PERSONAL / CAREER SPECIAL .................Best career moves for self-employed

Best career moves for self-employed

Here are the three strategies you can deploy to forge ahead. 

    If employees dream of stepping into their bosses’ shoes, what do the self-employed people aspire to? Whether you are a doctor with a private practice or a small shop- owner, your challenges and aspirations will be different from those of your friends, who work in a 9-to-5 role with a secure salary and assured benefits. As a self-employed person, your career progression depends on where you see yourself 10 years down the line. Here are the three goals to choose from with a different strategy for each.

1 Remain self-employed
You have found your true calling in your area of selfemployment and plan to continue on the same path. As a photographer or lawyer, your only source of income is what customers pay you. Thus, career growth is about more customers, greater volume of work per customer, and higher rates per hour of work. Deliver more than you promise each time and your customers will evangelise your work. The father who is thrilled with the photographs of his daughter’s wedding will make sure that his friends and relatives call you to record family events. The firm that you helped win a civil case will want you for every litigation and will not quibble about price, giving you both work and higher rates. The key factor here is maximum monetisation of your time. More customers and volume minimise idle time and higher prices give you a better cash flow.
    Two more approaches can help you increase productivity. The first is to move to high-value services using the same skill set or by acquiring new skills. For instance, as a freelance coder, you can invest spare time learning how to make apps for phones and tablets with higher earning potential. The second approach is unblocking unproductive time by paying others to do your work. Thus, if you are an independent consultant with many clients, rent a cab instead of driving, so that you can work on presentations during the commute. As your experience grows, leverage your reputation with clients to get into advisory relationships, where returns are the highest per unit time. Thus, as an accountant, offer to be a financial controller for multiple start-up firms co-located in an incubator. Apart from increasing income, work towards building safeguards against catastrophic losses. So, for instance, the sound technician will insure his equipment against fire and theft.

2 Transform into a business
The difference between self-employment and entrepreneurship lies in the correlation between the time deployed and income generated. Thus, as a tuition teacher, you will earn on the basis of the time you remain occupied. However, if you choose to leverage your personal brand to start a coaching class, you could hire other teachers and become a businessperson. Your income would not depend on the number of hours you teach, but on how well you attract students and teachers and build a profitable franchise around the brand. If you aspire for more wealth and are willing to risk failure, change from a freelancing role or sole proprietorship and incorporate as a private limited firm or an LLP. Consult a good accountant and lawyer to figure out the details. As a business, you benefit from high-paying corporate customers, who prefer dealing with firms rather than individuals. However, your expenses and administrative load will increase and can sink your firm if you don’t grow revenue soon or if you dislike extra effort. The right time to switch over is when you have the finances to invest in infrastructure and people, and are turning away customers only because you have no spare capacity.

 3 Become an employee
You are self-employed out of necessity, not choice, because you were laid off from the previous job and new jobs were scarce. You seek full-time employment in your field of interest with a good brand, if possible, and want to have a steady source of income. Self-employment is merely a stop-gap arrangement to remain sharp and make ends meet. In such cases, treat your work as the means to acquire a permanent job. So, as a Web developer, opt for assignments with promising start-ups who can’t afford an employee yet. As you help with their websites, you are also investing in the relationship so that you are the first techie they hire when they get funds. If you are a paid contributor to publications, offer to join the editorial team of a magazine as an intern or on a contract basis, giving them the chance to evaluate the benefits of hiring you without making an upfront commitment. Employers are wary of freelancers as their ability to work in an organisation and teams hasn’t been tested.
    If a direct approach is not possible, get formal qual ification required for a full-time role. If you are a post graduate and a part-time lecturer in multiple business schools, enrol for a PhD programme so that you are eligible to be hired as a professor. Alternatively, reframe your skills to show value to an employer. Work on communication and people skills, and a client is bound to make a compelling job offer soon.

 5 disasters to avoid

1 Locking your door
Whether you are a freelance writer or a home-based businessman, don’t shut the door to the world even when busy. Let people intrude into your work and personal space. Your network will grow and bring business.

2 Going empty-handed
When you are pitching to a new customer or getting more business from an existing one, view it as an opportunity to build credibility. Never go without your portfolio if you are a fashion designer, and with strong written references from satisfied customers, if you are an accountant.

 3 Not learning
You may have a degree or diploma, but you can’t rest on your laurels and expect the cash flow to grow. Spend at least five hours a week to stay abreast of the developments in your field and offer more value to clients.

4 Fixing a price
Though some selfemployed people don’t like cutting down their price, it isn’t always a good idea. Consider working for free or a low amount for a big brand or a non-profit firm. The loss in revenue becomes your marketing expense and repays you manifold down the line.
5 Working alone
If you are an interior designer, get an assistant who wants to learn; if you are a lawyer, hire para-legals and build a team. Then delegate the grunt work and free up time to meet clients and do more value-added work. Outsource all non-core activities like accounts and administration to service providers.

DEVASHISH CHAKRAVARTY, Director, Executive Search at Quetzal