you will be able to realize whether you are still on track.
How to Not Waste Time
Now that you have decided to look at being successfully self-employed you need to make sure you don’t waste your time.
Here are a few things to keep in mind.
- Set up a schedule of the hours you are going to work and keep to it.
- Manage your time so you are the most productive.
- Have a set of goals, both short-term and long-term.
- Prioritize your goals and action steps and review them regularly.
- Stay off social media during your work hours unless it is part of your work strategy.
- Delegate work to others that you don’t like doing or don’t have the expertise.
The Highs and Lows of Self-Employment Video:
Although it may be hard a first to become self-employed, the pleasure you can get from a job well done will be very satisfying.
All the hours you will have to put in to start a new business will be worth it when you become successfully self-employed.
