From Employed to Self-Employed (Part 1): You don’t have to be gorgeous to turn around, please listen to your inner voice first
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This article is written by Liu Yiyou and is Presentation. Founder of Easy Presentation Workshop. He has more than ten years of experience in business presentations and is good at presentation structure, information visualization, strategic proposals and fundraising presentations. Thank you for authorizing the “Content Hacker” website to reprint it. Thank you hereby.
[Why we repost this article] Most content creators consider themselves “[freelance workers](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%87%AA%E7%94%B1%E8%81%B7%E6%A5% AD) (freelancer)”, rather than putting himself in the role of “self-employed (self-employed)”. Teacher Liu Yiyou incisively analyzed the difference in mentality between the two, which is worthy of reference for all readers who are engaged in content creation.
The definition and current situation of self-employed persons
Recently, the author was invited to give a speech at the institute of his alma mater. The theme was “From Employed to Self-Employed: How can statisticians use their own advantages?”. I was asked to share my personal career plan with my fellow students. As a statistician, how should you use your strengths in the workplace? What are the options? Why did you choose to leave the workplace and become a self-employed person? What are the difficulties and suggestions on the state of mind change and role change?
Frankly speaking, the author is still groping on the road to becoming self-employed, and I can’t say I’m successful yet. However, I hope that by sharing my personal experience, more friends who want to become self-employed can refer to multiple options and directions.
The difference between self-employed and freelance workers
What is a self-employed person? Simply put, they are workers who do not belong to any organization.
According to the definition of the Ministry of Labor, it refers to “a person who operates a business by himself or in partnership and does not hire anyone else.” In other words, it is a “one-person business.”
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From freelance workers, slash, gig economy to the era of resumption of business, what terms have you heard?
What about freelance workers? In the past, “Freelance” gave people the impression that there was no real job. But now the definition of a freelance worker has become quite broad. It can be a “part-time freelance worker”. In addition to having a regular job, he also engages in part-time work to bring in another income, such as writing columns, taking on cases, or working as an Uber driver.
Freelance workers can also be “multiple part-time freelance workers”, that is, in addition to having a fixed job, they also have a variety of part-time jobs that can generate income. The last type is the “full-time freelancer”, also known as the “self-employed”, who completely relies on himself to decide his own income source options and is his own boss.
Self-employed is one type of freelance worker, but they are not all equal. In today’s employment environment, income from one job alone may not be able to meet living expenses, so more and more people choose to become freelance workers to create another or multiple sources of income, but they do not necessarily need to give up their original jobs. They can still choose the possibility of financial freedom while being stable.
This also has a relative impact on our positioning and mentality towards workplace roles: everyone will no longer only belong to a certain company. When part-time income begins to approach or even exceed full-time income and becomes stable, some people will start to think: “Should I become a full-time freelance worker?”
Challenges and considerations of becoming self-employed
But is it really that simple?
Are freelance workers really free?
Many people yearn to become freelance workers or self-employed because of the “freedom.” You can freely choose to do what you want to do, you can arrange your own work time, you don’t have to look at other people’s faces, you can do this or that. It seems that becoming a freelance worker can solve any unsatisfactory situation in the workplace.
However, some people are worried about the unstable income, how long it will last, the small social circle, and the unimaginable psychological pressure. Another worry is, if you leave the workplace, will you be able to go back?
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Isn’t it freedom to not have to stay in the office and not have to commute to get off work on time? In fact, many high-level people in companies can do it, but the truth is that work and life are inseparable from now on. Is it freedom to not have to abide by the red tape and regulations in the enterprise, and freedom to be able to choose jobs and clients? In fact, when you are not well-known, even if you are self-employed, you can only be chosen. But in a company, when your credit and strength are sufficient, everything must be discussed.
Can I become a freelance worker or self-employed if I have strong professional skills? Not entirely. It’s okay to work part-time as a couple, but whether there are stable orders to take is the key. Secondly, contract signing, administrative procedures, dispute handling, financial management, etc. may not be encountered when you work part-time, but when you become self-employed, you may have to do all these things yourself. Insufficient expertise may cost you a lot, and it will also take up most of your time. The time you can do what you want to do may not be as much as you think. If you leave it to professionals, it will be another expense. Whether you can find a trustworthy partner is another problem.
In short, being self-employed can be regarded as a one-person business. You have to run yourself as a company. The details are not as simple as you think. This is why most people still choose to work part-time as freelance workers. Even if their income has exceeded their full-time job, they are still unwilling to give up their full-time job?
This is because the mentality of facing risks is different. One is the extra income. Even if it is gone, there is still a point of regular income. One is that after completing this order, you may not know where the next order will be. If it is not done well, there may be no income this month. How much psychological pressure is this? Most people may not be willing to bear it.
Being self-employed is actually a one-person business
The characteristic of being self-employed is that you have to go through the entire life cycle of selling your professional capabilities alone. From the professional capabilities of packaging, pricing, marketing, sales, promotion, contracts, channels and finance, etc., all must be completed by oneself. Even if it is left to professionals to collaborate, they must ensure that they have a certain level of understanding.
The freedom of the self-employed is the freedom of choice; and behind this choice is the freedom of ability.
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When you have these abilities, you actually have the conditions for an agile talent. Whether you are employed or self-employed, you can enjoy the so-called freedom. So someone said: “Before you become a good self-employed person, please first become a good employed person.”
Self-employment is not a profession, but a state of ability, a state of being able to monetize your profession.
Market Trends for Freelancers
What proportion of the entire job market do freelance workers actually account for? I checked a lot of information on the Internet, but there are actually different opinions, and there is no objective data to support it. Among them, [McKinsey] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BA%A5%E8%82%AF%E9%8C%AB) conducted a survey report on the gig economy the year before last. This is a source that the author believes can be used as a reference in terms of time. At the same time, the definition of freelance workers is also relatively comprehensive, including both part-time and full-time freelance workers.
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The development trend of global freelance workers
It can be seen from the data that the proportion of freelance workers in the job market in European and American countries is about 25% to 30%. Among them, the number of freelance workers in the United States is larger than that of all European countries combined. This is related to the total employed population in each country, and also to national conditions and culture.
So what is the proportion in Asia? According to statistics, 87% of office workers in Taiwan “hope” to engage in part-time work to gain another income for themselves, and 18.1% have already invested in it. In Japan, freelance workers are also called “Freeters”, accounting for about 6% of the total employed population.
Interestingly, most of them were young people under the age of 30. They were unwilling to find a job because of Japan’s poor economic situation and no future. Therefore, they took temporary jobs such as working in supermarkets or manpower dispatching. However, in recent years, the myth of lifetime employment has gradually been broken. In order to save personnel expenses, companies have begun to lay off employees over the age of 40 and 50, which has also gradually increased the proportion of freelance workers in this age group. This phenomenon is gradually seen in Taiwan. It is estimated that in the near future, freelance workers in Taiwan will also follow the development model of Japan, showing a polarized age distribution.
How to start a one-person business without funds or resources?
In the next article, the author will continue to talk about how to start if you have been working in the workplace for a period of time, think you have professional ability and practical experience, and want to become self-employed but have no funds or connections.
How did I make this choice when I transitioned from being employed to being self-employed? What are the decision-making points to consider and the changes in mood? What advantages does a statistical background play in this process?
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