A common dream of many Americans is to become self-employed with a steady stream of income doing something they love. Although this may seem unattainable to the average individual working a 9 to 5 job, entrepreneurship isn’t nearly as inaccessible as many believe it to be. According to a Pew Research Center report from late-2015, three-in-ten U.S. Jobs are held by the self-employed and the workers they hire. The self-employed often provide employment to others in the economy and encourage innovation in their industries as they provide new ideas and products. Self-employed workers invest a tremendous amount of time building their businesses and finding the right audience for their good or service. Not everyone is cut out to be self-employed, you must be comfortable with risks, creative, independent, and most importantly you must have a support system in place as you set out on your own. But with the right guidance and passion, you can become a successful entrepreneur in a field you love!

Here are seven steps to become self-employed:

1. Find Your Passion

Many pursue entrepreneurship because they don’t love their current job or because they believe they can do better working on their own. To stay afloat in today’s business world, you’ll have to stay driven and motivated to keep going despite setbacks. For this reason, it’s essential that you’re passionate about your goal of self-employment and the business that you’d like to create. If you have minimal experience in a field you’re passionate about then it’s essential that you gain more familiarity with that activity before translating it into a business plan.

2. Know the Market

Before rushing into your passion, it’s important to determine how saturated your market is with competition and whether an audience would be available to consume your product. Visit this site for additional informational on surveying markets. You should learn meaningful information about salaries in your particular field, types of consumers, statistics about production and sales of your good, economic indicators, and general business statistics. A thoughtful analysis of your market will help you decide if your entrepreneurial dream is realistic and doable.

3. Make Money in the Meantime

For many entrepreneurs the most difficult part of setting off on their own is losing their current salary as they work towards being self-employed. Before working on your venture full-time, it may be advisable to continue working at your current job while saving up a nest egg. Another way of earning necessary funds while working on your project is to refer and earn with Reflik. Reflik allows entrepreneurs to refer their friends and connections to open positions posted by companies all over the United States. If your referred candidate is hired, you’ll earn the advertised reward for that position. Of course with the proper amount of referrals, you can earn enough to support yourself while working on your entrepreneurial journey.

4. Consult Others

To succeed you’ll need a strong support system in place, including friends and family members who you can depend on to assist you with your journey. Consulting others about your self-employment dream will also allow you to find potential partners who can assist you with your goal by providing their own counsel on aspects of the business you may not have as much familiarity. For example, if your uncle is an accountant, it would be worthwhile to speak with him about pertinent IRS rules for small businesses you may not be aware of. If you have limited knowledge of an industry you’re passionate about it would also be helpful to find a mentor who can assist you with advice or guidance.

5. Write a Business Plan

Writing a great business plan is one of the most important steps to becoming self-employed because it provides a guide for the future and it allows others to better understand your goals. A well-thought out plan also provides revenue projections especially if you truly understand the market you plan to enter. Use this site to build your business plan and get started on your journey to self-employment!

6. Choose a Business Structure

Determining your business structure is an integral step in becoming self-employed because it will affect your responsibilities, tax structure, and hiring abilities. Each business structure holds its own perks and challenges. For example, if you open a sole proprietorship, you’ll be responsible to pay all of your company’s taxes but you’ll also earn all the profits from your business. If you want to work with someone else, you can create a partnership or if you want to offer stock options you could form a corporation. It’s essential that you carefully research each available option before becoming self-employed because your choice of business structure will affect so many aspects of your business. To learn more about available business structures, visit this site.

7. Complete the Practical Steps

To finalize your goals, you must perform the necessary financial and legal actions to establish your business. For example, you must determine where your business will be located, which licenses you need, which laws pertain your company, how you will register your business, and how you will finance operations. Luckily many of these steps are laid out here.

Becoming self-employed may be a great struggle but the triumph of achieving independence and working on your passion is well-worth initial difficulties like completing necessary regulatory requirements. As CEO of Reflik, I have achieved my entrepreneurial aspirations by creating a talent recruiting platform like none other available on the market, that rewards recruiters and individuals who successfully refer qualified candidates to exciting open positions. Reflik allows recruiters who previously were dependent on contracts from companies to earn a living by referring candidates in their database to the many open positions on our platform. Nothing has made me happier in my career than seeing others use Reflik in the pursuit of their own independence.

Good luck in your pursuit of self-employment, working at your passion is well-worth the effort!

Sources

Pew Research Center

Small Business Administration

The Simple Dollar