The First Step: Myths of Being Self-Employed, deconstructed

A month or so ago, the New York Times profiled several entrepreneurs who were suffering from burnout. I have to admit that I was a little shocked by how naive some of these people were. Really, you thought you'd have more time on your hands if you opened your own yoga studio?

Anyway, this post is not meant to rag on the entrepreneurs in the article. Having now been full-time self-employed for three months, I thought I would share with you some of my discoveries. Hopefully they will be of use to anyone who is looking to become self-employed eventually, or, if you are already self-employed, a source of commiseration.

1. Being self-employed means you can be your own boss. Yes and no, I've found. In some ways, you are your own boss: you set your schedule, you decide when you can go on vacation, you decide how to spend your time. When I went to Prince Edward Island to get married in August, I didn't have to ask anyone if I could take the time off - I just went. (Although we did have to wait for my husband to ask permission from his boss.) That was actually quite nice and liberating.

However, I had several orders pending when we went to PEI. I had to give my clients approximations as to when the orders would be filled, keeping in mind that I would be out of commission for approximately a week. When we came back to Montreal, I really had to put my nose to the grind to finish the orders by the time I promised. If I couldn't finish it on time exactly, I would tell the client. In that sense, it wasn't so much that I was my own boss, but rather that I had 20 different bosses.

2. Being self-employed means you have more time to relax. No. Your time is more flexible - that is, you can wake up at 11 am and wander in and out of the kitchen while working, or you can take a break in the middle of the day to meet a friend for lunch - but you don't necessarily have more time. In fact, you often have less time, because there's no one else to pick up the slack. I can cite to many instances where I've worked until midnight and over the weekends to fill an order.

3. Being self-employed means you don't have to deal with people. Yes and no. On a day-to-day basis, you are alone. However, you still have to talk to your clients, to potential clients, to your sales rep, to media, to your publicist. And your interactions with them are more meaningful than they would be in a normal office. In order to sell successfully to these people, you have to have be - or become - good at dealing with people. Don't just see them as an outlet for your work: they are people, too. Be nice. Take an interest in what they do. Your attention will pay off in the end.