So ... You Think You Have What It Takes?

 You might have asked yourself at one time or another if you have what it takes to be self-employed or as they say on the web "work from home", "be your own boss", you know where I'm coming from. From my own personal experience coming from a family of entrepreneurs (that spans three generations), I've put together my short list of qualities I feel are needed for self employment.
Self employment does seem to be quite fascinating and one of the best ways of leading your life, but just pause and think - are you really cut out for self employment? There are people who can do quite well being self employed and there are people who just cannot get into the drift. So where do you fit in?



Below, I list the kinds of people who I think will never do well in a self employment opportunity. These categories are taken from the top of my head, and there will surely be some more of them. But these are good enough to give a rough idea of the kind of person you need to be to become self employed.

1. If you do not have any kind of drive to create your own thing, then you are better off in a daytime job. Self-employment is not for you. All self-employment opportunities, whatever their nature might be, require you to create or be creative. You have to have at least some talent in you that common people do not have. You should be able to create things, and then love them enough to let others partake in your creation.
2. You have to be money-minded. If you are just thinking of entering into a self employment opportunity or venture without any head of business, you are doomed. This is because the entire onus of expenses and investments will fall on you. You will have to sometimes bargain with your clients and supplies to get good deals. You have to have those talents.
3. Every person in a self employment venture needs to be a multi-task manager. Often times, the burden of managing a lot of responsibilities will fall on your shoulders. You will have to look after not just the production, but you will also be responsible for the promotion and the investment. So, you have to have good skills in managing all these kinds of works at once. You will need to allocate different times of the day for different purposes.
4. This is very important, though not often said - you will have to have affection for your own business venture, and you will have to nourish after all it is your "baby". You don't have to do this in a job, because someone else has already established it. So, can you muster enough love and affection for the business opportunity you are giving birth to? You might have to sometimes spend long hours on it, do things that you don't like much, and even stretch yourself to the limit. Be prepared for all this.

Contrary to what "newbies" feel, self employment is not a piece of cake. You need to have specific qualities to do good here. As I said before, there are some people who have natural talents to be self employed and then there are those who cannot be self employed unless they learn and improve.

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Article written by
Terrianne Thomas, MBA