Mid Life Entrepreneurship
There has been a surge in mid-life entrepreneurship in the UK over the past two years. More than 15% of the UK workforce are self-employed currently.
Being self-employed or a sole trader offers individuals potentially uncapped rewards for their hard work.
You can choose your own hours and take your business in whatever direction you choose.
The potential for growth is infinite which can be a very attractive proposition for many of us. Some of us may choose the self-employed route as a way of spending more time with our family, basing our working hours around our family life for example.
Some of us may decide we want to work as many hours as possible to ensure maximum growth and fiscal reward.
Self-employment is often seen as a way of affording an individual a work life balance.
However, this is not always the case. It is important to ensure that you draw a clear line between family time and work time when you become self-employed. If not, you may see yourself losing that all important work life balance as you try to keep your business growing as well as your social and family life buoyant.
Being a sole trader or freelancer gives you a greater sense of autonomy, but you often do not have the same direct level of support or structure that an employee may enjoy.
There are many free business support courses you can access which will help you to address a work life balance when you start up as a sole trader or freelancer.
MENTA offers free start-up training and self-employment support which will give you ideas of how to manage your time effectively whilst getting the most out of your business.
Some simple ways of keeping things on an even keel are to plan your time, write it down if you need to, get a wall planner or diary.
If you prefer to keep time plans digitally then find some free resources, you can use to plan your time. Use your time planning to slow down and get balance.
Make the space, it can be quite important to have a clear and functional workspace.
Working at the kitchen table could cause issues when it comes to separating your home and work life balance.
Keep your working hours flexible if you can.
Whatever your motivation was for going solo, flexibility is likely to have been high up on the list. If you want to grab a long lunch one day you can! The break away from work may do you some good. Take time out of your day to do something you enjoy for an hour.
Being self-employed means that an hour can be taken at any time during the day, not just during lunchtime. It is important to share the load, if you find you need help look at ways of getting other professionals to help you.
Make sure you put clear value on your time and look after yourself by taking regular breaks. These are all things that MENTA covers in their free start up training courses which will get you on the right road to self-employed success.
MENTA are delivering support as mentioned above and you can talk with the team to see which of their options suits you best. Email: bookings@menta.org.uk
Read our blog on 'Self Employed Common Mistakes'
