Self-employment is a funny old fruit. To be self-employed is to look at the life of an employee, with its security, regularity and defined career path and say ‘not me for, thanks’.
I was in salaried roles for the majority of my working life, so got to know it (and the perks that go with it) very well. The free tea (and biscuits if you’re lucky), the neat pay check that comes to you with all your tax and student loan obligations taken care of, the paid holidays.
When you make the decision to walk away from all that, people will (quite rightly) think you’ve lost your marbles. But I watched a Ted talk the other day by the design legend Stefan Sagmeister that flipped my thinking.
He argued that there are benefits seen as remarkable to those in salaried employment that are readily available to those working for themselves, they’re just forgotten about or taken for granted.
Think about it – how many times have you read about ‘the best companies to work for’ and thought how great it was that they offer flex-time, an on-site laundry and the option to work from home? If you’re self-employed (and work from home) you can stick a wash on anytime you like! Your kitchen is your own personal canteen, stocked with your favourite meals and snacks (however healthy you choose to be – ignore that packet of Double Deckers, please).
I can go one better than the trendy offices offering rooms full of puppies to help workers de-stress: I have a dedicated office cat who not only provides company when I’m home alone, he always knows when it’s 5pm (aka time to be fed) and incessantly scratches my chair until I take the hint that it’s time to down tools. He’s a natural Burnout Prevention Device.
Overall, the most important benefit of self-employment is being able to decide your own perks based on what’s important to you. I suspect having the ability to set your own working hours is the reason most people go self-employed - personally, I know I work better when I stick to office hours. And sure, I don’t have access to a free on-site gym, but I’m free to go out every lunchtime and walk down the canal, to the shops or go for a swim if I’m really organised.
I do miss the free tea, though.
I was in salaried roles for the majority of my working life, so got to know it (and the perks that go with it) very well. The free tea (and biscuits if you’re lucky), the neat pay check that comes to you with all your tax and student loan obligations taken care of, the paid holidays.
When you make the decision to walk away from all that, people will (quite rightly) think you’ve lost your marbles. But I watched a Ted talk the other day by the design legend Stefan Sagmeister that flipped my thinking.
He argued that there are benefits seen as remarkable to those in salaried employment that are readily available to those working for themselves, they’re just forgotten about or taken for granted.
Think about it – how many times have you read about ‘the best companies to work for’ and thought how great it was that they offer flex-time, an on-site laundry and the option to work from home? If you’re self-employed (and work from home) you can stick a wash on anytime you like! Your kitchen is your own personal canteen, stocked with your favourite meals and snacks (however healthy you choose to be – ignore that packet of Double Deckers, please).
I can go one better than the trendy offices offering rooms full of puppies to help workers de-stress: I have a dedicated office cat who not only provides company when I’m home alone, he always knows when it’s 5pm (aka time to be fed) and incessantly scratches my chair until I take the hint that it’s time to down tools. He’s a natural Burnout Prevention Device.
Overall, the most important benefit of self-employment is being able to decide your own perks based on what’s important to you. I suspect having the ability to set your own working hours is the reason most people go self-employed - personally, I know I work better when I stick to office hours. And sure, I don’t have access to a free on-site gym, but I’m free to go out every lunchtime and walk down the canal, to the shops or go for a swim if I’m really organised.
I do miss the free tea, though.
