For many, embracing a career as a self-employed professional is the ultimate goal. As a self-employed individual, the success of your enterprise is placed directly in your hands.
As you’re in charge of your own destiny, every decision you make directly impacts your business growth and revenue. It can sound like an uphill struggle, yet many self-employed professionals relish the challenge and use this pressure to drive themselves and their businesses forward.
However, despite their motivation, self-employed individuals don’t have the easiest of career paths. With so many responsibilities to juggle, it’s only a matter of time before one facet of their business is neglected to the point where other areas of their enterprise are also impacted. And as 8 out of 10 self-employed entrepreneurs fail within the first 18 months, it’s clear that individuals need a strong understanding of what challenges they’re likely to come up against.
If you’re self-employed, arming yourself with this knowledge can help you stay one step ahead. Let’s explore the top 4 challenges of being self-employed in 2021.
Financial Management is a Minefield
One of the biggest stumbling blocks of any self-employed individual is the level of financial responsibility they must contend with. Thankfully, self employed online accounting software can take the stress and complexity out of financial management. Managing your own books effectively means stronger relationships with your clients, financial compliance and fewer sleepless nights, which in turn gives entrepreneurs more time to focus on other areas of their business development.
In addition to difficulties with bookkeeping and accounts, self-employed individuals must also manage to maintain their budgets, set money aside for tax purposes, work to reduce their debt (if any) and pay themselves salaries. Many self-employed entrepreneurs have little or no experience in these financial matters and spend time and resources muddling their way through.
Resources Are Stretched
As a self-employed individual, your biggest and best resource is you. However, as you’re the person in charge of everything, it can often feel as though you’re stretched a little thin. Performing all the required actions of larger businesses but with only one person, is doable, however, the results aren’t as great.
Inefficiency and a lack of knowledge can be serious stumbling blocks for self-employed businesses still in their infancy.
Marketing Is A Constant Struggle
When you’re self-employed you’re responsible for sourcing your client base and pushing your business and your services into the public domain. This is where a strong and consistent marketing strategy comes in, however, if you’re unfamiliar with digital marketing processes then entrepreneurs can struggle to make the impact they need within their target market.
From face-to-face approaches to digital strategies or traditional marketing methods, self-employed individuals must develop string marketing strategies from the outset.
And Finally, There’s No Safety Net
When you work for a large company, you have a regular income as well as holidays, sick pay and other benefits. As a self-employed individual, you’re out on your own.
Understanding what support you are entitled to and managing your finances effectively can bring peace of mind as a self-employed entrepreneur.
