Self Employment Ideas that can help you Earn More
Taking the step to become self-employed is a big decision for most people. You become self-employed when you decide to set up a business on your own. Knowing how to start your own business and learning about the help available can help you decide if this is the right thing for you to do. In this article, we explain what being self-employed means, outline how to become self-employed and describe the help and benefits you can receive to make it easier.
How to become self-employed
In the modern world of the 20th century, with the abundance of career options available to all, many are trying to reject the age-old way of doing jobs. I am talking about the 9-5 work time that has been the standard of the office day for over 100 years now. As the internet has transformed our lives, so has it transformed the way we do business. And thus, it has given rise to many self-employment ideas for people from all backgrounds based on their skills.
If you are one of the increasing numbers of people who are looking for business ideas but are unaware of what they are, I have compiled a list of the top self-employment ideas that you can start, some even from the comfort of your own home, and make money.
What does self-employed mean?
When you have the desire to work for yourself, you can learn how to become self-employed. You’re also called a sole trader. If you have your own business, deal with clients and sell products or services and make a living from doing so, you’re classed as self-employed. If you’re a freelancer and get paid for the services you provide to others, you’re also considered self-employed.
It means you can decide the hours you work and who you work for. You don’t have a manager, so you can also decide whether to take on a project based on your own personal and business circumstances. Being self-employed means being responsible for the wins and losses of your business and doing your tax return and other administrative duties.
Become self-employed with the help of self-discovery
“Each person has a greater potential for success in specific areas, and the key to human development is building on who you already are.” – Don Clifton
Aside from a wonderfully supportive husband (who kept us fed and watered when I couldn’t), developing self-awareness sits at the top of everything I have been able to accomplish in my online career.
It’s helped me conquer procrastination, perfectionism, and plenty of other obstacles that I had previously allowed to stand in my way.
Simple self-discovery gives you the confidence to step outside your comfort zone and take on self-employed challenges you previously may have dismissed as “too hard.”
How to become self-employed
Knowing how to become self-employed involves a similar route in most cases. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
1. List your strengths and weaknesses
To avoid experiencing overwhelm when setting up your business, it’s important to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. This can be helpful if this is your first time setting up a business. It’s essential to note that becoming a sole trader involves taking on all the responsibility for the business. Outlining your strengths and weaknesses can help you decide what areas you need help with so you can make your business a success.
2. Define what your business offers
This is an essential step and is one that is often overlooked. Many new business owners know the area of business they want to work in. Yet, they haven’t figured out what it is that they’re offering and who they’re offering it to. Also, as a business owner, it’s your responsibility to find customers for your offer. Researching this area and knowing that there’s a market for your offer is vital. Help is available from your Local Enterprise Office on all things to do with self-employment.
3. List what you require help with
In the beginning, there can be a lot of new information to get familiar with. Knowing what you need help with can ensure that you’re concentrating on the tasks that you’re good at. Hiring an accountant or a virtual assistant can help you when you start to run your own business.
4. Sign up with the Revenue Office
Once you’ve defined your business offer, it’s time to sign on with the Revenue Office before you start trading. This is where you pay your taxes on your income and where you declare your annual return. You pay income tax as a sole trader and not as an employee. You can apply for certain tax reliefs. This can be beneficial to help get the business off the ground.
5. Decide on a business name
It’s not necessary to have a business name. Yet some people like to do this if they want to incorporate the service into their business name. If you decide to use a business name, you register it with the Companies Registration Office. Yet, many sole traders use their own names and this step isn’t necessary.
6. Keep a system for taxes and administration
When employed by a company, keeping track of invoices, expenses, tax information and other administration is something you don’t worry about. Now that you have your own business, these are things you keep track of and maintain in an orderly fashion. Records to keep include purchases and sales and all monies received by customers and what you’ve paid out. Bank statements and receipts are also required for your records.
7. Pay taxes to Revenue
When you’ve registered as a sole trader, you pay your income tax, PRSI and the universal social charge. As a self-employed person, you pay your taxes under the self-assessment process that’s available through the Revenue’s website. Alongside the preliminary tax, you file your annual tax return and pay the taxes due. You file your return before October 31 every year. If you cannot meet this deadline, Revenue charge interest on late payments.
8. Grow your business and set income targets
It’s easy to go from year to year and try to keep afloat. Being your own boss means you can grow your business at your pace. Having a solid business plan can help you gain work with collaborators and agencies. Building a strong marketing focus into your business can grow relationships and win new customers.
Why self employment jobs?
Before I begin to list down the top 20 self employment ideas, I would like to take you over the benefits of having self employment jobs:
Follow your passion
Many times people enter work because of the pressure of securing a job. In this, they tend to leave out what they truly wanted to do in life. Pursuing your passion through self-employment jobs allows you to do what you love as well as earn money with it.
Be your own boss
Having self employment jobs requires you to only report to yourself. You do not have a boss so you work according to yourself
Flexible Schedule
The biggest complaint of people who commit to a 9-5 job is that they have very restricted time to pursue their hobbies or spend time with their loved ones. This isn’t the case with self employment jobs. As you have no boss, you can schedule your own work times while giving time to the other important things as well.
Help the world
The biggest benefit of pursuing self employment opportunities is that you get to provide jobs to other people, thereby helping them build their lives. This good deed goes a long way.
Now that you have an idea of the benefits of pursuing self employment jobs, let’s get down to
Self-awareness is a superpower (especially for the self-employed)
By uncovering your:
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Natural tendencies, and
- Best ways to use your energy and expertise
… you gain eye-opening (paradigm-shifting!) insight into who you are and how you like to operate.
What to think about when starting a business or becoming self-employed
Working for yourself can be very rewarding. It means you can:
- do something that interests you, or that you’re passionate about
- choose your own hours
- work around other commitments, such as your children
- have more control over your income.
But there are also some downsides, including:
- working long hours and at weekends
- dealing with an irregular income
- having to do your own bookkeeping and tax return
- limited or no access to employment benefits, such as paid leave.
Finding the best suit for you
Sole trader
This is the simplest business structure. You’ll run your own business as an individual and keep any after-tax profits.
However, your personal and business assets aren’t considered separate. This means you’re personally responsible for debts associated with the business. You can reduce this problem through insurance, or by choosing one of the other business structures mentioned below.
But don’t be put off by the idea of being a business. A sole trader is just that – one person, you, working for themselves. You don’t need to be a shop owner. You could be a taxi driver or hairdresser. Becoming a business is just the official term.
Blogging
Many people are looking at blogging as stable self employment jobs. As more and more people are connecting to the internet, they are looking for information on a wide variety of topics. These topics range from health and wellness to life hacks. People can even write about what their favorite hairstyle is and how to groom themselves before parties.
If you are passionate about a particular subject or activity, have enough knowledge or tips about it and have an access to a laptop, you are all set to pen down your thoughts and share with the world. It will be good if you learn a little about Search Engine Optimisation as it will help your blog get listed well in the Google search results, making it easier for more people to come to your website, which will lead to more advertisers willing to pay money
Designing Websites
Another set of self employment ideas has gained popularity after the boom of the internet is web designing. As more and more brands, and even individuals, are understanding the potential and importance of having a web presence, they are looking for skilled designers who can help them set up their website.
Though many think these kinds of self employment jobs require high skill sets, this is not true. A lot of online classes and web designing tools are available on the Internet, enough to learn the basics. As you try and create more websites, you learn more things, making these types of self employment opportunities challenging as well as rewarding, both money-wise and skill-wise.
Partnership
A partnership is when you go into business with one or more other people and have shared responsibility for the business.
It’s important you draw up a partnership agreement, so everyone involved knows how the profits are split up.
Business debts are dealt with under what’s known as Joint and Several Liability. This means all members of the partnership are responsible for the debts. This is either in full, or individually, depending on how much they can afford to repay.
All partners will need to submit a Self Assessment tax return for their own share of the profits. And a nominated partner will have to submit a partnership Self Assessment for the business.
Cooking
Starting your own home kitchen services is one of the easiest self employment jobs you can pursue, and if you have a passion for cooking, then it is a win-win situation. However, even if you don’t have a good hand with cooking delicacies, you can hire a cook and begin the work.
These types of businesses work best if you have an already established consumer base. So if you live in an apartment complex and have a good standing with your neighbors, you can use it to broadcast your services. Thereafter, you can think of expanding to other societies.
Private limited company (Ltd)
A private limited company (Ltd, is its own legal entity and is completely separate from the people owning and running it. It will need to be registered (or incorporated) with Companies House, and must have a suitable name and address.
The company will have a director (usually the person who started the business) who is legally responsible for running the company. And at least one shareholder (also known as a member).
A Ltd company will have to pay Corporation Tax on any profits. And the after-tax profits are divided up among the shareholders.
Delivery Services
Beginning a delivery service may seem like a daunting task, but as online marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart have strengthened the e-commerce market, every day there are many smaller companies that are looking for delivery agents to provide their services to the companies. These companies would want you to move products like medicines, home decor, food, etc.
Content Writing
If you are good with your written words, you can look at this skill to create self employment opportunities for yourself. There are countless online companies that are looking for content writers to write about their company, about their work, or handle their social media content. These companies offer good payment for skilled workers.
Apart from just content writing, there are also self employment opportunities in the editing market. As there are thousands of books and articles published every month, companies and publishing houses hire proofreaders to go over the grammatical mistakes and correct them.
Photography
If you have a good eye for photos and understand the nitty-gritty’s of visual editing through softwares like Adobe Photoshop, you can turn your passion into well paying self employment jobs. As there are countless events that are happening every day in the country, everyone wants to capture the moment in pictures. Thus, you can put yourself to hire for different types of projects like weddings, birthdays, events, or even become a food or travel photographer.
Another avenue you can pursue these self employment opportunities in photography is by selling your photos online.
Freelancing
Talking about putting yourself up to hire, another set of self employment ideas that can offer you money for your passion is freelancing. Freelancers are people who put their skills online for people to hire them for different tasks. These can include content writing or photography, or even tasks that involve other work from home self employment opportunities.
You can register yourself as a freelancer and look for self employment jobs with the following websites:
- PeoplePerHour
- Freelancer.in
- Upwork
- Fiver
- Health Advisor
Another type of self employment idea that is gaining momentum is in the health and wellness sector. As more and more people are getting conscious of the toxins that are present in packaged foods, they are turning towards experts who can warn them of the harmful effects of such products and provide them with alternatives that can boost their immunity and keep them fit.
Online Tutoring
The tuition market is always at a record high. However, as more and more parents are setting out to work, they are hiring more tutors to teach their children. So, if you can brush up on the concepts you learned in school, you can use these self employment opportunities to earn well and help children too.
Digital Marketing
As more and more brands are looking at the online space for marketing their products and services, they are offering many self employment opportunities to individuals who can handle their digital marketing activities. Though some think of digital marketing as a skill you can only learn with a college degree there are programs like Google Digital Unlocked that can give you a quick crash course in understanding the activities of digital marketing. Thereafter, you are set to pursue such self employment ideas.
Write a book
Did you know that JK Rowling became a billionaire just by writing the Harry Potter series. Therefore, there is a huge scope in these self employment ideas as books are published at a large scale, and once you garner enough interest within your readers, there is no stopping your fame.
Sell Used Products
Still home to a lot of users who buy good quality second-hand items as they are cheaper and get the job done for much less money. Thus, these type of self employment ideas offers you to tap into this large market and provide these services that the society demands. Websites like OLX and Quikr have already amassed a lot of money using these trends, now it’s time for you.
Become a Stand Up Comic
Who said self employment jobs have to be only about starting a business. The stand-up world is full of engineers who quit continuing on the path of a 9-5 job because they found their calling in the laughter business. You can do this too. To pursue these types of self employment ideas , you don’t need to start at a stage, you can even begin by posting videos and YouTube. The more people laugh at your jokes, the more famous you become.
Develop Apps
As you know that almost everyone in the country has a smartphone. This has led to a boom in the app creation market as everyone is trying to download and use different apps. This can help you secure some jobs from self employment ideas as you can enter this world by learning the skill of creating apps . And it is not as tough as you think it is. You can start by creating easy games that only require people to tap. Thereafter, once you have developed your skill, you can head on to make more apps like ordering food, products, medicines, etc.
Wedding Planner
If you have seen the Bollywood movie scene Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh’s ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’, you would be familiar with the dream Anushka’s character had in the film, about starting her own wedding planning company ‘Shaadi Mubarak’. Though that film was fiction, you can follow the same pathway and begin working on your wedding planning company. Start off with your cousins and your relatives, and let the word spread about your management skills.
Launch a Food Truck
If you have cooks within your family who can create dishes that everyone wants to eat, you can think about starting a food truck business. These self employment ideas offer you the flexibility to transfer your food truck to the places that have the most business, like outside colleges and office complexes. As more people hear about your delicious recipes, more orders begin to come.
Start a Beauty Parlour
People are always worried about how they are looking and often spend thousands of rupees at fancy parlors. You can tap into this desire and create self employment jobs for you and your family by starting a parlor within your own house. You can begin with the people around your house, and expect it to grow larger as the word spreads out.
Become an Interior Designer
If you are good with designing spaces like living rooms and bedrooms you can look at interior designing as one of the most rewarding Self employment ideas out there. You can begin small, but as you get more clients, you can hire your own team of real estate agents, contractors, etc. who can work under you for bringing to life your ideas of interior designs.
Become a Life Coach
If you have achieved a successful career, or have the wisdom to give out to people about certain lifestyle choices, you can become a life coach. Life Coaches are nothing but people who guide others to achieve success and a peaceful mind. They can talk about different topics like managing time, effort, passion, and will to succeed. One of the skills for these self employment jobs is public speaking as it helps greatly in imparting your message the correct way.
Daycare for Pets
You can create self-employment jobs by renting your house and converting a section into a pet daycare. As there are many owners who have to leave their dogs alone at home when they leave for work, they can instead drop them by your house. For these self-employment ideas, I would suggest you start out small, like only taking one type of animal at a time. You have to do a lot of tasks, including feeding them, bathing them, taking care of their needs, while keeping them happy. But, once you start getting more customers, you can spread and accept different types of pets too.
