Small businesses are on the increase. Employment is at record levels, and so too is self employment. But there is a flip side to all of this, and that is that the government don't mention that the self employed on average work longer hours than most other professions, there is no pension, no holiday pay, no sick pay...you see where I'm going? So where did the boom in self employment arise from if it's all doom and gloom? Well that's the thing, it's not all doom and gloom.
You work hard, and have only yourself to answer to, only yourself to blame if things don't go right and most importantly, only yourself to congratulate when they do. This can be a very positive experience.
The boom in self employment actually followed the 2008 financial crisis, a sad time during which it looked for a while as though the super rich may not be able to continue earning 7 and 8 figure salaries, but thankfully the working and middle classes were able to step in and prop this up through wage stagnation, ever less reasonable productivity demands, a reduction in the workforce, and their own tax revenues which went to ensure that those all important salaries could be honoured. Phew! Thank goodness.
This change in the job market prompted an exodus of people from the private sector workforce into self employment, mostly through a lack of options, with salaries no longer meeting living costs, an alternative ws sought. That alternative turned out to provide levels of freedom previously only dreamed of, in exchange for less benefits and a tougher slog.
Part of this is the temptation to be constantly available. This works for a while but is unsustainable in the long term. Productivity suffers, quality of work suffers, and quality of life suffers. The hardest thing in the world is saying no to money, but sometimes that's a necessity as your reputation for quality work is more lucrative in the long run than one job too many ever will be.
So take bank holidays off. Take weekends. Go on holiday sometimes. It's OK!
Written on a sunny bank holiday Monday morning. Take from that what you will.
Kent Arboreal provide professional tree surgery, hedge cutting, and garden clearance services in East Kent, Thanet and Medway. We are fully insured and excellent value for money.
As well as being tree surgeons, Kent Arboreal are also bloggers, writing regular blogs of wildly varying quality on all things arboreal.
Give us a call on 0800 772 0159
or email us at info@kentarboreal.com