Frolic Of My Own

The current economic downturn brings to mind the situation in the early eighties, a time of equally high levels of unemployment as in 2009-10. Thirty years ago there was a sharp retrenchment in manufacturing industry, and a high number of engineering and related jobs departed or were very hard to find. I find it intriguing to observe the points of similarity between the early 80s, and now, in terms of the kinds of spurious jobs that I saw on offer, and are resurfacing once more now, many these being door to door sales jobs, that nobody would be interested in, if real vacancies were not so hard to find.

However, there are also dissimilarities between then and now, due to the appearance of Internet business and a variety of genuine online jobs to be had now, which did not exist 25 years ago. Although the the suggestion that people can work from home existed before, the World Wide Web has greatly increased the possibilities for doing this.

I do not doubt that there exist legitimate opportunities in sales and marketing, but it is important to sort out the wheat from the chaff, and shun jobs selling something dubious. In 1984 I was invited for interview with an employer trying to establish a new business directory. They were looking for salesmen to go to companies getting them to pay for an entry in this. I concluded that the directory itself did not really exist and never would, and did not pursue the position. I never heard of the directory again.

Once I enquired about a vacancy marketing financial investments, and was invited to attend an interview at a hotel. It is quite usual for employers to hire hotel rooms in order to hold interviews. However, when I arrived there, I found this outfit actually had their office in a hotel room. As a precondition of being accepted for the job, I was expected to to sell five of their plans, to my family and friends. In other words, I was simply being used as a way of getting leads from my circle of contacts. You will not be surprised to learn that I decided not to take that up.

Then there were the door-to-door sales jobs which I tried out. The majority of people find doorstep salemen irritating, and it turned out to be a deeply discouraging experience. Householders may think of a number of disagreeable ways of informing you to go away. I then had a go at telephone sales, which I thought would be better since I was able to work from home, yet that if anything was worse. It’s much easier to hang up on somebody than to slam the door against them.

Perhaps such jobs are not so common today as a lot of neighbourhoods have been designated as ‘no cold calling’ zones, and most of the telesales positions have been outsourced to India. Even so, this year I applied for a vacancy in market research, which I predicted would be more suitable as I didn’t have to sell something. Regrettably, I found that virtually nobody was willing to spare time for a few questions, and many just put down the phone straight away. I gave that up after 24 hours.

So, with employment opportunities continuing to be scarce, are there any worthwhile alternatives? After I tried out numerous non-starters I eventually took a look at Internet business opportunities. You will find some promoted on the online jobs boards, but you can also find websites focussing on the area of Internet business itself. Such jobs allow people to work from home, therefore there is no need to move to another part of the country. Many such opportunities might require a reasonable investment, but I know from personal experience that online jobs are definitely preferable to trying to sell products door-to-door or by phone. After entering this area a while ago, I haven’t personally regretted it.

The Federation of Small Businesses has just published figures that indicate that record numbers of individuals are presently taking the plunge and choosing self-employment. About 300,000 will become self-employed this year. Clearly, this is in part a result of the current deep downturn, with many being made redundant and thousands of workers taking pay freezes or cuts, and job opportunities regularly being competed for by a hundred or more jobseekers. And yet, by contrast, it is an excellent time to become self-employed, as Internet business can be utilized as a cheap distribution medium for whatever you produce or offer. This can also allow you to work from home removing the expense of setting up a separate office.

There exist many ideas for self-employment, employing your old aptitudes or possibly teaching yourself extra ones for instance in the increasing number of online jobs which are appearing in Internet business. Not all self-employment ideas require a massive capital input. I heard of a case in which a man had the idea of rescuing abandoned shopping trolleys from various places and selling them back to their original stores. The amount of capital he needed was almost nil. Moreover for those who work from home, outgoings such as travel costs could in reality be less than when they worked for someone else.

People are advised to attach a ‘caveat emptor’ to certain purportedly self-employed jobs which are unlikely to work out well. You may see certain jobs on the online jobs sites which are simply companies looking for means of avoiding the overheads involved in hiring an employee. In one example I saw, a debt collecting company offering positions for self-employed debt collection agents. You would only receive payment if you succeeded in getting debtors to pay their debts, and worryingly, they made no mention of the percentage they would pay you, suggesting strongly that this was a quite insignificant sum. I was not sufficiently curious to find out.

You are not necessarily self-employed just because you work from home. My previous employer in the nation’s capital had employees who resided in Scotland and the north of England. These people only visited the office for one or two meetings, and yet they did whatever work the company asked them to and were received a monthly salary. To work for yourself, you must be able to determine your working hours and pick what work you take on. For example, in an Internet business opportunity such as website design you will get paid on results, not at an hourly rate.

Being self-employed may not suit everyone. Certain types of people need to be inspired and supervised by a boss in a predictable structured location, while hoping for that big lottery win. If you work from home or in your own shop then you are free from anyone’s command, and it is crucial to be a self-starter. Working for yourself is no fast track to your first million. Yet many employed workers realise that they arrive at a glass ceiling where they work. The company directors are the company chairman’s friends and family. You can never be one of them. Become self-employed in online jobs or another line of business, and you may make a lot of profit and realise your full potential.

Those who work for themselves have to sort out their own financial reporting and tax matters, and it is vital to hire a dependable bean counter. Many things can be claimed as expenses and reduce your tax bill. Furthermore it is essential to take out insurance for sickness, since you have no employer to provide sick pay.

All things considered, though, the benefits of being your own boss far outweigh the negative points. The majority of people who have turned to self-employment say they don’t ever want to go back to working for a boss. It is worth your time to at least consider it.