Self-employment: Seven Pieces of Advice from Self-Employed Workers
Your Professional Image
Are you about to start your own home-based business? If so, don’t skip any steps. Take the time to get well organized and establish yourself as a professional right from the start. Here are a few golden rules:
First, designate a clearly defined space for your office and make it functional. Your workspace should be removed from noisy areas of the house.
Second, don’t hesitate to buy all the material and equipment you need for your professional activities. It is crucial that you work efficiently as soon as you start your first contracts.
Third, shut out any household concerns, so you can concentrate fully on your work. Tell yourself that you’re an entrepreneur, and not someone with a home office who dabbles at some kind of work. Remember that your self-image is what you project to potential clients.
Lastly, don’t neglect contacts with colleagues and other people in your field. Discussion and cooperative efforts will help you maintain excellent professional services and a strong corporate image.
Isabelle Paris
Isabelle Paris and Associates inc., Ottawa
Project Management-
(613) 742-7676
iparis@sympatico.ca
From start... to success
Take the Leap and a Safety Net Will Appear!
Self-employment provides incredible opportunities to expand your horizons due to the wide variety of jobs and clients—on condition, of course, that you’re bold enough to go beyond your comfort level. When working alone, you often end up listening to that little voice in your head and giving in to your fears. You can easily become complacent, just doing the same old tasks in a specific field. You need to know how to seize opportunities to learn new things, even if it means asking for help. That way, you’re less likely to get into a rut. After all, isn’t that one of the reasons you decided to start your own business in the first place?
Another pointer for any aspiring self-employed person is to watch that you don’t turn into a hermit. It can happen without your even noticing it. The comforts of home and the convenience of zero commute time can get the better of your best intentions to remain connected with the outside world. Self-employment: Feel the fear and do it anyway!
Renée de Léry
Renée de Léry Communication conseil enr.
Tel. : (450) 969-2024
www.rdelery.com
Overcome the Challenges!
Being a (very) young entrepreneur in rural Quebec, I have always needed to work harder than my competitors to achieve the same results. When I started up my business three years ago, people often doubted my skills and professionalism.
Since then, I have gained a lot of experience in my area of expertise (interactive communications) and in building relationships with people who initially did not take me seriously. I have produced an interactive brochure—yours could be on paper—with detailed descriptions of my products, services and business, along with related news clippings. When viewing the CD, potential customers, partners and other interested parties get a concrete idea of my capabilities.
No matter what your situation, if anyone doubts you, take up the challenge! Every door you open gives you the key to the next one. Things always happen for a reason. Afterwards, some people may even regret not having trusted you earlier…
Gabriel Rodrigue
Voltige multimédia
www.voltige.net
1 888 461 2035
Gabriel received in 2005 a “Top 20 Under 20” Award from Youth in Motion. This award honours young Canadians who have demonstrated a significant level of achievement, innovation and leadership but have not yet reached the age of 20.
Have Faith in Your Abilities
If you want to be self-employed, you need to have faith. You have to believe that you will be successful. You need to have faith in your talents and constantly avoid negative thoughts. This leap of faith will help you to survive the inevitable slow periods. If you are anxious or worried when there are no contracts, faith is what will help you to work harder at launching new programs, developing new projects and promoting your services.
After twelve years of being self-employed, I currently view slow times as a sign that I need to rest and re-energize. Again, having faith is key. If you do your job well and promote your services efficiently, rest assured that work will come at the opportune time. You have to believe that life will provide what you need at the right time. Naturally, applying this philosophy does not happen during the first year of being self-employed… The ability to believe and to have self-confidence comes with years of experience.
A newly self-employed worker should use the power of positive thinking to attain that level of assurance. Always abandon and discard negative thoughts from your mind and repeat slogans that can help you to visualize the objectives you wish to attain. You should also surround yourself with people who think like you and give you energy, and avoid being around negative and pessimistic people. Don't give up and good luck!
France-Marie Trépanier
Trépanier Consilium inc., Ottawa
Tél. : (613) 232-8812
Courriel : info@tci.ca
http://www.tci.ca
Establish Discipline and Have Confidence in Life
To be in business and live a happy life as a self-employed person, two very important rules apply: being disciplined and adopting a positive attitude.
To be disciplined does not only mean the way that you plan your work or how dependable your reputation is. It's also about ensuring regular income. At the beginning, it's not easy to talk with clients about money issues. Often, you may feel uncomfortable with either your invoicing or in managing your accounts. If you have a tendency to procrastinate, you just might find yourself in a precarious financial situation. Therefore, discipline is a very important part of self-employment, one that you should learn to master!
You should also be positive and have confidence in life. This is particularly true during slow times, when you're negotiating contracts and when a client is late in paying an invoice. Life always provides what we need for a successful business; sometimes in the form of lessons. I strongly believe that when you are in a state of worry and fear, problems and doubts arise. Therefore, do not listen to that inner voice that doubts and wonders whether you did the right thing, whether you should have done it another way or whether you succeeded in evaluating the person you did business with. On the contrary, talk to yourself and believe that, in the end, everything works out as it should. Personally, I choose to adopt a positive attitude everyday, towards myself and towards my clients. I don't get upset if a problem arises and prefer to look at the bright side of life. It's a much healthier way to live and your clients will benefit too!
Alain Pigeon,
House Painter
Peinture Pigeon, Verchères
Tél. : (450) 583-6979
Courriel : alainkazam@hotmail.com
Self-confidence: A Friend and an Enemy
Starting your own business is often the result of either one of the following two scenarios: You’re out of a job and are having a hard time finding another one, but you really need to earn a living OR you’re tired of working for someone else and feel ready to apply your abilities and experience to strike out on your own, which will give you the lifestyle you want.
Let's use the second option as an example. By making that choice, you show that you have confidence in your own resources. This will lead you to meet people, who will later become your clients. Your self-confidence will act as a driving force, motivating you to meet your clients’ needs by applying the skills and experience acquired during your years in the workforce. The more you meet your clients' needs, the more satisfied they will be. As a result, your self-confidence keeps growing and growing. In fact, it continues to grow until one day you hit the proverbial brick wall—the wall of self-doubt. That's when your self-confidence starts to run out.
How can you turn the situation around? You need to rely on your colleagues who work in the same field to help you solve the problems that caused you to doubt yourself in the first place. It’s often just a matter of having someone else confirm that you’re on the right track with your client. Other times, you simply may not have the answer. That is something you need to accept without it undermining your self-confidence. This type of situation often arises when you become overconfident in your abilities. Your clients may trust you so much that they come to expect a lot more from you—more than you can actually deliver. Rather than saying "No", you accept the work and fail. You may not always have a solution and your colleagues may not be able to help you. At that point, your self-confidence can suffer. What next? Do you suggest a solution that may not work or look the client in the eye and admit that you are unable to solve the problem?
To avoid these types of situations, avoid being overconfident in your abilities. You should be in control of the situation. Confidence is a tool that allows you to make progress, but good judgment should always come first. You need to be able to say "No" to your clients. Since they trust you, they should respect your “No” answer and your self-confidence will not be diminished in any way.
You also need to be around people instead of isolating yourself. In time of doubt, they can help you and you can return the favour when needed. Remember that if your self-confidence can be shaken, theirs can be too!
Réal Lapointe
Réseau SST, Rosemère
Tél. : (450) 965-6947
Courriel : real.cap@sympatico.ca
Keep in Contact With Other People
When we decide to become self-employed, it is often because we've had enough of pressure, frustration, bureaucracy and lack of recognition. Therefore, we embark on the adventure of self-employment and finally get to use our abilities and learn from our daily experiences.
After a while, we risk becoming disconnected from the reality of other workers, who have remained in the private sector or in government, and from the team spirit we used to experience. I think that it's very important to make the effort to stay connected with the rest of the world-not via the Internet, but through people. Volunteering, sporting activities, meetings with business people, parent committees, getting involved in community projects are all excellent ways of staying connected. If not, we tend to isolate ourselves and forget what it's like to work with others. We end up living in our own little world.
Human beings need to interact with other human beings both at work and out of work. Working alone means that we need to make that extra effort to stay in contact with people, to re-energize through our contacts and benefit from dynamic people who are outside our new work life. Otherwise, we create an unbalanced lifestyle in which our basic needs are not met.
Manon Pigeon
Liberté Coiffure, Verchères
Tél. : (450) 583-6281