“I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.” Helen Keller
Most of the people drawn to my writing are 40+ and are looking to live more authentically. From the emails I receive from you, many of you are thinking of becoming self employed. You may be motivated by the urge to have more flexibility in your schedule. You may be tired of a commute. You may wish to work part-time to supplement your retirement. You may just be someone who likes to work alone a lot, like me.
I knew when I was 27 years old that I wanted to work from home –now that was quite some time ago! At that time, there truly were not many options –folks who worked at home did “piece work” putting earrings on cards or stuffing envelopes for mass mailings –the work was tedious and the pay was worse. It wasn’t till the 80’s that dial up modems and computer bulletin boards gave me a glimpse into my future of being able to work from home. It took me until the year 2000 to take the leap. And am I glad I did!
If you are now considering self employment, I want you to know that there are many possibilities for you. Here are a few ideas to get your creative sparks going–if any seem right up your alley, do a Google search on associations and or trade journals in that field to begin to gather more information.
- Virtual assistant
- Technical writing
- Bookkeeping
- House sitting
- Cleaning service
- Coaching
- Consulting
- Gift basket business
- Professional Organizer
- Estate Sales Services
- Handyman
- Wedding Consultant/planner
The two most frequent questions people ask me about being self employed –is “how do I market my services” and “what do I charge?” While I can’t cover those two questions thoroughly in this short article, I can get you started.
I choose 2-3 marketing activities that I’m comfortable with and create goals around those methods for six months and then evaluate how well they are working. Some potential methods are: introducing yourself to other business owners whose customers could benefit from your services, attending trade association meetings, displaying your service at a community fair, writing articles for magazines and the internet, public speaking, web site, yellow pages listing, and word of mouth referrals.
Fees for professional services vary from region to region. Most people charge either hourly or by the project basis. I encourage people to charge by the project whenever possible. You can check fee ranges by looking up industry associations, Googling the businesses you’re interested in and seeing what others charge, and asking people you know who have their own businesses.
Don’t be overwhelmed. Take a small step today and you’ll find yourself energized by just thinking of the possibilities.
