Living the dream – is it a good time to contemplate changing
employment status?
By Ian Ronayne
At some point in our working lives, many of us will dream of
being our own boss. It may be a long held ambition or a spur of the moment
consideration, perhaps following yet another tactless managerial dressing down
for some trivial incident or after we find ourselves labouring on in the office
long after everyone else has departed. Yet whatever the catalyst, for most full
time employees the dream of a what seems to be a more fulfilling working life will
remain just that – a dream. And that’s absolutely fine.
For others, however, the self-employment option will move from
dream to opportunity (or is it threat?). Maybe it’s through personal choice - I
really don’t want to work for someone else anymore and I can see the chance to
do something for myself. Or maybe it’s through redundancy - I don’t really want
to work for myself, but personal circumstances mean it’s going to be difficult
to get back into gainful full time employment. I suspect the latter is a very
real and very disconcerting scenario for more than a few people in Jersey
today.
But whether through design or fortune, is now a good time to
try turning that opportunity into self-employment reality? And if it is, how
easy is it for former full time employees to change to self-employed status?
Thinking about the former question, it seems logical that
the same factors pushing full time employees out of organisations are creating professional
skills gaps that need filling, although not on a full time basis of course.
Spare internal resource capacity has diminished but the work still needs doing.
Contracting someone in – for a few months, a few weeks, a few days or even a
few hours – may be an attractive choice for many organisations, so the
opportunities must be there for the flexible small business or sole trading
freelancer.
But if the opportunity exists, is it easy to move from full
time employee to self-employed entrepreneur in order to take advantage of it?
The answer, in my experience, is yes … and no.
Let’s deal with the “yes” first. I say yes because there are
plenty of States run or sponsored organisations offering advice, leaflets and
websites on how to become self-employed. They are able to explain technical
details such company structure and social security contributions, and offer
templates for business cases, marketing plans, cash flow forecasts and the
like.
But here comes the “no”. While this may be interesting
information, it does little to prepare people for the self-employment life, or
help them turn a dream into the reality of finding fulfilling work that offers
a degree of security and a decent living. And I think this is what many people
who would work for themselves are looking for. Ok, there are those who want to
start their own business in order to become the next Mark Zuckerburg or Alan
Sugar, but for many others it’s a lifestyle career choice. Having turned our
back on the full time corporate world, the thought of creating another of our
own is not particularly desirable.
So if official channels don’t offer much, where can would-be
self-employed find help to get them started. I think the answer lies in
speaking to others who have gone before them. Glean whatever hints and tips are
available, and learn what works and what doesn’t. Really try to understand the
demands and stresses of working for yourself, as well as the benefits and
rewards. Wherever possible, use the acquired knowledge of others to assess your
skillset against the market demand, identifying what you have to sell and –
very importantly - how much others will pay for it.
Where to find this information? Well unfortunately it’s not
straightforward. While plenty of forums and networking clubs exist locally,
none is dedicated to the self-employment world, and therefore meeting the right
people is something of a hit and miss affair. A pipedream would be to see this
addressed in 2013, so that more can turn their self-employment dreams into
reality.
Ian Ronayne
January 2013
ciChange is interested in helping [c]orporate and [i]ndividual
change – c.i. Change and would be interested in workshops, seminars, blogs or
any support that might be offered to help small or start-up businesses. If you
are a small or start-up businesses looking for support or a professional,
trainer or mentor able to provide support please contact me and we can see if
we can set-up a suitable event.
We would also be interested in using www.ciChange.org to make information
available, including possible links to JerseyBusiness (http://www.jerseybusiness.je/get-going)
whose mandate includes to support business growth in Jersey.
Tim Rogers
Founder ciChange
