Striking out on your own? You’re not alone. Hundreds of thousands of workers are leaving their jobs and opting to work for themselves. But if this is your first experiment with working for yourself, you may need a few tips to survive self-employment.
Why? The human resources department that used to handle complex things like withholding, FICA taxes and health insurance is now gone — replaced by you. Moreover, safety nets that employees take for granted — unemployment and disability insurance, for example — are largely unavailable when you’re self-employed. And forget about regular paychecks. Even if you find regular work, clients don’t always pay promptly. Sometimes they don’t pay at all.
Of course the benefits of self-employment — flexibility, independence and greater income potential — are well worth the challenges. But a brief guide can help you sidestep some of the most vexing problems. These five tips can help you survive — and thrive — in self-employment.
Most people don’t quit a full-time job until they have a client or two ready to hire them. However, nothing about self-employment is certain. So, it’s helpful to know that copious online job sites can help you find new clients, if and when you need them.
And it’s not a bad idea to sign up with these sites — and ideally, accept a few gigs — long before you run out of work. That’s because many sites promote your profile after you have successfully completed work there. And the more work you’ve...
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