For many people, the path to self-employment is one of the most important turning points in life. It is the beginning of a new phase of life in which it is important to realise one’s own ideas, pursue one’s own ideals and ultimately take responsibility for one’s own actions.
The path to self-employment consists of 3 phases:
- The self-discovery
- The business idea
- The implementation
Each of these phases aims to answer specific questions. Step by step, you will be able to make progress towards becoming self-employed.
In the following, you will learn more about the individual phases and you will find out which questions you need to ask yourself on your way to self-employment. As every business project is different and the extent of the necessary preparation also varies greatly, only examples of possible questions can be shown here.
Phase 1: Self-discovery – Who am I and why do I take the path to self-employment?
In the first phase, the first thing to do is to take stock of yourself. This assessment will later help you to align your business idea with your personality and skills.
You should ask yourself the following questions in the first phase:
- Why do I want to become self-employment?
- What is the goal of self-employment? Where do I want to be in 5 years?
- What am I good at? What have I already gained experience with?
- What am I not good at?
- What do I enjoy? What not?
- …
Phase 2: The business idea – What does the business idea look like?
The second phase is about finding out exactly what you want to do and how you want to earn your living later in self-employment.
You should deal with these questions during this stage:
- Which products do I want to sell? Which services do I want to offer?
- To whom do I want to sell my products? (target group)
- How do I want to win customers?
- What do I bind customers in the long term and generate follow-up business?
- What challenges does my business idea have and how do I tackle them?
- Which competitors are there and how do I differentiate myself from them?
- What everyday tasks need to be mastered in the implementation of my business idea?
- What starting capital do I need? How do I get this capital?
- What price do I have to charge for my services?
- What should the company stand for? (mission statement)
- …
Phase 3: The implementation – What is all necessary to implement the business plan?
Finally, the third phase is about how you can put the business idea into practice. The result of this phase is a concrete todo list that you can use to make the path to self-employment a reality.
In the final step you will have to deal with the following questions:
- What specific tasks need to be completed for my concrete business project before I can start self-employment?
- Which trade licences are required?
- What should the company be called?
- Which legal structure is the most suitable for my company?
- What knowledge do I need to acquire before I can start?
- Can I manage all the tasks by myself or do I need external support (e.g. from accountants, agencies, employees)?
- …
