Top 5 Concerns of the Newly Self Employed
Becoming self employed can bring a lot of fears to the forefront, especially when a weak economy is on the horizon. That’s definitely not the best time to open a business, or so it would seem. All of this serves to heighten the concerns of the newly self employed. I have put together my Top 5 Concerns of the Newly Self Employed.
1) Inflation. With prices going up, how can you easily jump into a business and even think about competing on price?
2) Health Insurance. How can you cope with your health insurance needs? It’s costs can put a huge hamper in business plans.
3) Access to Capital. With the recent tightening of the credit market, how can I get access to the capital to build a business?
4) High Taxes. Taxes are high on businesses and the paperwork is just so convoluted.
5) Chances of Success. What kind of chance do I have to be successful?
I hope to offer advice on these in the coming days because I am working through these concerns myself right now.
Management Problems
If you have a school, office, store or some other sort of business, you probably have employees. The more employees you have, the more you have to be on your toes for dissension in the ranks. Keeping morale high can be tough if you are not managing your employees well. See, many employee problems are really management problems.
As management problems begin to grow, morale begins to fall among employees. There are a couple of ways to stop a decline in morale. First, you can deal with the management issues and simultaneously show your appreciation for employees. The second way is to threaten your employees if they get out of line.
Why is that so many businesses choose the way of threats? Take TEFL Schools for example. If you don’t like what your school admin is doing, they will threaten you with no pay or even deportation if you don’t toe the line. They’ll even go to the point of setting apart employees to be their lackeys who will do everything they can to get you fired.
Why do people subject themselves to working at these kind of employers?
Increase Productivity With Technology
Ever since the first man decided to sharpen a stick to better his chances at catching fish, technology has been increasing our productivity. The need for better productivity is the driving force behind technology and the advances that make our lives easier. It’s also this technology that increases our wealth.
If you are an ordinary worker, you use the technology your employer gives you, but if you are in business for yourself, you have the freedom and responsibility to use the most efficient technology possible. This is exactly what I have started doing lately.
My biggest change is to begin writing some web content using speech recognition software. It means I can generate content much quicker. Sure I still have to edit it, but I am producing more content per hour and more content is more income.
Travel as a Business
As former and current TEFL teachers, many of us have a good knowledge about travel. We have been many places on the globe and know how to find a good deal on travel. I would go so far as to say that we may even be more knowledgeable about actual travel than many travel agents. The travel knowledge we have each gained is enough to fill a travel guidebook.
In an effort to find TEFL alternatives, travel as a business is one area that shouldn’t be overlooked. No longer are you confined to an office if you want to work a tourism or travel related business. Thanks to the internet, you can start your own tourism or travel business right from where you are right now.
How so? It’s real easy to start up a travel blog and then get some good affiliate offers. Before long, you can become an expert on a particular location and reap the rewards that come from giving personal advice with a tilt towards those offers that pay you well. This is just one of many topics I will cover in depth on my next upcoming project.
Get Your Own Business
I have talked about this time and time again, the best way to get ahead is to get into your own business. You need to be able to get your own business and start down the pathway to success. All of this, oh, my job sucks, I have no opportunities, has got to end.
The reality is this, you are responsible for your own failures. There may be bad schools out there, but if you use a little common sense, do your research and use the tools to find out about schools, then you will avoid almost all of problems. I’m here to say that the ultimate solution to job problems is to get your own business. Be your own boss.
If you want to stay in the TEFL field, then go ahead and open your own school like some acquaintances of mine. They got tired of being shafted by schools and they decided to make their own online English school. Way to go. They’ve got a lot of work left to go, but they are the path.
Face it, if you don’t like your boss, the perfect solution is to be your own boss and avoid problems.