Most days, I love love love working for myself. Here’s the top reasons.
Dress code: Dealing with an obstreperous client with complete professionalism on the phone while dressed in ragged jammies and fuzzy slippers can really take the sting out.
Office space: I don’t see clients in my office. Therefore I can have a polar bear calendar on the wall, a stuffed bat hanging over my desk, all manner of personal nonsense on my bulletin boards, and a cat bed on either side of the monitor. I also use the most obnoxious neon colored file folders for my few paper files because they amuse me. (Theoretically I could work from the back deck, but effectively if I’m on the deck all I do is enjoy the scenery.)
Client choice: I really think a well developed spidey sense is the most valuable skill an entrepreneur can have. Some will say that signing a client based on a gut feeling is a bad business practice, but I’ll say that for a service provider its the BEST business practice. Working with someone you don’t mesh well with is a recipe for being unhappy with your job. If I wanted that I’d have never left the corporate scene.
Work hours: This probably goes on the list of worst things too, but the best thing is that I can get a lot of my work done in the hours that are best for me. That happens to mean that I start work around 6am. By the time most of my clients get to their offices, I’m ready for a break. Perfect for phone calls and emails. On the other hand, by 2 I’m really dragging and I can leave my home office and go do something completely different like laundry or plan supper or go to the gym to clear my head and get some fresh air.
My job, my way: I’m a Virtual Assistant and normally that means I work from my office on client projects. But I also have a passion for helping businesses get organized as a foundation for growth and sometimes that means going into an office to help get it under control. I get to pick.
Actually, that pretty well summs it up. I Get To Pick.