What exactly does that mean. If you are looking for an employer to employ you in the traditional context for you to work at home then you may end up a bit disappointed. These jobs tend not really to exist. This is a missed opportunity for employers, no doubt, who are missing-out on a section of the workforce who are very skilled but for whatever reason prefer to work from home.
Why Go Self Employed? The chances are that you're reading this because you've been made redundant or perhaps have been unable to find the job that you want. Some of you will actually be making the leap because it's what you really want; if this is you, then you have an advantage.
If you have had the yearning to be your own boss - to make your own way, then congratulations, be happy about your decision and I hope I can be of some assistance to you.
If, on the other hand, you've reached this point from adversity (e.g. redundancy) then you have a bit of a disadvantge (if you'd rather be working for someone else). It may be difficult to engender a positive attitude towards self-employment if your mind is telling you that it is not your desired option.
However, there have been thousands of people who have come to look back on redundancy or suchlike as a blessing in disguise; the chance to break free. I hope this happens to you. But even so, it's time to be start being positive in being self-employed.
There are dozens of reasons why Now is a good time to be self-employed. It's never been easier to communicate with your customers and also afford to have the benefits of technology and communication.
The advanced mobile phone (smartphone) is now an incredible device that can have unlimited texts, emails, web browsing, social media and several hundred minutes of talk-time. Just this one gadget gives an astonishing communication capability. Even more amazingly, one of these phones can be bought for a £20 to £35 pounds a month contract.
Your business is not going to be constrained by the costs of communication, not like even five years ago; it's so much cheaper to do these things now.
The biggest and most influencial changes to have happened are of course the Web, broadband internet access, email and the astonishingly low costs of hosting websites. Even just a decade ago, it would be normal for a small business to pay over £300 per year to host a website. Now, you can get hosting from only around £20 a year.....astonishingly low cost.
Twitter and Facebook are free for businesses to make use of - and how powerful these social media tools are is just now being found out.
Broadband internet, available from around £15 per month gives you the greatest resourse of information that the world has ever known.
PC's are available from around £300, colour printers from £30 and digital cameras also from £30. You probably already own the majority of this kit that I've just mentioned. So, just sit back for a moment and just realise the truth of the situation, that now, 2010 is a very good time indeed to go self-employed.
They say “a bad workman always blames his tools”. I've always found this saying to be more than a little annoying. The implication is that you can make do with inferior tools. I don't buy into this theology. I think that you need to have good tools for the job.
If your PC is running a bit slow and is unreliable, and it is going to be a significant tool in your business, then it's time to get a new PC. I have, over the years got through a lot of PCs. I would have to say that it makes very little economic sense to try to maintain an old PC.
I know that this opinion will annoy quite a few people, but believe me, after about three years, if your PC is giving you more than minor irritation, and you're not an expert at maintaining a PC, then you're onto a losing battle. I don't like (a massive understatement) the throw-away culture that we have in the UK and most of the advanced world, but with infirm PC, there's nothing but trouble.
I used to think myself to be a bit of a techie and often friends would ask me to help them resuscitate ageing computers. I would do so, and it would run better for a month or so, then I'd get another call from them, and it would be back to square one. Now, I just say to anyone with PC problems....buy a new one.
Another reason for making sure you have a good PC is that the software that you may need to rely on, such as Skype (the VOIP (voice-over-internet-protocol) service) will work much better on a higher spec machine.
Nowadays, look for minimum of 3GB of RAM for a new PC. A minimum of 300GB Hard Drive, but preferably 500GB or more, especially if you take a lot of photographs or video.
The Smart-Phones are the runaway success phenomenon of the last few years. Notably, the Apple iphone, Blackberry Curve and now the Google phones. Each of these phones have a huge capability with applications (commonly known now as Apps).
For the average self-employed person, these smartphones are absolutely amazing. You can read your emails at any time, any place. The Blackberry is perhaps the phone that is most suitable for email, with a decent little qwerty keyboard as part of the phone.
The Apple iphone is the best for web-browsing due to the large screen. There are however, a couple of drawbacks to all the smartphones. They do not have a good battery life. Each of these phones would need to be recharged every day under normal usage.
Also, these phones are bigger and far more sophisticated than normal mobiles; this makes them succeptable to breaking more easily if dropped or drowned (yes it does happen much more than you'd imagine). Replacing a smartphone can be a costly thing to do, so it may be worth taking an insurance deal with the phone.......especially if you know yourself to be a little clumsy.