Self employment / working from home - what to do?

[Quddos]

Hello,

I wondered if anyone could help? I am looking to become self-employed or work from home and would like some advice.

A bit about me:

I am 22 and currently work in a community pharmacy. I love my job and the people I work for and have huge respect for my manager who is always trying to help me and my family and always offering me the overtime when available. However, it is starting to take it's toll on me and I feel I never spend enough time with my fiancée and daughter. As well as monday-friday I also work weekends. We are a staff member down and currently training someone new and no other regular member can commit to working weekends. I am paid minimum wage yet have a huge responsibility as a key holder and ensuring the smooth running of the pharmacy when the manager is not their on her days off in the week and holidays as we have locum pharmacists. This means taking all telephone queries and keeping our customers happy to ensure they use our business again. My manager has tried to get me a pay rise, however our head office have refused unless I undergo a years course in which once completed I will be entitled to 10p extra an hour. I just feel very undervalued for the amount of effort I put in to keeping our clients happy and making sure everything runs smoothly. This is my reason for wanting to become self employed or work from home, it would give me some flexibility and allow me to spend a bit more time with my family. Is it easy to start-up in something that would at least match minimum wage if not more from home self employed or would you suggest to work from home for someone? I have call centre customer service, data entry, health care/medical and pharmaceutical background if anyone can give me advice or any suggestions?

Greatly appreciated!

 

[Cambridgeshire Website Design]

I would suggest testing the water before you jump ship. For obvious reasons working from home has become very popular and its a lot more competitive than you might expect.

Take a look at this site, it's an easy way to introduce yourself to the online workplace: https://www.elance.com

 

[Quddos]

Oh I would never just give up work without not having at least a minimum wage coming in.

Thanks, will take a look at elance however, I am guessing this would be something I would have to do on top as something else as I gather it would be difficult to get a steady regular income from?

 

[REVIDIUM]

You definitely want to start off small. elance.com as suggested above is good as well as odesk.com. I recommend registering with as many of the freelancer sites as possible to test the water and the number of job requests you receive and whether you can manage with the work load.

Also, stating the obvious here (apologies if you have ruled this option out already), could you not apply for another job elsewhere with a higher pay?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Never had a job so I might be inclined to say start a business now while you are young . The idea of staying in a safe job is something I understand but cant relate to . If you were 40 with a mortgage and 3 kids it would be different . Now is the time in my view don't waste too much time stuck in a rut if you have nothing to lose

 

[joeptsearle]

If you wanted to work from home, it might be worth looking into the affiliate marketing game. Like a lot of other things it is a very popular thing to do nowadays but there's a reason for it, you can earn a decent amount of money working part time. It is a good way to break into online marketing and learn the ropes, plus you can promote just about anything, including things that you have a good knowledge of. I wrote a post about JV'S in affiliate marketing that I think you will find useful: http://digitalbloggers.com/joeptsearle/how-to-outsource-your-marketing-with-joint-ventures/

 

[tony84]

Earning minimum wage being self employed isnt as easy as you think.

My first year i took home about a grand!
My second year i took home about £5k.
This year i will earn a proper wage.

Earning £15k self employed from day one isnt an easy task, especially if you dont know what to do.

I had to have part time jobs on the side whilst i build up my business. My first 2 years i spent finding where i can find clients, building up relationships and finding my place against the competition.

Decide what you want to do.
Do the research. Look for places you will find customers (i was told you spend £500 on leads and earn £1k by loads of people... that is not the case). My biggest piece of advice would be to say so not give up the day job until you know you can get it to work. I did that and ended up having to get a job.

 

[worldlad]

You definitely want to start off small. elance.com as suggested above is good as well as odesk.com. I recommend registering with as many of the freelancer sites as possible to test the water and the number of job requests you receive and whether you can manage with the work load.

Also, stating the obvious here (apologies if you have ruled this option out already), could you not apply for another job elsewhere with a higher pay?

I like the idea of odesk.com just completed my profile online to find work, lots of jobs to exist to bid for but the hourly rate which seems to be average is $1.50 for basic customer service stuff. Am I missing something>

 

[14A]

Could you 'power through' until the new staff member is up to speed, then reduce your overtime commitment to spend time freelancing?

As said, freelancing is a tough area due to saturation and you often devalue yourself bidding for jobs.

 

[rinnypeter]

I started working at home for last 5 years and I am earning lots of money .I am loving the feeling of being an entrepreneur.

 

[DavidP2P]

Hi!

Is it easy to start-up in something that would at least match minimum wage if not more from home self employed or would you suggest to work from home for someone?

What I am reading in your profile is a lack of business experience (as opposed to job experience), which is natural for your age. Also, for me there is no clarity in what you want to do in business, just wanting at least a minimum wage from home.

Until you know what you want it is difficult to achieve it. In business I need to be very clear about what I am aiming to achieve, what I need to do to achieve, and a very clear path to get me there.

What you are describing is a job working from home, working for a minimum hourly rate, plus all the extras of competing on price alone with a multitude of others globally that have lower living costs than you and can charge less.

You may wish to find another job in the first instance where training is inclusive, during which time you start your business education. Start reading some business education books, attending local business meetings, and connect with others for ideas on what really would motivate you. Being tied down to the surrounds of the job environment as much as you describe is limiting your view of the world, including the business world.

What is it you are really looking for, a job or a lifestyle? The first will give you security, but not freedom, the other will give you freedom, but not security. Again, depending on what you are really wanting could be simply getting a new job that allows you some time to work from home, as entrepreneurship is not for everyone (and that's fine too).

 

[CSharpwise]

I can give you some advice on odesk and elance.

a) Choose your niche where you can compete against the Indians, something where English language is critical. The Indians will beat you time and time again on price.
b) Work for peanuts initially just to build up a 5 star rating and get 100 hours under your belt.
c) Don't look for work in the ads. Look at the ads to find potential long term contacts who you can establish a long term relationship with. You can then phase out odesk altogether and get a better wage.
b) You will waste a lot of time looking for work. Check the employer history to make sure that they are serious and also they are not an agency. Lots of "employers" are merely passing on work and skimming off the top.
e) Even with all those steps taken I'd say you will probably be on minimum wage or less, it will take a while to build up contacts and regular work, so you may want to try it part time.

I jacked in odesk/elance because frankly it was not worth my time, but my SO still works on it. I suppose it is possible to make it work but I didn't see many advantages except, arguably, being able to work from home.

 

[FlowOnline]

joeptsearle has a good suggestion with affiliate marketing but i wouldn't jump ship and put all your eggs in this basket.
There's a blog post on Flow Online Accounting which could really relate to your situation and it could help with making that transition to working from home. However, i'm not able to shared the link yet but some of the most useful tips are;

• join local networking groups to meet others in a similar situation and network
• invest in the equipment / technology you might have if you were at an office
• create a brand for yourself which detaches you from the image of 'working at home'
• keep good records of all your finances and paperwork - stay organised so you can submit your tax return
• be strict with your working hours and make sure to have 'home time' especially as this is the reason you want to work from home.

Hope this helps.

 

[Lynette]

I work from home as a copywriter and social media manager. I recommend that you look on freelancer websites like PeoplePerHour and looking at the different jobs that are posted on there to see what you feel you'd be able to offer. It's important to make sure you enjoy the work and are able to provide the service being requested. Once you decide what you want to do create a free website on Wordpress or Blogger and begin marketing yourself. You can use the website to help secure work and to show off your skills or give further details regarding your experience and qualifications, a bit like a CV.
You say you want more time with your family but this isn't as easy as you might think when you work from home. I wanted the same but I've never worked longer hours in my life and it's very easy to overwork yourself, especially at the start when you need the money.
I wouldn't quit your job until you're earning enough which means you'll need to work very long days to start with.