Self employment. It’s not all a bed of roses, is it?
Some find themselves working longer hours for lower pay than when they were employed even. But there are plenty of perks – and they’re not all obvious.
Here are 3 unexpected perks of being self employed.
A Healthier Heart
With the stress that comes with self employment at times, this may seem hard to believe. But actually, those of us who are self employed typically have better heart health according to research when compared with the salaried population.
Now this could be skewed by the fact that women typically have better heart health anyway and the self employed population is skewed to women. But we also think other reasons might be at play here too:
- More flexible working may well equate to more time for exercise and activity
- Some self employed people report lower levels of stress than when they were working
But whatever the reasons, statistically self employment correlates with healthier hearts.
Turning Down Work
It might seem a tad counterintuitive to list this as a perk. But for anyone who has been employed in roles where they would land difficult contracts or clients whose needs you couldn’t meet because they were brought in by a sales team, this is huge.
Being self employed gives you the freedom to turn work down if it isn’t the right kind of work for you.
This is one of the biggest perks!
Create the Right Working Environment for you
Maybe you work well at home. Maybe you don’t.
Maybe you work best in a coffee shop. Perhaps you like a quiet office.
Whatever it is, you can create your own working space. When employed by someone else, if you are office based or based on work premises, you basically get what you’re given in many cases. But when you go self employed you get to create an environment that helps you work best.
The value of this is really often understated, particularly given how many hours some of us spend in a working environment.
So while people talk a lot about the flexibility of working from home or from anywhere in the world, don’t underestimate the value in creating a space (office or home) that is tailored to your needs too.
Self Employment Perks
Besides the obvious flexibility and earning for yourself, what other perks have you found to being self employed? Let us know!
