If you are self-employed then you will know what a great experience working for yourself can be. You won’t have to worry about your boss and you will also be able to control your income as well. That being said, you have to know that freedom comes at a price. If you are employed by a company, then you will have some level of protection but when you work from home, you won’t have this at all and that can really work against you.
Hire an Accountant
When you work for a company, they will be able to take care of your taxes and your payments for you. If you are a lone ranger however then you will have to take care of all of this yourself. Sometimes doing your own taxes can be a huge deal, so hire an accountant as they can work with you to make sure that you are given the financial protection you need.
Take out Insurance
The next thing that you need to do is take out insurance. Insurance might seem like a huge step, but you need to make sure that you are protected. Income protection and even business insurance are ideal for sole traders. One bonus of business insurance is that it can cover your work and anything at all that you might possibly be liable for. Income protection covers you if you are unable to work so do keep that in mind. Public liability insurance for the self employed is also another option if you want some additional protection. Hiscox are a top company in the industry if you want to take out a policy.
Know Your Rights
Another key thing that you have to remember is your own rights as a worker. Sometimes you are going to be working for other companies and you have to make sure that you are protected in this instance.
Safety Net
Money is always a huge issue for those who are self-employed. If your work dries up, then you might not get a paycheck at all. If you want to get around this then you need to make sure that you have some kind of financial safety net in place. This will help you if you do ever find that you have a late payment or if you lose one of the clients you work for.
Contracts
It’s also a good idea for you to create a contract for any job that you do. This does of course, depend on the type of work you offer, but either way, it’s a good way to protect yourself. Creating a contract isn’t hard to do and you can enforce them with legal protection if required. Contracts can even help you to avoid clients who might be intentionally trying to mislead your company, so make sure that you think about that as well. If you want to deal with contracts, then templates can easily be downloaded online.
