How to Tackle Self Employed Challenges Effectively
Self-employed professionals often face a number of challenges that can get in the way of success, for example, research shows that over 60% of self-employed individuals struggle with time management and financial planning. This post highlights some of the more common obstacles and fears along with strategies to deal with them, leading to greater success and satisfaction in your self-employed career.
Common Challenges Faced in Self-Employment
Self-employed professionals face several challenges that can impact their success and well-being.
- Uncertainty of income
- Achieving the right work-life balance
- Getting (and keeping) clients
- Time management
- Isolation and loneliness
It is important to know that you are not alone in experiencing these challenges. These are very common across self employed people and are all a part of the highs and lows. The good news though, is that you can take action to reduce the negative impact of these challenges and ensure they don’t get in the way of your success.
Uncertainty of income
This can create a lot of financial stress and pressure. We all know one of the benefits of PAYE is a regular payslip, and the world of self-employment presents a very different picture to this. One of the most important things you can do to help here is budgeting. Make sure you are fully aware of your costs (both personal and business) and have rigorous budgeting in place. Becoming more involved with your bank balances and expenses gives you a greater and more constant awareness of your financial situation. Forecasting and planning is also key to ensuring you can ride through those months where you may have lower income. It’s now your responsibility to provide that monthly income, so arm yourself with the information you need to roll out smart financial planning.
Achieving the right work-life balance
Now this is a tricky one, especially in the early days of self-employment where most have to go full throttle to get things up and running. To face this challenge head on, you must be realistic with the time you need to invest into your business, and that must be balanced with a personal awareness of burnout. If you push yourself to the point of burnout, you can lose energy and your productivity could grind to a halt, and so ensuring you take a step back on a regular basis to assess what time you are putting into work is crucial. Along with that, consider the effectiveness of the hours you are putting in – are you getting the results you want from those hours? Are there ways you could work smarter, tools and processes that you could implement that can help you maximise your time? And remember, your business is now based around you as an individual so make it right for you, for example, if you’re a morning person, start up earlier and finish earlier. There is no magic solution here but being smart with your time can be a massive help.
Getting (and keeping) clients
This can be a significant hurdle for sole traders and small business owners and there are a number of factors at play. Firstly, know your target audience – this ensures that you are not wasting time chasing customers who aren’t right for your business. Secondly, make sure you consider the customer experience – presenting a professional service at any stage of the process or communication is vital to keeping customers happy and returning. Thirdly, remember that doing ‘your job’ is not the whole of it anymore. Being self-employed means not only do you do ‘your job’ but you also run the business, so you must set aside time to build your pipeline and manage customer relationships.
Achieving the right work-life balance
Now this is a tricky one, especially in the early days of self-employment where most have to go full throttle to get things up and running. To face this challenge head on, you must be realistic with the time you need to invest into your business, and that must be balanced with a personal awareness of burnout. If you push yourself to the point of burnout, you can lose energy and your productivity could grind to a halt, and so ensuring you take a step back on a regular basis to assess what time you are putting into work is crucial. Along with that, consider the effectiveness of the hours you are putting in – are you getting the results you want from those hours? Are there ways you could work smarter, tools and processes that you could implement that can help you maximise your time? And remember, your business is now based around you as an individual so make it right for you, for example, if you’re a morning person, start up earlier and finish earlier. There is no magic solution here but being smart with your time can be a massive help.
Time management
Time management is a very common issue for the self-employed and can risk negatively impacting revenue generation and overall success. In a similar way to challenges of achieving your desired work-life balance, take regular time to assess how you are spending your time. Not everyone likes structure, but you are going to need to it run your business successfully. Schedule in repeat tasks so they aren’t missed, and use a diary and to-do lists to keep track of what you are doing. Setting and tracking goals is also a key way to ensure you are remaining focused.
Isolation and loneliness
Suddenly finding yourself no longer surrounded by teams, managers and colleagues can be a shock to the system for some. However there are ways in which you can establish a new support network. Many industries will have established communities, either in-person or online – look to LinkedIn and Instagram for those groups of people just like you looking for similar support networks. Research if there are any professional associations that are relevant to you. Consider joining local business networks if relevant to your business as many of these will run networking events. Regardless of the sector, there are many online and in-real-life communities of those who are self-employed who want to connect and share their experiences. Don’t be afraid to jump into these…they may also be great lead generation opportunities!
Whilst it can seem like there are plenty of challenges that come with self-employment, the good news is that there are also simple ways to effectively manage them. Working with a business coach can be really helpful to uncover all of the challenges holding you back. A business coach will work with you to find navigate obstacles and give you guidance and a roadmap of how to move forwards. To find out more about the coaching packages offered by The Self Employed Coach, click here.
