Self-Employment: Finding the Financial Balance

When you start off as a self-employed individual, finding those first few customers is such a high that you want to do anything and everything you can to keep them. You provide great pricing, work tirelessly to please, then one day it suddenly hit's you -- you're now losing money doing work for them. There are other jobs that you could be doing that would earn you more, but because of your loyalty, you have continued to produce for these clients. Then you feel bad, realizing that it's time to move on to greener pastures, and if these initial customers want your continued services, as they say in Chicago politics, they're going to have to "pay to play."

This was my experience at least. But let me explain more about my self-employment journey and how I struggled to find the financial balance between what was good for me and what was good for my customers.

Spreading the Word

I still remember back to the time when I was groveling for any venue to promote my ramblings. I was desperate, and I was happy to write 400 word articles for a quick two or three dollar payout in the hopes of obtaining just a little exposure.

This however, was definitely not why I left my job in the hotel business, but it was worth it to me to build experience and in hopes that such articles would create a foundation of work upon which I could market myself.

My groveling eventually paid off, and someone finally did notice me. Then someone else noticed me, and someone else, and soon I felt like I might actually make something of all my time and effort.

Building Loyalty

So once I had a few customers on line, it was time to suck it up, do some more groveling, and ensure those customers would be coming back for more. Eventually, as these customers began to realize that I was contestant and reliable, they began to grow their orders. Any time they offered a bit of criticism or asked for something different, I was sure to jump on it immediately and ensure that I conformed as best I could to what they were requesting so that they knew they could count on me and continued to utilize my services.

Work, Work, Work

Then, suddenly, I found that I had more work than I could handle. I was actually being overwhelmed, and at first this was a great thing. I was exhilarated and could not believe that I was so busy.

This feeling lasted for several months; then I started to get burned out. The business was there, but there was so much work for such little pay that it was killing my drive to produce. There are only so many hours in the day and one person can only produce so much.

Finally, it hit me; I had more work than I could handle, but not the right kind of work. Since I couldn't hire an employee or an assistant, I had to start narrowing down my work load based upon what was best for me.

Choosing the Right Work

So now I was at a juncture. I had to begin narrowing down my work. I did this based upon several factors. Since my business is writing, the first of these factors was the chance for residual income. Being able to count upon certain work for passive income opportunities is huge when they become income producing products of their own that can act as income streams for the foreseeable future.

The second factor was loyalty. While income and pricing are important, I owe where I am now to the people who gave me a shot, and while I might have to reduce my work with them a bit from time to time, I still try to meet their needs while bearing mine in mind as well. Mixed into this second factor is price. While loyalty is important, business is business and I'm obviously going to look a bit more favorably upon those who appreciate and pay a bit more for my work.

The third and final factor is rights. Retaining the rights to my work can allow me to resell it multiple times, thereby increasing the amount I glean from each produced product.

Considering the way in which you will determine what work to pursue and what work you will have to forgo can be important to making the most of your self-employment efforts and income. Making such decisions can be tough but instrumental in succeeding in the self-employment world.

More From This Contributor:

Living Like Each Paycheck is My Last

How One Page Simplified My Financial Life

How I Maintain My Financial Willpower

Disclaimer:

The author is not a licensed financial professional. The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. For financial advice, readers should consult a licensed financial advisor. Any action taken by the reader due to the information provided in this article is at the reader's discretion.