Free Agent Act – What it takes to be self-employed

Sitting down in a café for a cup of tea with a friend recently, we pulled our chairs up to a typically wobbly coffee-shop table. To rid the table of wobble, we chose the standard engineering feat of wedging a folded napkin under one of the four legs of the table. That prompted my friend to say – mind already churning with ideas, “I bet I could invent a five-legged café table that wouldn’t wobble.”

But what would it take to bring an idea – a really good idea – to market? And are you the kind of person to do it?

Today there are more than 25 million self-employed Americans, according to Daniel Pink, author of Free Agent Nation. That’s more than one in ten in the U.S. And Margaret Heffernan in her article, “The Female CEO” (Fast Company. Issue 61) tracked women fleeing corporate America at a much faster rate than men. Between 1983 and 2002, the number of self-employed women rose 77% while the increase for men was 6%.

Despite the changing realities of our country’s economy and the trend toward self-employment, despite even the allure of being your own boss, most people walk back to their cubbies without taking a square look at what you do and don’t need to be self-employed.

You don’t need to have a million-dollar idea, but you do need to know that there is a willing market ready to pay for your product or service. Do café owners want a five-legged table? Does one already exist? Knowing there’s a ready market means testing and piloting your idea. And for most of us without trust funds or investors eager to jump in, that means working nights and weekends to do research while still working your day job. You must, with some sense of certainty, be able to predict that there are enough people and enough dollars available to allow you to fulfill your financial requisites and goals.

You don’t need a million dollars to start a business, but you do need a passion for your ideas and unwavering perseverance.

• Passion: Remember the nights and weekends mentioned above? Well, it’s true. So if you don’t LOVE what you are going to be involved in, forget it. It’s that simple. Not only will you need that level of passion to merely manage the hours in the beginning, but your future clients and customers will sense, one way or the other, if you love what you do. To make it work, you’d better love it.

• Perseverance: More than smarts, more than glitz, more than any other single aspect which could tip the scales toward success, you have to be ready to stay in the game – for better of worse; in sickness and in health. When you start, you will hear “no” much more than you prefer, but you must be confident enough in what you are offering and its future to keep going. In today’s here-today, gone-tomorrow culture, your customers’ expectations are that you will not survive. You, as a self-endorsing individual, must have undeniable focus and be able to tolerate the slammed doors, so that when people hear your name today and tomorrow and next month and next year, they will realize you are in it for the long run. That’s when you are first taken seriously. Then and only then. And that’s when the real fun begins.

As a potential free agent, the trends are in your favor. And while the level of commitment is intensified considerably, as an independent worker, here’s what you get:

• the rewards of doing what you love • the combining of work and family (often)

• the self-enlightenment of answering to your own decisions • the choice of working on Saturday but not on a Wednesday • the reclaiming of your self-esteem by never having to ask permission to go to a dentist appointment or leave an hour early • financial prospects that have potential to exceed a yearly salary or corporate bonus structure And even while working long evening and weekend hours, you can still cash in on the undeniable perk of going to a café with a good friend in the middle of the day – any day – for a cup of tea.

© 2006 Kristin Thalheimer Kristin has worked as a manager, leader, team player and coach in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors for over 18 years. Trained in business development and entrepreneurship, Kristin’s areas of expertise include leadership, negotiation, communication, and project management. Kristin also has a dual role in the fitness industry and is currently partnering with Healthworks Fitness Centers for Women as an instructor and business coach.

Contact Kristin at 617 407-1124 or by email at info@ourlifebusinss.com

www.ourlifebusiness.com



Free Agent Act – What it takes to be self-employed - To learn more about this author, visit Kristin Thalheimer's Website.

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