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Self Employed, But Not By Choice

By Cathy Moran

One of the thorniest problems I’m confronting in the Great Recession is what advice to offer to those who are self employed only because there is no option.

In the past year, I’ve seen half a dozen folks whose small business isn’t really making it.  In better times, I would have urged them to acknowledge that, close up shop and move on.

But in our present economy, what is there to move on to?

Over at ConsumerLedger, my buds and I have been writing about self employment:

  • choosing the form of the business
  • do’s and don’ts for the self employed
  • planning for self employment taxes
  • staying out of tax troubles
  • filling all the roster positions as an entrepreneur

But we haven’t cracked the problem of self employment as a last resort.

The handwriting on the wall suggests that the economy of the future will involve more freelancers, project based employment, and multiple career changes.

Networking will be essential to find work and budgeting essential to carry us between jobs. We can teach those skills to the young; it’s a lot harder to change the mind set and skill set of the middle aged.

I’ve gotten good at talking people into surrendering the overly expensive, underwater house. I’m clueless about how to help the involuntarily self employed.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized

About Cathy Moran

I'm a veteran bankruptcy lawyer and consumer advocate in California's Silicon Valley. I write, teach, and speak in the hopes of expanding understanding of how bankruptcy can make life better in a family's future.

Comments

  1. Ron Drescher says

    January 12, 2013 at 12:56 pm

    This is a tough topic, but not impossible. My advice:

    1. Be flexible. You can’t be all things to all people, but you should avoid pigeonholing yourself into esoteric specialties.

    2. Keep your overhead low. Don’t take on debt or fixed expenses unless absolutely necessary.

    3. Be public. Your phone won’t just start ringing. You have to relentless market yourself.

    4. Stay positive. Yes, the going will be tough much of the time. You need to keep pushing during those times.

    Great blog Cathy!

Trackbacks

  1. Help for the Involuntarily Self-Employed | North Carolina Debt Law Blog says:
    November 3, 2011 at 1:12 pm

    […] a job and feel like they have no other choice. Unfortunately, many of these people end up in the office of a bankruptcy lawyer when they go broke, or a divorce lawyer when their spouse has had […]

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Soapbox is a companion site to Bankruptcy in Brief, where I try to be largely explanatory and even handed (Note I said “try”).

Here, I allow myself to tell stories and express strong opinions. We dig deeper into how to consider bankruptcy and navigate a bankruptcy case.

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