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• The Self-employed Worker
• Self-appraisal
• The Action Plan
• Seven Pieces of Advice from Self-employed People
• Self-employment and Taxation
• Tools for the Self-employed
• Marketing
• The Ergonomic Workstation
• Insurance Coverage
• Eight Steps to Successful Transition

Who are Self-employed Workers?

• People who work for themselves, often at home but also at clients.
• They are not necessarily entrepreneurs or visionaries who dream of conquering a market.
• It is legitimate for self-employed people to simply want to live of their art.
• They do not have a fixed salary and the success of their efforts is what determines revenue.
• They have complete control of the quality of their services.
• Initiative and skill, the quality of their work and their professional development efforts determine job security.
• They are responsible for their financial security (insurance, pension plan).

What do they do?

All kinds of things :

• Services to businesses (word processing, training, computing and new technologies, etc.)
• Services to the public (day care, travel planning, etc.)
• Product sales

What is this column about?

It's about how one goes from being an employee to being self-employed, the characteristics of this type of work the available tools, the traps to watch out for and techniques that could lead to success.

How to become Self-employed?

• Do a rigorous evaluation of your strengths, weaknesses, skills and preferences
• Draw up an action plan with a deadline
• Change your self-image (from employee to entrepreneur)
• Cultivate self-confidence
• Learn how to use your intuition
• Learn the marketing techniques that really work