Are you looking to take the plunge into entrepreneurship? Let’s talk about the truths behind being self-employed!

In this shorty, I dive into a few of the pros and cons of self-employment. I share 4 key lifestyle changes that happen once you become your own boss. From the perk of making your own schedule to the responsibility of having to own sales and financials, I cover it all. You’ll discover the freedom and flexibility that comes with being your own boss, but also the challenges that come with managing every aspect of your business. 

I’ll break down the excitement of building something from the ground up, the thrill of calling the shots, and the satisfaction of seeing your hard work pay off. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows—there are hurdles to overcome. This episode will bring you up to speed on what it takes to become self-employed, giving you an honest look at the entrepreneurial journey. 

If you’re ready to embrace the adventure of self-employment, tune in to get the insights and inspiration you need to take the leap!

 

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Read the Full Transcript ⬇️

Hey, Hey, Hey, it’s Rebecca and you’re listening to resilient by design. Today I want to dive into all the things, the pros and the cons of working for yourself versus working for someone else. And the biggest habit or lifestyle difference that happens when you leave a boss or a corporate job. And you go to start your own business.

I know there’s many of you listening who haven’t made that plunge yet. I think you’re going to enjoy this episode. And then there are those of us who’ve been in business for a little while that we’re really going to love this reminder because I think sometimes you get kind of caught up in the chaos and you forget why you do something in the first place.

So I’m going to walk you through the pros and cons, but really the four key differentiators that I see that is really a habit and it’s a lifestyle change when you’re working for yourself. The first one is. You get to make your own schedule. Hello. That is the whole reason I wanted to be an entrepreneur in the first place.

I was like, I don’t want anyone else telling me what to do. I don’t want anyone telling me where I need to be at what time. I don’t want to clock in and clock out. I always rebelled against routine, which is so funny. Cause actually now I realize in my forties, a routine is actually extremely helpful. But you can make your own schedule.

So if you want to end your work day at two o’clock so you can pick up your kids from school, you can do that. If you want to stay home with your child when they’re sick and not have to worry about using sick days, you can do that. You can literally take out as much vacation as you like. You are in charge of your schedule.

You could do a four-day work week. Can literally schedule your work life around the rest of your life so that you no longer have it, and this is a big distinction. And I hope those of you who already have a design business hear this. It’s no longer a battle between having a work life and having a personal life.

When you run your own business, it’s just you. Your life. I’m going to say that again for the cheap seats in the back. When you run your own business, it’s your life. Everything is your life. And it’s not about balancing one or the other. It’s about finding harmony between them. That is That is so important when you’re on your own to remind yourself and remember, because sometimes we get caught up in this loop of like the clients needing us at a certain time, our employees wanting to do something at a certain time.

It’s like, wait a second, nope, it’s my name on the door and I get to pick the schedule. Number two, here’s what happens when you go out on your own. For better or for worse, and I say these are pros and cons because I think there are pros and cons to all of these tips making your own schedule could also be challenging for some because we struggle with holding ourselves accountable or we struggle with potentially having boundaries and turning off work, but if you can master it, it’s amazing.

So number two. You need to generate sales yourself. And I think this is something that many of us overlook when we start our business because we think so much about what we can do, but I can, I can decorate like I can add value. I can create the drawings. I’m great at picking paints and fabrics. We forget sometimes that we are also, I mean, obviously, we wear a million hats.

We have to be the salesperson. We have to go out and find the client so that we can serve them with our beautiful ability. And when you’re working for someone else You don’t have to do that. This was a big learning experience for me. I had been working as an interior designer. I worked for Steven Taylor in Toronto for five years, doing very high-end, like beautiful design work.

I’m like, I could do this. I’m running his backend. I know all the vendors now. I’m getting a pretty good sense of style, though I didn’t really have my own personal style yet, I knew how to pull it all together. I was good at chatting with clients. And then I went out on my own. It’s like, oh, but like nobody, nobody knows I exist, right?

I need to go out and find clients. What the heck? How do I even do that? I didn’t have to do that before I was just there. So when the, when the work came to us, I would help to deliver. And so there are pros and cons to this. If you’re somebody who loves sales and maybe you’re, you’ve been in a sales position in your previous job, whew, well, this is gonna be so fun.

You might then struggle on another side of business. But if you’re someone who’s a creative like me, who doesn’t necessarily thrive in a sales environment, or think that way, how do I bring in clients? I need to network, I need this, that, and the other. It can be a bit of a wake-up call. And so. Not to discourage you from doing it.

In fact, I think it’s amazing once you do start doing it, you start to get your own way of finding clients and bringing them in. And it’s all about repeat and referral clients. And we can talk about that in another episode, but it’s something to think about when you are branching out, where are you going to find those clients?

Are you showing up in the right places? So people know you exist. Number three, the big difference of habit and lifestyle between working for someone else and working for yourself is, I mentioned this a little bit before, you don’t have a boss. So there’s nobody to tell you what to do, but then there’s nobody to hold you accountable.

So not having a boss. is great. There’s no one to tell you what to do, right? You just do whatever the frick you want. You can decide what you want to wear, you can decide what time you want to work. Like there’s no boss. But then, as a result, you’re There’s no one there to hold you accountable.

There’s no one there for you to like to show up at 9 a.m. at the studio. There’s nobody there checking to see if you’ve done the work in the timeline. You said you were going to do it. And so this is something, if you come from a more structured environment that can be at first a little challenging because You’re used to having those checkpoints in place.

You’re used to having someone that you need to, that you need to account to and you need to report to. And so it can be a little bit funny cause it’s like all of a sudden, Oh, well, I don’t know. I don’t know. I said I was going to do it for Tuesday, but shoot, there’s nobody, maybe a client waiting, but otherwise like.

No, there’s no boss, right? So that might drag onto Wednesday and Thursday. And I know for me, one of the hacks that have helped me in my business with this is having somebody work for me, whether it’s a part-time assistant, an intern, full-time employee, having other people on my team actually helps me be more accountable because I’ve told them I’m going to do it.

I want to be a person of my word. They’re maybe waiting on me. Right? Maybe they need me to do the thing so they can do the thing. Or maybe like, I don’t want them to be upset with me. My people-pleasing might help me in this area. It is a little bit of a hack. And it’s the times where I’ve scaled back my team, I’ve really noticed it.

I tend to take, you know, I take liberties. Well, I don’t need to record those shorties on Tuesday. I can do it next week. I’m kind of tired. I’m a little bit hungover. So having people helps you, but it is something to keep a mind so that when you’re setting up your schedule, you are making sure you put in time blocks you’re holding yourself accountable and you’re setting boundaries for yourself.

All right, the last one, number four is financial. The great thing about working for yourself is there is no limit to the amount of money you can make. You are only limited by your own mindset. And that is probably why most of us are entrepreneurs and why most of us dive into running a business for ourselves is because we want to have control of the money that we can make.

And when you are in a corporate structure, when you’re working for somebody else on an hourly basis, there is a limit. To the hours you can put in, or there’s a limit to how much you can make because you have a base salary plus a commission. Maybe you don’t even have a commission. Maybe it’s just my base salary is 50, 000 a year or whatever it is.

Whereas when you run your own business, you can get creative. You can find additional revenue streams. You can find additional ways to make money. You can raise your rates. You can demand more money for your expertise and you can, if you have the right mindset and you really want it, you can make as much money.

as you can dream of. And to me, that is one of the most exciting parts about running my own design business. It can be scary because I am directly responsible for the revenue that comes in. And it can be scary because I’m still the main salesperson in all of my business endeavors, whether you purchase a course from me, join my community, or hire us for interior design like I am still the number one salesperson.

And so I can only go as far as my mental capacity will limit me. But there is no limit. And I hope that you guys can appreciate all of these. If you’re looking to take the leap and dive into starting a design firm, I’m here for you. Come join us inside Designer’s Room. We’ll be happy to support you. Maybe take Power of Process when it comes back, you’re going to love that.

It helps you get set up with the systems that you need and you can learn from other designers and see how they’re doing it. But just remember, you get to make your own schedule. And if you’re not doing this and you’ve already taken the course and you’re already running your business, let this be your wake-up call.

I am in charge. The client is not your boss. Take charge of your business and you can transform your life. All right. I hope you guys enjoyed that episode. I’ll see you soon.