The Realities of Being Self-Employed

The Realities of Being Self-Employed. Friends & Family Sacrifice too

Aside from working on the weekend – or perhaps because of it – many self-employed workers state that they have had to miss family events or social engagements because of work. The good news is that 22.2 percent of respondents say they only miss out a few times a year. The bad news is a very close 19.4 percent reported they miss out every week. In addition, 18 percent say they miss out every other month, 16.4 percent once a month, 7.2 percent once every 2 months and 16.8 percent say they never miss an event.

It appears that being self-employed not only requires personal sacrifices, but a very understanding group of family and friends. The most common event to miss is a friend’s birthday (49.76 percent), followed by a spouse/partner’s birthday (38.22 percent), and a child’s birthday (37.50 percent). For more once-in-a-lifetime events, the attendance numbers are a bit better: only a little under 30 percent of respondents said they’ve missed out on a wedding due to work, while 34.86 percent and 33.65 percent have missed a reunion or vacation, respectively. Over 6 percent of respondents deserve a gold star – they report to not missing any of these events due to work.

Rest and Relaxation are hard to come by

Perhaps one of the biggest sacrifices that self-employed individuals make is to their own health and wellness. When asked if work keeps them up at night, 23.4 percent stated often or several times per week. This was followed by rarely at 17 percent, once a month at 16.8 percent, regularly at 16.6 percent, always (every night) at 13.2 percent and never at 13 percent. So, it would appear that if you’re a freelancer you can expect a few fitful nights of sleep at least.

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However, vacation appears to be a priority for many entrepreneurs. Over 31 percent (31.8) of respondents stated they take a vacation once a year and more than a quarter (25.51%) said they only work occasionally while on vacation.