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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

Is this the business plan?

No. A business plan is much more detailed. It gives precise details about the product or service, the target market, the competitors including their marketing and communication strategies, budgets, cash flow, etc.

The action plan is more:

• A simple tool to help keep track of where you're going at all times and crucial when you're looking for new clients;
• The skeleton business plan;
• A global strategy to help focus your efforts on what is important.

How is an action plan devised ?

• Put your career in perspective. This keeps you grounded when you're feeling mixed up;
• Imagine the ideal situation, which may seem impossible to achieve but amazingly enough, can be done;
• Make the connections between the ideal situation and your current situation, including steps and objectives.

It's important to set precise objectives and a schedule. This will help you to stay on track and give you regular opportunities to pat yourself on the back! Write your objectives in a notepad and cross them out as they've been met. Or, add a V for Victory each time one has been met - it's encouraging and it helps build self-confidence and self-assurance.

For example, Someone who is changing their field of work:

• Begins by determining their priorities, family, and leisure vs. career.
• Short-term, the person could start by volunteering in their area of interest to learn basic job skills and establish new contacts.
• Medium-term, the person could acquire the knowledge or certification needed for the target client.
• Long-term, the person will want to build strong customer loyalty.

Someone who wishes to continue working in the same filed should already have the necessary contacts and knowledge to start a business. However, it is still important to determine priorities. Short-term, find a niche and identify the clientele within it. Medium-term, build customer loyalty. Long-term, consider expanding into other areas of activity.

The ideal is to have enough regular work with clients that pay quickly and well.

However, the reality is that this type of work is cyclical. It goes from being extremely busy to very quiet. Use this down time for marketing, planning and administrative work!

In his book, The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber clearly defines the different roles that the self-employed person must assume in order to be successful:

• Technician - the expert who accomplishes the work;
• Entrepreneur - the one who looks for new clients;
• Manager - the one who takes care of administration.

At the beginning, all of us tend to concentrate on the technical side…

And that's a mistake! As soon as the first contract is over, we are left high and dry if we haven't marketed our next contract, which should be done before having finished the first.

The entrepreneur's role in business is undoubtedly the hardest side to master. If feels like it comes up when we least want it. However, in time, we feel at ease. We even start enjoying talking to complete strangers about what we do for a living! These challenges, once we rise up to them, offer tremendous personal satisfaction.