I recognized the advantages of self employment about 5 years ago when I started working for myself. After working for other people my whole career, it was certainly a bit of a change when I no longer got a salary and benefits, something I had become quite accustomed to!

Ive read other resources that talk about the advantages of self employment (and the disadvantages too) and they typically mention working long hours as one of the disadvantages.

I disagree with this comment.

How can they tell you youll be working long hours if they dont even know what job you are doing?

I know plenty of people who are self employed and who work online and they dont work close to 40 hours per week! And many of them do very well, too. It really depends on what you choose to do and the effort required to succeed.

Rather than list a number of generalizations that may or may not apply to you, let me tell you about the specific self employment benefits Ive experienced:

1. Autonomy. I no longer work for a boss or for a company and am pretty much in charge of my own destiny. I like the independence and it suits my personality.

2. I work my own hours. Unlike the comments Ive read elsewhere that talk about how being self employed always means working long hours, I work online and have found that I dont even consider what I do to be work anymore. I like what I do so I dont watch the clock nor do I count the hours. But I have plenty of spare time and Im happy with what I do.

3. I feel good about doing work that benefits me, not someone else. Im my own boss so the entire advantage of my work stays with me. I really feel that the earning potential is greater because Im in charge of my own destiny. I find this to be a big benefit of self employment.

4. It suits my entrepreneurial nature. I realized several years ago that the idea of becoming self employed was something I was interested in. For me, the advantages of self employment fit with my future goals and my entrepreneurial nature.

The best advice for self employment-minded individuals I can give is to first let them know that they had better be very self motivated and autonomous because they will no longer have a boss watching over their shoulder to keep them on track.

You are your own boss which is a great advantage but only if you are capable of being your own boss. If you need constant direction and coaching, you arent going to get it being self employed.

Before you decide that becoming self employed is in your future, consider all the pros and cons and how a career change of this nature will effect you long term.

I recognize the advantages of self employment but I also went into it with both eyes open from the beginning.