Working at Home, Self-employed or Hired Hand?
A Dream that Has Become a Reality for Many
Working at home – a dream come true for some and an unexpected necessity for others, in other words are you self-employed or hired hand? With the job market as volatile as it is today people can suddenly find themselves without a job; or, life changes such as a family illness can demand your presence at home full time. As a result – working at home can be a personal choice and sometimes circumstances make it the only option.
Regardless of the reasons for your decision to enter this new business frontier you will want to find secure employment or develop a profitable business of your own. Your decision will be based on what job security means to you. It is different for everyone. You must do your research, take as much time as you can, and find a business path that fits your talents, personality, and temperament.
Two Paths to Follow
There is always the traditional path – to work for someone else, but in the less traditional form – a virtual position. The only difference is location, and possibly your job title. The bottom line is that you will still be a hired hand.
The less traditional path is to take matters in your own hands and build a new business online – become self-employed.
As an adult you probably realized long ago that there are no 100% guarantees in life about anything – especially business. Between the two paths the slight advantage lies with starting your own business (if you have the heart and stomach for it). At least, you are more in control than you will ever be when working for someone else.
So, the question is . . . do you want to take the leap? What will it be? Self-employed or hired hand?
When looking at the possibilities available for working at home, the usual train of thought drifts to common positions they have heard and read about, such as:
- Virtual Assistant
- Data Entry
- Tech Support
- Customer Service
- Help Desk
- Accounting
- Dispatcher
- Education
- Game Testing
- Transcription
These are more well-known because they are frequently advertised in magazines. The fact of the matter is that many of them are scams written by people who want you to pay them for training (there is no real job connected to the ad.) But, some are legitimate. The problem is knowing which is which without getting caught in the traps.
Legitimate or not, the ads make the jobs sound easy. The siren’s call of easy money is difficult to resist. Doesn’t everyone want that? However, if you were able to land a data entry job, is that what you really want to do? Yes, it is mind-numbingly easy, but offers no personal reward or satisfaction for a job well done – and probably not something that you would look forward to doing every day.
It is time to shift to an entrepreneurial mindset and venture into a completely different realm of thinking about jobs and business. Allow your creative spirit to come into play and consider some of the following:
- Blogger
- Self-published Author
- Ghostwriter
- Graphic Artist
- Web Designer
- Graphic Artist
- Virtual Coach
- Affiliate Marketer
These are the types of careers that can be launched and managed from home. You will be building a business based on your personal interests and talents and driven by your passion for the business. In some of the businesses listed you will still be providing services, but as an independent contractor not as an employee, which is very different.
Give it some thought. Do some brainstorming – alone or with a trusted friend who is encouraging you to take this step (or supporting you in what you know you have to do.) Hopefully, you can choose – will you be self-employed or hired hand?
See you next time as we explore your definition of job security.
Nancy
Leave a Reply