The Unseen Costs of Becoming Self Employed
Even though the sky’s the limit in terms of earning when you’re self-employed, there are often a number of unexpected costs that can take the newly self-employed by surprise. These costs are not always financial; being self-employed can have a major impact on your work/life balance, as well as your relationships with friends and family.
Perhaps the underlying explanation of the various unexpected costs of being self-employed could be attributed to the fact that you have to do everything yourself. Even if your business quickly grows and you take on employees, there is usually an initial period when you become self-employed where it is your responsibility to sort everything out. While that can certainly be exciting and empowering, it is also a real shock to the system if you’re used to being part of a big company!
Software and Equipment
It is almost impossible to list the amount of ‘things’ you have to buy as a self-employed person that would have magically been provided for you in an office. Even the simplest items like paperclips and printer ink have to be sourced yourself when you are self-employed. And you don’t get the buying power of a big company either, so you’ll soon appreciate just how expensive ink cartridges are, and that it is better to set your printer to ‘fast draft’!Even though many items are tax deductible, you still have to be able to buy them in the first place, which can get really expensive when you are first self-employed. Not only will you get very adept at ‘making do’ in a way that you would not have considered when you were employed, but you will also not waste money on buying unnecessary items.