Is it me or are these school holidays dragging more than usual. I feel I am still rather new to all this summer holiday thing as I have always worked full time, up till going self employed that is. The first summer was a novelty and it rained. The second summer I was more hopeful, it was still novel and it still rained. The third summer I gave up hoping for a memorable summer and I wasn’t disappointed, yep you guessed it rained. This summer has been a blinder. We have had sunshine, bbq’s ( as in more than once and not had to re-camp to the kitchen midway through.) and the kids have been to the beach, well for that matter I have been too which is more of a miracle than the sunshine.
I know I am really really lucky to be able to work the hours I want. I get to spend holiday time with the children and then work in the evening. Or if I have something planed in the evening I can get up a bit earlier a few mornings and get some work done when the house is all silent before everyone gets up.
I didn’t wake up one day and decide I was going to go self employed the next day, I am not that impulsive or daft. I planned it out. I had started working websites a couple years before hand and had got to the point I was putting in so many hours in the evening it was becoming impossible to be able to work full time as well. Having no qualifications in web design I started a home study course and then started to look at the money side. I worked out my budget and looked at where I could save even more money. This meant we were getting used to living on less money so on the lean months when I eventually went self employed I knew we would be ok.
With my course nearly finished and worse case scenarios on the finances worked out, I took a deep breath and went for it. For me personally it has been the best thing I ever did. But there a few things I urge you to check out or think on first before you make your leap.
Consider your working space – my work is desk based so my needs are a desk and computer which has to sit in the lounge. If my children were younger this wouldn’t work at all.
Can you cope with working on your own – its nice not having anyone nagging me but does mean if something goes wrong then the buck stops with me. I work better when left in peace to concentrate and get on so being on my own for many hours a day works for me. But even I miss talking to someone some days. Depending on your work you could be on your own a lot.
Will you need childcare in the holidays – I went self employed just as my two were getting too old for schools out club so the timing was perfect for me. My work is also flexible in that I can work in the evenings or on a net book hidden in my room if needs must.
Know your finances and household budgets well – before you start working out how much you’re going to charge an hour and all that jazz make sure you know how much your outgoing expenditure is. You need to pay your bills and feed everyone so know your budget before hand.
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