by Rana Snel

Created on: March 06, 2007   Last Updated: April 13, 2007

Being self employed is not as difficult as many think.

The benefits are are endless if you are willing to work as diligently for yourself as you would for someone else and the possibilities are endless.

As a self employed individual you have the ability to set your own hours and work out of your home, in your pajamas, and are paid for the work that you do at a rate that you set for yourself rather than the hourly wage that is often to little to survive on with a boss that has extremely high expectations and cant complete the task themselves. You can work at your own pace and can take off on the weekends or any and all holidays. You will enjoy the freedom of being able to make the kids soccer games or field trips at the school.

Taxes are not withheld from your pay but you can set up your own plan to calculate the amount that should come out and put it away for the end of the year. You also have a self employment tax that will be charged to you when you file a return. There are many ways to set yourself up to prepare for tax season just do a little research on it and choose the best method for yourself. Quicken, microsoft office, microsoft money, quick books, these are just a few of the programs that offer a very effective method to keeping up with the books and assisting with the accounting side of a business. There are also several accounting firms that may be helpful and they do not all charge an enormous amount to be of assistance.

Insurance is another subject that will need to be given some thought. If you have a spouse that is working a normal scheduled job maybe you can just simply add yourself to their insurance and be done. If you are not in a position to do this then you can seek advice from many places including the web! Several Insurance companies offer a health plan that is affordable to you so dont be discouraged just do some research.

Please do understand that there is a lot of dedication and hard work involved in owning your own business and you really need to be prepared to "give it your all" so to speak. You will need to be just as dedicated to this as you would be to an outside employer. In the beginning it may require long hours and some money to get you started, but the truth be known once you dedicate yourself to this and you work very diligently it will pay off!

You are investing in your future so make sure that you are ready for the long haul. This is a very big step in your life and you want to make sure that once you have poured your time and money into it you will be certain to make it work!

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