Do you think about being self employed but are worried about the health insurance? A reporter recently asked me if that’s a stumbling block for people with chronic illness. You can read more about health insurance for the chronically ill in the Small Business Column, The New York Times, Finding Health Insurance if You’re Self Employed.
In the book I co authored with Joan Friedlander, Women, Work and Autoimmune Disease Keep Working, Girlfriend!, Joan wrote a section on self employment. It’s really helpful – although you can pre-order it (on the book page on the blog), it won’t be published until May.
In the meantime, here’s my take on it. No doubt about it – – being self employed looks mighty good when the cubicle gets too tight. Your supervisor gives you dirty looks when you leave for doctors appointments, your co-worker forgets to send you the notes from the last meeting you missed when you were out sick, you’ve noticed that you’re not included on critical projects. Just this past week, a client returned to work after a short term leave only to find that she was essentially demoted (She could file a claim but it’s hard to prove and does she have the stomach for it?) I know that’s the garbage people are up against. I’ve been there myself.
Clients tell me they wish they had my job – – and I understand why.
No doubt about it, there are many benefits to working for yourself, including as much flexibility as you want. Though as I write this, I’m supposed to be in my kitchen preparing dinner for guests who are arriving in one hour. So much for flex – a deadline is a deadline. And stuff happens. A client called with an emergency, there were several emails from other clients wanting material from me and the team that works for me suddenly discovered a problem that is delaying an expected launch. My fall back plan? My husband, Jake, will be making dinner tonight.
Sure, the idea of “hanging up your shingle” looks mighty appealing, especially with a CI. But when I talk with clients who are floating this idea, I ask them to ask themselves these questions:
1. Do you find that on the weekends, you focus more on not feeling well -but can forget about it more easily when you’re at work?
2. Do you need external structure or are you able to sit down and get it done without the whip?
3. Do you like doing it “all” or would you rather just focus on one thing you do well?
4. Do you have a partner who has health insurance?
One thing I’ve seen is that entrepreneurs need a lot of BELIEF and SELF CONFIDENCE — and a ci can easily destroy both.
Are you thinking about leaving cubicle nation? What keeps you from taking the leap?
Rosalind aka cicoach.com
OOPS – Almost forgot to tell you that The March Pain-Blog Carnival is now posted at How to Cope with Pain, featuring the month’s best posts
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