I worked as a permanent designer from 2008 to February 2020. Overall, I can therefore look back on 12 years of permanent employment in agencies and know the advantages and disadvantages of both worlds. In this article, I would like to introduce you to the advantages and disadvantages of self-employment.
Let's start with the disadvantages of self-employment
Tax, accounting
Tax topics and accounting are suddenly topics that constantly accompany you. It's still not my favorite topic, but I find it very good to have an overview of my finances at all times. A good tax advisor can do a lot of work for you here. I currently handle tax issues with the Goodlance tool and have my annual financial statements prepared by a tax advisor.
Acquisition, marketing
I'll list this as a disadvantage for now, as you have to make sure that you have enough customers and that you market your company yourself. That is a big difference compared to an advertising agency where work automatically comes to you.
IT
You must ensure that your IT runs smoothly yourself and that you regularly back up your data and customer data. You should also have enough reserves should your computer or other technology fail so that you can quickly replace it.
health insurance
You have to take care of health insurance yourself and yes, that can be quite a bit of money per month.
Vacation is expensive
If you go on vacation, you will no longer receive a salary or vacation pay, but your fixed costs, such as health insurance, will continue to run. That means you have to save yourself a good cushion to have a relaxing holiday.
It's harder to switch off
Let's stick to the topic of vacation. Even on vacation, it's hard not to even look at his emails and I have to say that I've been on vacation a lot in the last two years, but I've also had conversations with customers or wrote emails from time to time. It was easier for me in permanent employment, even though the line between leisure and work has become more and more blurred due to home office and mobile devices.
Very intensive work
As a self-employed person, I work no longer than in a permanent position, in most cases I even work less. But when you work, you work very intensively. Did you get a permanent job with an 8-hour day focused on 3-4 hours of work. As a self-employed person, I focus intensively on 5-6 hours.
No real colleagues
Colleagues make up an important part of the work. If you start out as a self-employed person, you are initially on your own. And that's not for everyone. Many people who work independently lack daily communication with work colleagues.
missing events
Unfortunately, there are no more company events, no summer party and no Christmas party that someone else is planning for you and you can simply have a good time with your colleagues. You have to take care of this yourself and, if necessary, team up with other freelancers.
printing
The heavy workload and lack of financial security can put a self-employed person under enormous pressure.
discipline
Anyone who is not good at motivating and structuring themselves should reconsider the matter of self-employment.
Now we come to the benefits of being self-employed
Freedom, you are your own boss
You decide for yourself how long, with whom and whether you work at all. You decide which hardware and software to work with. You can decide which customer you want to work with and which you don't want to work with. You even decide where you work or where you are only available to customers remotely. Once you have experienced this kind of freedom, it will be difficult to go back to work.
Acquisition, marketing
You may have to take care of your customers and advertising measures yourself, but if you enjoy it like me, that's an advantage. You can do your own marketing for your company and position yourself the way you would like it to be.
vacations
I have taken significantly more vacation in recent years than during my permanent employment. You don't have to ask anyone for permission to go on vacation. However, a good and early consultation with your customers is recommended.
personality development
Your personality develops extremely over the course of your self-employment. You always have to jump over your shadow and learn things or do things that don't match your core competencies. You also learn a lot professionally when you're self-employed.
family
Being self-employed makes me completely flexible and can support my family at any time and spend more time with them. As a result, I was even able to adjust my son to daycare and can coordinate flexibly with my wife to relieve her workload.
Shopping/sports
Being self-employed gives you the opportunity to stroll through empty shopping streets or do your weekly shopping in an empty supermarket. You have the option to work out in an empty gym, as you can flexibly avoid peak hours. This is a big advantage for me and I am spared full supermarkets and gyms after work.
monies
In theory, you can earn as much money as you want without having to exchange time for money.
responsibility
You're no longer an irrelevant cog in machinery. You have responsibility and must make business decisions.
Home office
It's a huge advantage for me because I don't have to travel anywhere and can start working right away — that's incredibly efficient. I have also set up my home office so that I feel very comfortable there.
Build a network and benefit in the long term
Nobody can take away what you build up during your self-employment. You'll learn a lot, get to know important people and expand your network. You can benefit from this in the long term.
You can always get back into the employee relationship
Starting your own business is not that easy and means a lot of work, the other way around, if you are tired of being self-employed, you can simply get hired again. In my opinion, ex-self-employed workers are better employees, as they think economically, and can better understand the employer when making certain decisions. During my time as self-employed, I have already received many job offers for permanent positions, which I have gratefully rejected.
Conclusion:
Whether self-employed or employed, both sides have advantages and disadvantages, but if you know them and are aware of what you are like as a person and what is important to you, you will quickly recognize which direction is the right one for you. For me personally, self-employment is the best thing that could have happened to me right now.
Nevertheless, self-employment should not be underestimated and should be well planned.
