Starting a new business is an exciting decision, but it requires time, patience, and effort. You need to consider several factors that can impact your decision before you take the plunge into self-employment.

Do you want to become your own boss, choose your hours, and escape the rat race? The following guide will help you get started as a self-employed professional.

First Things First, Why Do You Want To Be Self-Employed?

Understand your reasons for choosing self-employment. This will impact the relationship that you build with your venture.

Ask yourself the following questions before you begin:

Is it about control?

Are you not satisfied working in an organization over which you do not have control?

Is it about the field of work?

Have you lost interest and connection in your current field of work? If yes, then which area do you want to work in instead?

Is it about the nature of the job?

Do you like the field you work in, but feel that the nature of the job does not match your working style?

Is it about earning money by owning?

Do you feel you are not making enough in your current job and would like to own a business to earn a better living?

Is it about career excellence?

Do you believe that being self-employed will give you more growth than working for someone else?

Understanding the 'why' is critical because it will affect the 'how'. Once you realize the reasons that motivate you, you will be able to set goals for your work efficiently.

Understand Your Finances:

Self-employment requires certain monetary expenses to spend. Before getting down to the business plan, you need to figure out the costs.

• Research the monetary costs of self-employment. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has a useful startup costs calculator. It helps business owners determine how much funding they will need. You will have to evaluate upfront costs, tax, accounting, overhead, and other expenses.

• Consider factors for preparation and regular maintenance of your company. Estimate how long it will take to become profitable and what will be your source of funding before that. Plan for your personal expenses. This will be essential if your business doesn’t end up earning enough to give you a full-time wage right away.

Determining How Much Time You Can Invest:

Self-employment requires a significant time commitment. Some business owners struggle with time management. But some others have trouble finding free time because they’re working too much. Here are some tips to balance this based on your priorities:

1. Find your productive time:

To better manage your time, understand when you work best. Is it early morning or late night? Is it before your 9-5 job, or after? Plan your most challenging tasks during these golden hours.

2. Use your commute time:

Do you often have time to kill while traveling to and from work? Use this time to check some lighter tasks off your list.

3. Plan and prioritize your tasks:

As a new business owner, you will have a lot on your plate. Organize all that needs to be done, and prioritize the important and urgent tasks first. You can even try to cluster similar tasks together and take them all up at once to enhance productivity.

4. Reduce distractions:

To be your most productive self, you must scale back on what takes your mind off work. Reduce social media usage and work offline. If you are working with a lot of background noise, use noise-canceling headphones. You can even try certain apps that block your phone usage during particular times of the day.

5. Take breaks:

It’s important to get work done, but it’s also necessary to give yourself some downtime. A burnt-out mind will do you no good in completing tasks. Even a 5-10 min break every hour can help you refresh and reset your mind.

Consider The Impact On Your Personal Life:

Investing time in a new venture often comes at the cost of family time. It might be difficult, in the beginning, to strike the perfect work-life balance.

It’s essential to talk through this decision as a family. The time commitment may make it harder for you to take part in your family’s activities, events, reunions, and vacations. If you have to miss your pay cut to become self-employed, your family should be aware of changes in income.

Set Goals For Your Business:

Setting clear, achievable objectives helps you plan for success. Your business goals help determine where your company and career are moving towards. For example, imagine you set a goal of a certain number of sales or conversions in a month. You will need to increase your marketing target from two months before it.

So how do you begin?

The first goal is setting SMART goals.

It is important to set practical goals and plan them ahead of time. If your goals aren’t understood, they will be much more difficult to reach. Write them down to hold yourself accountable to them, and make sure they’re SMART.

SMART goals are:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Attainable

• Relevant

• Time-based

Choose Your Self-Employment Industry

When picking a niche, choose the industry you want to work in with great care. Research on the market and current business trends. Do not forget to account for the digital turn that most industries have taken in the post-pandemic world.

Here are some industries or fields that you can consider:

• Freelancer for gigs like writing, designing, etc.

• Marketing Agency

• Event Planner

• Real Estate Agent

• Painting

• Interior Designing

• Web Design and Development

There are just a few of the options to get you started. Check out our blog to learn more about the best side gig ideas and small businesses that can launch your entrepreneurial dream.

After knowing your industry, you’ll want to determine the kind of business you’d like to run.

Do you want to be a freelancer or gig worker? Would you like to run a franchise or a startup? A franchise needs startup fees and deducts large royalties from your bottom line. Freelancing, however, requires lower startup costs but receives more competition in the market.

Create A Business Plan:

You have to put in long hours and a lot of hard work for your business to become successful. A business plan can help you streamline these efforts.

The type of business plan you need depends on the kind of business structure you choose. For example, a freelancer may find potential clients using crowdsourcing or job sites. An independent contractor may work with large companies directly.  So they may market at industry conventions or through in-person meetings with executives.

To make a good business plan, you should incorporate the following -

• Include an executive summary and company description.

• Create a market analysis with research on your market segment

• Identify gaps and barriers to enter

• Create a marketing and sales plan

• Establish an operating plan

• Organize financials for the future

Here's a step-by-step guide on creating an effective business plan.

Lay The Foundations Of Your Business

With all the initial steps in place, you need to cover all the starting bases of your business. This includes licensing, legal formalities, and other procedures to launch and run your venture.

• You’ll need a business license to form a business entity, such as an LLC or sole proprietorship. How you set up your business will affect any liabilities or debts incurred when running it.

• Set up some form of invoicing or accounting system that allows you to get paid.

• Create promotional items such as business cards or brochures, as well as a website. This will help you reach potential customers and raise awareness about your business.

• You'll need management tools like emails, scheduling platforms, and project management dashboards. These tools help to run your business better.

Build Your Network:

When you work in a company, you work with colleagues and leaders who are a part of that company. But, when you are self-employed, you work with connections that you create.

To let people know of your presence in the market, you need to meet new people regularly. This is called networking. It helps you connect with potential clients and businesses you can collaborate with.

The income of a self-employed individual is not predictable in the same way as a salaried one. Enhancing your network of reach ensures that you have a steady clientele.

Keep the following points in your mind while networking with new individuals -

• Tap into your existing contacts and promote your venture amongst them.

• Encourage your existing clients to spread your work via word of mouth. It is a remarkably convincing marketing tool.

• Try to sustain any communication with a potential client or business partner. Update them about your company’s growth at regular intervals.

• Maintain a healthy relationship with the clients that you have worked with in the past.

• Attend events centered around your field of work and industry. Create connections with people from that industry, be they established or novice professionals.

Tackle Marketing

Do you have what it takes to market yourself as a trustworthy business owner? For your business to thrive, you need to know how to promote your company and find potential clients.

Most of your clients are already online. So it's beneficial to learn how to market your company using digital platforms.

• Create a powerful, built-to-convert website for your brand. This is like your company’s office for the online world. Customers can get all the information they need about your brand through your site.

• Try your hand at social media marketing. Your audience is already present on networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
• With market analysis, understand what sites they most often use and advertise your business there.

• Invest in search engine optimization. Learn the tips and tricks to help your business rank first in relevant search queries. This is a great way to get high-intent leads.

• Experiment with different platforms as your business grows. Use paid advertising, direct mail, video content, and other methods.

Diversifying your marketing avenues increases your chances of building a strong customer base.

Are You Ready To Start Your Own Thing?

Being your own boss is an exciting career path, but it takes hard work - lots of it! While the process might seem hard, the important thing is to start. Start small, set a strategy, experiment, fail (sometimes it's inevitable), and bounce back stronger.

By now, you even have a list of factors that you did not have before. Follow and trust the process to get where you want to be. We hope this list helps you take the leap from planning to doing. And remember, you can always ask for support. It helps to have expert professionals who can guide you through the process.

If you are looking for that guidance, our team at Hoist is here to help! We help you reach your goals, especially if you want to explore the profitable world of painting.

• We provide all the powerful tools you need to launch your business in just 30 days!

• Before you start, we give you access to our quality training modules. These cover everything from the essentials of painting to the nuances of running your business.

• With Hoist, your business is your own. We aren’t feature anywhere in your branding or marketing collateral.

• We provide you with some cutting-edge features to run and grow your business. This includes our landing page builder, lead generation service, and more.

• You can even take advantage of our expert community and coaching. Connect with professionals in the industry for one-on-one and group training sessions.

The best part is that you do not have to pay hefty franchise fees to partner with us. You can get all this and more for just $667 a month. If you have the dedication to grow your own business, Hoist is the ultimate resource to help you get started.

Talk to our team today to learn more about our features and get started with building your brand!

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