Just like a large business, there are certainly important areas that a self-employed person should have at the top of their priorities in order to be successful. Whether you’re aiming for growth to become a large company or you just want the freedom to work from anywhere and for yourself there are still things that you should be focusing on.

Have a look below at some of the key areas you should be thinking about as a self-employed worker.

Your Finances

When working as a self-employed person it’s essential that you’re on top of your finances. In order for you to be viable and have the funds that you need to run efficiently. This means that you need to make sure you put some steps into place in order to keep track. You need to keep track of any outgoings, income, expenditure and losses to do this it’s best to use online accounting software where you’re able to record anything to do with your finances. As a self-employed worker, it’s your responsibility to think about your own personal taxes, pension and income tax, so you need to become familiar with the expectations.

Your Brand Image

You are your brand image as a self-employed person and it can sometimes be difficult to be heard and seen the same as a larger company. This means that you need to but the extra time and effort into creating a strong brand image for your work. Whether you’re trying to create a larger business or just working on a sole basis your brand image is going to impact the level of work and quality of work that you receive. Try creating a logo that people will recognise and market your brand at every opportunity.

Your Workload

Often a self-employed worker will be solely responsible for the level of work they have. At times you may struggle for work or have too high of a workload to deal with. This means you need to be on top of your workload management. Try and make sure you have a steady workload that is going to be sufficient enough for a wage that you can live with. At times if you have a workload that id too high you might want to look into outsourcing some of the more time-consuming tasks such as accounting, data entry and market research.

Your Sacrifices

Often being self-employed means having some sacrifices. When employed by a business or corporation you will automatically get a holiday allowance, sickness allowance, extra maternity benefits, a pension scheme and automated payments into your national insurance. When you’re self-employed you’re responsible for these areas yourself. This can often lead to you dropping income when you become sick or take a holiday and can mean that you have a pension that is lower as you’re the only one making contributions. It’s important to account for these areas when thinking about your budget, it could be a good idea to put some saving to one side, just in case you become ill or want to take a break.

These four areas should be a focal point for every self-employed person. Do you have any others that should be included that you can share in the comments section?