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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

Why is this step so important?

• By knowing yourself, you can fully develop your strengths and look for the tools or partners you need to close any gaps you may have
• Knowing our strengths and weaknesses helps us react more efficiently in difficult situations.
• We can then avoid placing ourselves in situations that put us on the defensive.

Where do I start?

Start with what you want the most; with what seems the easiest. More importantly, paint a precise portrait of the overall picture of your personality including:

• Skills and weaknesses;
• Qualities and faults;
• Lessons learned from past experiences;
• Preferences;
• Abilities.

CAUTION! The danger here is that you can limit yourself to what meets the eye or even worse, to just your professional experience.

For example, a television host could say that he or she is a good public speaker.

True. You could also take that one step further and say that the time restrictions television hosts deal with in their profession train them to quickly summarize the important parts of a conversation and express these in just a few words.

Let's also take a look at the skills gained through volunteering and recreational activities:

• A person who volunteers to organize all the parties at work is probably a master in the art of planning the logistics of special events.
• A person who volunteers for a telephone support service develops strong active listening skills, which will help in establishing rapport with clients.
• A person who has travelled extensively in Latin America and is fluent in Spanish can use their knowledge of culture and language to work with Canadian export businesses.

And the list goes on…The only limits are imagination and market needs.

What do I do with the results of the self-appraisal?

Look at everything and reflect on it. Study the market. Try to determine:

• The needs that your skills can meet;
• Easily accessible options that offer great satisfaction;
• Characteristics that differentiate you from the competition.

There is a natural tendency to want to continue working in the same field. Is that a wise decision?

• Yes, if you find your work satisfying.
• No, if you are no longer motivated.

Choose a field that inspires you. Self-employed people work long hours. You should enjoy your work. For that reason, it's essential to make the effort to go one step further and be aware of what you like to do and what you can't stand to do.

Don't be stopped just because what interests you is different from your current career.

Nowadays, a person will have two or three different careers during their lifetime. If knowledge is the missing factor, schools and universities are there to provide it! Sometimes that sounds impossible but think of the analogy of the mouse that ate the elephant: one bite at a time!

And this is where the action plan, the topic of our next column, come into play.