Finding a job has never been harder for students – with talk of the UK hitting a triple dip recession, employment figures are likely to take a nose dive once again. If you’ve graduated but you’re still sitting around applying for jobs like there’s no tomorrow, why not think about sacking off the job search and creating your own job? An increasing number of graduates are now doing this as the job market has little room for new entrants. In this post we’re going to look at some top tips for graduates to follow when it comes to self-employment.
Decide Which Route You Want to Take
When it comes to making your own job there are a few options: you can either become a freelancer and work for yourself, or you can scale things up by starting a business with the view to employing others. It’s entirely up to you which route you take – some people will be happy just working for themselves, whilst others will relish the challenge of starting a business from scratch.
Play to Your Strengths
When starting a business or looking to become self-employed it’s really important that you play to your strengths. As someone who’s self-employed, you need to look at your skill set and see if there’s anything in there that you can “sell”. You might decide you’re a dab hand at web design and become a freelance designer online; or you might decide that you’re amazing at washing cars, therefore start offering a mobile car washing service in the local area. Becoming self employed is all about finding something you’re good at and something you enjoy, then monetising it.
The same is true of business – if you’re looking to kick off a large venture it’s important that you build a business based on something you’re good at, or something you’re knowledgeable about. If your hobby is fishing, for example, you might look into starting an online fishing shop selling rods, reels and tackle, or if your hobby happens to be hair dressing, you might open a barber shop.
Make a Plan
Whether you’re going down the route of freelancing or starting a business, you need to make a plan. Some people get really caught-up in business planning – so caught-up that they never actually get out there and put the plan into action. A business plan shouldn’t be like a weight on your shoulders – it should take a couple of days at the most to whip up, and it’s there to establish some structure and discourse to the way in which you go about starting a business, or starting out as a freelancer.
The very idea of starting a business or becoming self-employed instils fear into graduates – but it really shouldn’t. If no employers have been forthcoming in your job search, it makes sense to look into the possibility of creating your own job instead – after all, what’s better than working on your own terms?
ABOUT AUTHOR:
Adam graduated from the University of Manchester in 2010, with a degree in Economics. Since then, he has started his own digital media agency which provides inbound marketing services to clients in London, UK. He is also developing Graduates.co.uk,
Image Credit: Employmentsought
