You Are Self-Employed
November 30th, 2007 by Steve Pavlina
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Many years ago I listened to an audio program by Brian Tracy where he said that everyone is essentially self-employed and that even if you’re an employee, you should think of yourself as the President of your own personal services corporation. Call it Your Name, Inc.
This mindset makes a lot of sense. Even if you seemingly work for someone else, you still work primarily for yourself. You have your own company with one employee — you — and you’re in the business of selling your employee’s labor for profit.
I’m sometimes accused of writing too much from the entrepreneurial perspective when I cover career development, seemingly ignorant of the fact that most people are employees. I intentionally favor this perspective because I know that you can be nothing but self-employed, regardless of how you generate income. It’s not because I’m trying to push you to start your own business. The more important issue is to help you avoid the mistake of giving away your responsibility for your personal career results.
The only true boss of your work is you. Any external boss is just a customer of your personal services business. Maybe you’ll do a great deal of business with a single customer, but you’re always free to fire a customer you don’t like. Saying “I quit” to your boss is essentially the same as saying to a customer, “I’m sorry, but apparently our business is unable to serve you. Perhaps I can recommend a competitor who may be better equipped to meet your needs.”
What if you fall prey to the illusion that you aren’t self-employed and you yield control of your career to your employer or boss? A lot of people try to do this, but viewed through the entrepreneurial lens, it doesn’t seem to be a very sensible approach.
Imagine a business saying to its biggest customer, “We’re going to drop all our other customers and serve only you. Just tell us what you want done, and we’ll do it. Pay us whatever you think is a fair price. Invest in our growth however you see fit. Tell us when we can go on vacation. You command; we obey.” While it wouldn’t be impossible to run a business this way, it would certainly be very risky and unstable compared to the alternatives. Yet this is how many people choose to run their personal services businesses. If I were an investor, I’d think twice about investing in such a business — I’d be more likely to invest in their competitors.
Like it or not, you are self-employed. If you produce output and get paid for it, you’ve got a business. You are no more or less an entrepreneur than any established business owner.
Assessing your personal services business
How well is your personal services business performing? Are you getting a strong return on your investment? Are you seeing a nice increase in the rate of return?
What investments are you making to improve your business? Are you investing in training? Morale improvements? Productivity upgrades?
How does your business stack up against the competition? Are similar businesses outperforming you? Can you provide a better service at lower cost? Or are you such a perfect fit for what you do that you really don’t need to worry about competition?
Are you charging a fair price for a quality product or service, or are you bilking your customers and hoping they won’t notice?
Is your market expanding or contracting? Are your future prospects rosy or gloomy?
Are you doing a good job of marketing your business? Do new potential customers seek you out, eager to do business with you? Are you getting plenty of referrals and enjoying viral marketing? Or does your business wallow in relative obscurity?
Would you buy or invest in your business if someone else ran it? Given the current performance and expected future performance, would buying your business be a wise choice?
Do you like your business? Does it enable you to do interesting work, make a meaningful contribution to others, and enjoy an abundant lifestyle?
Whether you generate 1099, W2, or some other form of income matters only to the tax man. You are self-employed. You can attempt to yield control of your business to someone else, but you’re always stuck with full responsibility for the results.
December 6th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
[...] Over at StevePavlina.com there’s a good piece about prioritizing your own priorities. You Are Self-Employed. This concept first struck me while reading The War of Art, and it’s very useful. Too often I find myself taking the projects at work very seriously, and my personal goals get shoved to the wayside. That is not a balanced way to live, and the Libra I am chafes at the behavior. [...]
December 7th, 2007 at 11:45 am
[...] I just read Steve Pavlina’s article “You Are Self Employed.” Steve always does a great job of communicating ideas like the one in this article in a way that is clear and motivating. What I really like about Steve’s articles is that he does not try to paint an unreal rose-colored-glasses view of his subject matter like many motivational writers often do. In fact, instead of screaming “You can do it!” Steve often seem to say something more like, “You’re stupid if you don’t and here’s why.” He obviously cares about the quality of his work and the well-being of his readers. [...]
December 12th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
[...] Blogger Steve Pavlina wrote an article recently stating that “everyone is essentially self-employed and that even if you’re an employee.“ [...]
December 12th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
[...] One way of hacking your life (ewww that sounds…serial killer-esque…must remember not to use that ) is to alter the way you think about certain things, like your job. A recent article in stevepavlina.com shows this nicely. Essentially the key to advancement at work is to consider yourself self-employed, even if you actually work for someone else. Your business is you. You are providing services for that company, in the same way that you would if you worked freelance, except you use their office every day. [...]
December 13th, 2007 at 3:04 am
[...] Blooger Seteve Pavlina has written an excellent article: You Are Self-Employed. [...]
December 13th, 2007 at 3:20 am
[...] A few weeks ago, Steve reminded us that we are all truly self-employed. I was self-employed for a little while and I can say that being employed by a company is a far different proposition. The most notable differences are drawing regular paychecks and receiving benefits. The problem is that such stability can easily foster a sense of complacency and often undeserved submission to the company. All too often, we give up too much of what we are in order to hold tight to financial and professional stability. Imagine a business saying to its biggest customer, “We’re going to drop all our other customers and serve only you. Just tell us what you want done, and we’ll do it. Pay us whatever you think is a fair price. Invest in our growth however you see fit. Tell us when we can go on vacation. You command; we obey.” While it wouldn’t be impossible to run a business this way, it would certainly be very risky and unstable compared to the alternatives. Yet this is how many people choose to run their personal services businesses. If I were an investor, I’d think twice about investing in such a business — I’d be more likely to invest in their competitors. [...]
December 13th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
[...] Think of it as You Inc. Posted on December 13, 2007 in Planning, Skills by eliot In the last article I outlined theimportance of selling yourself via resume and interviews. This is obviously just a small part of the whole process and what you need to think about. You can look at yourself as your own mini company with several different departments like: marketing (resume/cover letter), training (college education/projects), PR (interviews/correspondence), etc. While we are going to go further in depth into all of these departments, blogger Steve Pavlina has an interesting article on the idea that You Are Self-Employed. He uses the analogy that your work is your product and your boss is your customer. Like it or not, you are self-employed. If you produce output and get paid for it, you’ve got a business. You are no more or less an entrepreneur than any established business owner. [...]
December 14th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
[...] In what sounds like quite a refreshing, alternative way of thinking about your work, Steve Pavlina suggests you view yourself as self employed even if you an employee of a company. If you view your work and home lives as separate entities and need a different perspective to revive your career ambitions, this could be it. [...]
December 26th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
[...] “Like it or not, you are self-employed. If you produce output and get paid for it, you’ve got a business. You are no more or less an entrepreneur than any established business owner.” [...]
December 30th, 2007 at 12:13 am
[...] While catching up on some of my own blog reading, I came across a post by Steve Pavlina called “You Are Self-Employed.” Along with Steve, I also heard this from Brian Tracy a while back, and it’s helped me to remember that, while I still choose to work as an employee at a “day job”, ultimately I’m the one providing a personal service for a sum of money. I’ve agreed to exchange my skill and time for money and benefits, and just because the IRS gets their cut first and it’s on a somewhat regular schedule, ultimately I’m the one providing the service. Steve also provides us with some excellent questions that we can ask ourselves that should help us evaluate and improve our personal services business. [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
[...] This lesson applies even if you’re an employee working for someone else. Remember that no matter who you work for, You Are Self-Employed. Are you fairly compensated and well-appreciated for your efforts, or are you suffering in an abusive relationship, working for a cynically minded employer who expects you to give, give, give without rewarding you in kind? Remember that it’s always your decision. The only one who can really abuse you is you… by failing to honor and love yourself fully. No one else will value your gifts and talents unless you value them yourself. Discuss this post in the Steve Pavlina forum. If you find this site helpful, please leave a donation for Steve so you can enjoy the spirit of giving too. [...]
May 10th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
[...] look at our jobs: namely, why do we even have one? Personal development genius Steve Pavlina explained: “Imagine a business saying to its biggest customer, “We’re going to drop all our other [...]
July 8th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
[...] self-employed” article, you should always see your career through an entrepreneurial lens. Steve Pavlina - You are self employed “The only true boss of your work is you. Any external boss is just a customer of your [...]