Quiz

Quiz: Would being self-employed suit you?

Should you take the leap and become your own boss? Take our quiz to find out

How often have you sat in traffic on the way to work and dreamt of a morning where you could be nursing your first coffee, sitting in your pyjamas ready for 9am and booting up your laptop from your bed? Every working mother dreams of the delights of being self-employed but there are pitfalls to this life of luxury - for starters being self-employed doesn't mean you work less and it's not always easier. Take our quiz to see for yourself if it's right for you...

1

You're lucky enough to start off your self-employed career with a nice month-long contract under your belt, which takes up a lot of time. Whilst working on this do you

Put all your effort into doing a good job and enjoy shutting down your computer at 5pm to make dinner
Work extra hard this first month, sending out emails and making contacts with potential clients/customers to secure future work
Halve the fee with someone else so you can enjoy more time at home with the kids, which is why you went self-employed in the first place

2

You've got an important deadline coming up, but every room in the house is a complete tip and your mother-in-law is due round in the morning. Do you:

Sweep the mess off your desk and shut the door behind you, blanking out all the chores. This is a work day, chores will just have to be done later
Spend your morning working and take breaks every couple of hours to tidy the bedroom, fill the washing machine or run the Hoover around
Email the client and inform them you'll get the proposal/document over to them by Monday and wish them a happy weekend. Shut down your computer and put on those rubber gloves

3

You've been paid well for a contract that's just come to an end. You've got a few small things lined up but nothing that's lucrative enough to generate a monthly income. Do you

Calculate how many months’ bills you can cover with your fee and place a sum in a separate bank account to ensure that if the situation remains as it is, you've got everything covered
Pay a little extra towards the bills this month, to give you a bit of leeway next month, and go shopping
Indulge yourself with that handbag/dress/shoes you've wanted for ages as a congratulations for being a successful self-employed woman

4

You've become self-employed and registered with the inland revenue, meaning you'll need to put aside all your own tax ready for your self-assessment in January. Do you

Put all your invoices, VAT receipts, travel cards, phone bills, utility bills in a large shoe box to make sure they're all together and place one third of each fee in a separate bank account for tax
Keep records of everything on the computer but only put money for tax aside when you can spare it
Make sure you've got a good accountant lined up and not worry about it until January

5

You've told all your friends that you now work from home but you keep getting calls asking you to babysit/come over for a coffee/come over for lunch. Do you:

Gently remind friends that a lunch break is only an hour and even though you work from home, you're still working
You love the fact that you can now be involved in all the catch ups you missed out on when you worked in an office so you don't mind at all
Take more long lunches than you should but only babysit during the day if a friend is really stuck

Subscribe

to our magazines

and email newsletters

subscription

Community

Forums

patali
Sunday 8th November 2009
In Prima
By patali
8/11/2009 11:06:22 AM
Den54
'VIRTUAL' WEDDING EVENING INVITATION
In Prima
By Den54
8/11/2009 11:06:00 AM

View all forums

Most recent members

Peter J
8/11/2009 10:52 AM GST
lulubelle2433
8/11/2009 10:52 AM GST
 

Competitions & promotions