How often have you sat in traffic on the way to work and dreamt of a morning where you could be nursing your first coffee, sitting in your pyjamas ready for 9am and booting up your laptop from your bed?
Every working mother dreams of the delights of being self-employed but there are pitfalls to this life of luxury - for starters being self-employed doesn't mean you work less and it's not always easier. Take our quiz to see for yourself if it's right for you...
Question 1: You're lucky enough to start off your self-employed career with a nice month-long contract under your belt, which takes up a lot of time. Whilst working on this do you:
a) Put all your effort into doing a good job and enjoy shutting down your computer at 5pm to make dinner
b) Work extra hard this first month, sending out emails and making contacts with potential clients/customers to secure future work
c) Halve the fee with someone else so you can enjoy more time at home with the kids, which is why you went self-employed in the first place
Question 2: You've got an important deadline coming up, but every room in the house is a complete tip and your mother-in-law is due round in the morning. Do you:
a) Sweep the mess off your desk and shut the door behind you, blanking out all the chores. This is a work day, chores will just have to be done later
b) Spend your morning working and take breaks every couple of hours to tidy the bedroom, fill the washing machine or run the Hoover around
c) Email the client and inform them you'll get the proposal/document over to them by Monday and wish them a happy weekend. Shut down your computer and put on those rubber gloves.
Question 3: You've been paid well for a contract that's just come to an end. You've got a few small things lined up but nothing that's lucrative enough to generate a monthly income. Do you:
a) Calculate how many months bills you can cover with your fee and place a sum in a separate bank account to ensure that if the situation remains as it is, you've got everything covered
b) Pay a little extra towards the bills this month, to give you a bit of leeway next month, and go shopping
c) Indulge yourself with that handbag/dress/shoes you've wanted for ages as a congratulations for being a successful self-employed woman
Question 4: You've become self-employed and registered with the inland revenue, meaning you'll need to put aside all your own tax ready for your self-assessment in January. Do you:
a) Put all your invoices, VAT receipts, travel cards, phone bills, utility bills in a large shoe box to make sure they're all together and place one third of each fee in a separate bank account for tax
b) Keep records of everything on the computer but only put money for tax aside when you can spare it
c) Make sure you've got a good accountant lined up and not worry about it until January
Striving to find a balance is no bad thing and that's why you're thinking of taking this leap
a) Gently remind friends that a lunch break is only an hour and even though you work from home, you're still working.
b) You love the fact that you can now be involved in all the catch ups you missed out on when you worked in an office so you don't mind at all
c) Take more long lunches than you should but only babysit during the day if a friend is really stuck
How did you score
Mostly As
Quit now! You can do this! You recognise that being self-employed requires discipline, focus, organisation and hard work. You see it as a career move, not an excuse to take time off. Talk it through with your loved ones and if it's a feasible decision then take the leap and good luck!
Mostly Bs
You're nearly there and you certainly understand that being self-employed doesn't mean you get to skive off work, but you're still rather easily distracted by all the other jobs there are to do around the home and by the long friendly lunches. Striving to find a balance is no bad thing and that's exactly why you're thinking of taking this leap. But if you can treat this move as a professional one from the outset you're much more likely to succeed.
Mostly Cs
You don't want to be self-employed, you want to be unemployed. Ask yourself this: do you really need to work? Do you want to work? Are you just looking for a way out? Finding work, keeping work and getting paid for work takes a great deal of effort and none of it will be mastered with a half-hearted attempt. Why not look for a part time job or possibly think about re-training at something you enjoy? That way you'll have more free time and, hopefully, more job satisfaction.
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