The many sides of self-employment

Over the years I have worked on many projects for a variety of employers. Living and working in Toronto, Canada's financial hub, the majority of this work has been for large corporations - which means spending the day in a cubicle. It seems so cliche to diss the cube farm, but diss it I must, because I have forsaken the corporate world and all it's "perks" in favour of the more challenging, lower paying, lonely life of the stay-at-home worker.

The main deciding factor in this transition was my preference for programming with Excel. Many corporate roles entail Excel use, and some even require macro programming skills, but I never managed to find a full-time position where I could create power macros and "genius" spreadsheets all day long, which is something I truly love to do. So I opted for the next best thing: becoming a consultant and taking on jobs for business at large.

Now I get to say exactly what I will work on, where and when it happens, and for whom. I can broaden or constrict my "sphere of acceptability" as necessary, according to how lean things get. I get to work on different projects all the time, and nobody tells me what to wear. The result: I never have to sit at a desk, staring at a clock, praying for the end of the working day. I also get to avoid commuting by subway, dull and insufferable co-workers, sick building syndrome, elevator news, galoshes, food courts, florescent lights, staff meetings, doorway smokers, kiosks, falling glass and noon-time birthday parties.

Sound like a dream? Not so fast... I think I already alluded to lower-pay - when you bill by the hour, you really only get paid for hours worked, unless you're corrupt, in which case you won't keep your customers for long. I once had a friend who worked for a pretty cool software company. He was bragging about his unusually large salary and how he got paid every week, no matter what he did or when he showed up. His most startling claim was that he got paid more in the time it took him to go to the toilet than the food had cost! If all you care about is money, perhaps this is the way to go. But I learned some time ago that "quality of life" is really the goal, and since you spend a big chunk of your life working, "work" needs to be quality time too.

I've been working out of a home office for three years now, and I'm very satisfied with my decision. But I am coping with a few issues, such as having nobody to talk to, and no manager to enforce deadlines or check my output. As a programmer, some of the skills I now possess came from working and interacting with other programmers. As a one-man show, I really miss that peer review, and rely on web forums and email as a pale substitute. (I also catch myself talking to the cat a bit too often, but that may be a symptom of something else.) Another thing I miss: all the free software and hardware you get when you work for someone else's company. And don't forget the added burden of marketing yourself, record-keeping and tax filing. Then there's that start-up period when you're building your business, and you have long stretches of time with no billable hours to show for it. Those can be very discouraging indeed.

There are quite a few challenges with the work-from-home, work for yourself lifestyle - it's risky and sometimes frustrating, but I have no regrets. If you are able to do it, (perhaps with the help of a partner who is also employed,) it is amazing how much simpler and pleasant life can be. Good luck to anyone who decides to make the leap.  Now, if only I could find a way to move the family out to the country...