Self-Employment: One Selfish Way to Financial Independence

Photo by Brandon King

This is the first in a series of 3 articles about how to achieve success and financial freedom through selfish means. You should subscribe to find out what the next two ingredients to selfish success are, because the self-employment step is not enough on its own.

It’s Wrong to Be Selfish

We learn at a very young age that being selfish is a bad thing. We are taught to share, and especially as women, we are taught that we should put other people’s needs before ours. As women, we are the providers, the mothers, those who make sure everything is good for our family members. But what if being selfish is actually a good trait?

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to suggest that you start stealing toys out of your neighbors’ hands, or go on a shopping rampage. Yet, I would like you to consider the benefits of being selfish. As Barbara Sher recommends in her book Wishcraft, being selfish about your goals makes you happier and more fun to be around.

Think back to your childhood. How many times have you felt guilty for the sacrifices your parents made for you, your education, and your well being? I’m sure we can all remember times like these.

Now imagine if instead of coming home to your overstressed mother, who had cleaned the house, and cooked dinner, your mother was showing you her great new painting? Or, if your father did not come home frustrated trying to put food on the table, but instead played a sport with you in the backyard?

We can all manage to get by without a squeaky clean house, provided that our inner desires are fulfilled. This applies to other areas of your life, as we’re going to be exploring in the rest of the Selfish Series.

Quick History of Self-Employment

• Today most people are employed with a company. Although there’s nothing wrong with this fact, this isn’t how it always used to be. In the early days of America, there were many family owned businesses. Most people were expected to either work for the family business, or branch out and start their own. With the Industrial Revolution came the need for more workers, and everyone stepped away from their own businesses to work in factories and shops.
• Society now frowns upon self-employment. What we are left with today, is the result of a new way of thinking about work. It is very socially acceptable to work somewhere, and to have a job. However, many people will raise their eyebrows if you say that you are self-employed. There are exceptions to the rule, like famous writers, movie stars, and other well-known entrepreneurs.
• Working for someone else gives the profits to others. When you work at a job, you are generally working for someone else’s profit, and not so much your own. Of course you get paid for your time and efforts, but at the end of the day, you are creating wealth for the company you work for. On the other hand, by working for your own small business or organization, everything you do is for yourself.
• Your time or your money? Remember when we used to think that all of these great advances in technology would allow us to work less hours? Well, according to the book Affluenza, the companies we work for decided they want us to keep working, despite exceeding production. So although we would have enough of everything if we worked less, we are stuck in this work more mentality. Given a choice between a raise or shorter working hours, which would you choose?

Photo by Hannah Webster

Self-Employement Role Models

• My dad. I was lucky enough to be raised in a family where my father had his own business, a hair salon. Sometimes while I was growing up, I felt less confident than my peers, because my dad didn’t have a traditional job. Now, as I enter the workforce, I am realizing how lucky I was to have an example of an entrepreneurial man in my life.
• Tina Su. Tina is a young woman who recently quit her job to follow her dreams of self-employment. She works on her web site Think Simple Now, and she also has other profit centers like her Photography business. She is a great inspiration for other young women.
• Oprah Winfrey. Everyone knows about Oprah, but we don’t tend to consider her as self-employed, really. But taking a closer look, it is obvious that she is running her own business and making a huge impact on the world. I greatly admire her, and will be showcasing Oprah in an upcoming Billionaire Woman post. Oprah is the first female African American billionaire.
• Millionaire Mommy Next Door. Jen is just a regular next-door type of woman, except that she happens to be a millionaire. She amassed her wealth through frugal living and voluntary simplicity, while running a small business. Her husband is also self-employed. You can visit her blog, where she gives advice to achieve financial independence like she did.

I like My Job, I Don’t Want to Be Self-Employed

Whether or not you love your current job, you should actually consider adding a slice of self-employment to your life. Barbara J. Winter suggests that you think of your current full-time job as just one of your profit centers. This allows you to see your life in the grand scheme of things, and not just in terms of one source of income. Learning to create multiple sources of income is one of the most useful skills in today’s less than stable economy.

As Pamela Slim noted on her site Escape From Cubicle Nation, many people who lost their jobs due to banking problems recently, must have felt a tremendous stress. Yet if some of them had a side income coming in, they probably didn’t feel as much pressure. I’m not suggesting that you are likely to lose your job, but I am suggesting that by creating more than one profit center, you are giving yourself a backup plan and increased security.

What Does Self-Employment Give You?

• Sense of freedom. You are in charge, you are the boss. You can do things the way you like to do them, and that means a lot. You are also more nimble, and can follow your dreams.
• Variety of work. If you get bored with one project, you can shelve it and work on something more exciting. If you would prefer to work with people, you can network and build a team. On the other hand if you rather stay home, you can do solo projects.
• Diversity: not putting all your eggs in one basket. If one source of income dries up, you can create new ones. By create multiple profit centers, you give yourself something that no “stable” job could ever give you. Don’t put all your faith in one company, when you can diversify your income.
• Improved health. In the book How to make a living without a Job, by Barbara J. Winter, case studies show that people who are self-employed are healthier, and live longer. That’s probably because most people who are self-employed can decide to do something that they actually enjoy doing as a job.
• Self-Expression, creativity, and purposeful work. You choose what is most important to do with your talents: save the rain forest, write fiction, or plant a garden. This as opposed to working in a cubicle, where you are producing something that might not stir your creative juices, or cause you to be fulfilled.
• Confidence. With self-employment comes a strong sense of confidence. After all, if you can earn a living on your own without a steady job, then you can do anything! You don’t depend on your boss to give you a raise, you depend only on your own abilities.
• Flexibility: ability to choose where and when you work. Wear bunny slippers to work at your computer, or travel all over the world. You have the choice.

Photo by Khalid Almasoud

I Don’t Have Any Skills or Anything to Sell

Everyone has skills, whether you realize it or not. Creating new profit centers, and becoming a little bit more self-employed, is easier than you think. It’s as easy as turning one of your hobbies into a profitable venture. The following is a short list of ideas to get you started.

• Gardening: Sell your produce. Local and organic farming is big, and you can command a good price for your fruits and veggies.
• Give tours of your area: Set up a walking tour, and give out the best information. Meet great people at the same time as promoting your home town.
• Freelancing: Find something you are good at and offer your services to others. This can be anything from illustrations, photography, to writing.
• Create content sites or products: Write a book or start a web site about a topic you are passionate about. If you have knowledge others might be interested in, share it!
• Babysitting and petsitting: If your passion is people or pets, capitalize on it. Offer your services and spend time getting to know your new friends.

What Other Ideas Do You Have?

If you’ve been thinking of adding a slice of self-employment to your life, by creating a new profit center, now is the time! What ideas are brewing in your mind? Don’t forget to stay tuned, because there are two other steps to the selfish financial freedom strategy, and they aren’t pretty!

Similar Posts:

• The Missing Ingredient to Success
• Accepting The Source Of Your Income
• How I turned a $400 investment into $4,000 in a few hours
• How To Pay The Bills While Following Your Passion
• The Gardens of Billionaires

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