Just like life itself, being self employed is acted out in phases. Meeting my monetary obligations had been linked to receiving a paycheck at regular set intervals from my employer. Once I made the move to be an entrepreneur, the intervals between paychecks was determined by the length of each job. If I had five small jobs that took one day each to complete, I could get paid five times in a week. Most of my jobs in the beginning were small. The size, complexity, and length of projects increased as my skill increased.
For the first three months in business, anything I earned over and above what I would have normally received in a regular paycheck from my last employer was set aside in a savings account. After that, I still limited myself to 70% of what was coming in. I put a minimum 30% of my earnings in savings for the first year to cover taxes due. Self employed folk pay both employer and employee portions of deductions for Social Security on a quarterly basis to the IRS. Self employed folk who then hire employees have to deduct Social Security taxes from employees pay, match that amount, and pay the deducted and matched amount to the IRS every month. Dealing with changing how I handled financial issues was easy.
Any interior designer or decorator, any paint or wall paper shop, any homeowner in the process of completing plans for home renovation, are all part of the potential client pool. Soft skills are the determining factor in getting an invitation to the dance. My last four years as a self employed craftsman, I was on a very short wall coverings installer contact list for an exclusive shop in McLean. Each client received an Installer Review Questionnaire, an evaluation of the selection process and how the client made the final decision as to which installer they hired.
The shop wanted to know the reason a client selected a particular installer. Was it availability, price, personality, previously hired, prompt response call? Once the installer was hired, they wanted a measurement of expectations when the work was done, as to expectations exceeded, met, or below for punctuality, dependability, clean and/or neat, workmanship, and professionalism. I was never just earning a living, I was constantly selling myself. It was all about who I was first, and my skill ran a close second. There is nothing as exhilarating as successfully selling myself over and over again to pay the rent.
You must log in to post a comment.