Self-Employment Success Requires These 2 Skills

 

 

 

     When people find out that I've written a book on my nearly 30-year career as a self-employed person, one of the most common questions I get is, "What does it take to succeed as your boss?" 

Frequently, what they're wondering is whether they have what it takes to strike out on their own, which is a dream for many.
"Do you think everyone can succeed at self-employment?" is another way to phrase the question. 

While I hate to discourage anyone from pursuing their dream job, I'm afraid I have to reply no to that question.
Some folks aren't made out for working for themselves. 

I've seen a number of folks struggle terribly to make it on their own, barely scraping by, and occasionally reluctantly going to work as an employee when their vision of self-employment didn't match reality. 

 

 To assist you to decide if you have what it takes to succeed as a self-employed person, I'll go through eight abilities that anyone who wants to make it on their own must possess in this post.
These are the abilities: 

Decision-making

Networking

Developing relationships

Assertiveness in Communication

Self-discipline

Resourcefulness

Creativity 

 

 Is it necessary to be a master of all of these abilities?
No, but if you want to develop a firm that will persist and allow you to achieve your long-term goals, you must have some ability in each of these areas. 

The good news is that you can improve each of these abilities over time.
You don't have to be fantastic at all of them right now.
When I first started my business, for example, I wasn't much of a networker.


But I immediately realized how vital networking would be in growing my public relations consulting firm, and within a few years, I had honed my networking skills to the point that I could excel at it. 

Let's take a closer look at each talent to see why it's so vital for self-employment success. 

1. Making a decision

Most people enter self-employment without realizing that this is likely the first time in their lives that they have complete control over their decisions.


A boss used to determine your priorities and decide how you should spend your time; he or she also decided how your company's or department's budget was spent.
Depending on the type of work you were performing, you may have had little experience making huge business decisions — or even little business judgments. 

When you become self-employed, this changes substantially.
You are now in charge of every decision you make about your business, including how you use your time and any financial resources you have available to get your company off the ground and maintain it thriving after it's up and running. 

You choose which clients to target, what products or services to offer, where your business will be located, and what your company's name will be.


Every day, you must make decisions on the direction your company is heading and what you need to do next to drive it forward.
These judgments must be taken as soon as possible.
You must also stick to your decisions rather than continuously changing your mind.
Self-employment is difficult for indecisive, wishy-washy persons who change their minds frequently.

 If you understand your decision-making style, you can make the shift to being the decision-maker go more smoothly.
Are you, for example, someone who has to thoroughly investigate everything?


If that's the case, you'll need to lighten up a bit on that, or else you'll never make a decision.
You can't afford to be paralyzed by indecision.
On the other side, making judgments on the spur of the moment without completing any study could backfire. 

It's also helpful to have a friendly sounding board before making a crucial decision.

A self-employed friend can often provide objective advice on the various possibilities accessible to you.

Finally, believe your gut impulses; they will nearly always guide you in the right direction. 

2. Collaboration and networking

Networking is a crucial component of self-employment success.
Despite this, many businesspeople despise networking for many reasons.


But, if you look into why people refuse to attend networking events, I believe you'll discover that the underlying reason is that they've never really learned how to network and, as a result, haven't been able to overcome their natural anxiety of making oneself at home in a room full of strangers. 

It's critical to recognize that, like any other business talent, social skills can be enhanced.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking that certain people are natural networkers while others aren't.


My own experience demonstrates my thesis because, as I previously stated, I understood very nothing about networking before being my employer.
In Pennsylvania, I grew up in a little village in a rural community.
I practically never had to introduce myself to a stranger until I went to college; every one for miles knew my family because my mother taught at the local high school. 

This was not an upbringing that equipped me for social events such as meet-and-greets.
While I was not bashful with people I knew from my childhood, I was apprehensive around strangers.


Because my profession did not involve networking, not being a networker didn't matter much in the corporate roles I held early in my career.
However, I understood that to grow my customers, I would have to network, network, network. 

I had the good fortune to meet someone who taught others how to network.
Facilitated networking was one of the things she taught me.
Facilitated networking can take various shapes, but it all boils down to having a system in place to make it easier for people to meet and exchange information at networking events.


I was one of six women who formed a women's networking group on Boston's south side in 1991.
After seeing how wonderfully guided networking worked, I pushed for it to be included in each of our events.
And for the first two years of the organization, I volunteered to be the facilitator.
I could tell you story after story of ladies who started that organization as shy wallflowers but quickly rose to the top of the networking game.
This includes me as well! 

It was tremendously rewarding to see these individuals gain confidence in their abilities to introduce themselves to new people, deliver their elevator pitch about their company, and walk away with a new, potentially beneficial acquaintance.
You, too, can learn to network effectively.
Here are some pointers that I found useful: