5 Reasons To Teach and Be Your Own Boss
Imagine waking up every day, working whatever hours you set yourself and not having to answer to anyone... that's living the dream, right? Imagine if we could all do what we love to do every day and somehow convert that to earning a living. Here are my top 5 reasons why you should work for yourself and start your own music teaching business. These reasons are based on my own experience and things that have benefited my life since I went out on my own and started working for myself.
- You Get To Set Your Own Hours If you don’t like working mornings, or weekends, no need to worry. You can choose when you take students. If you don't want to work a Monday ever again, then don't. You are in complete control of every aspect of your working schedule. When I first started, I was working every hour under the sun. If there was an hour spare, I'd look to fill a gap with some more guitar lessons. Once I got to a point where I was bringing in steady income, I was able to then look at where I could possibly keep some time free. I didn't actively remove students from slots, but when certain slots became free, I chose to keep them free.
- Work Life Balance One of the best things about working for yourself is having a work/life balance that suits you. You get to choose how much of it is work and how much is life. Sure, you'll probably end up working more hours than you would if you had a "normal" job, but because you're having so much fun you won't even notice. These days, I get much more satisfaction knowing that I could be working one minute, then I could pop out of the house to do something or go somewhere and then pick up where I left off later that evening.
- Free Time for Other Projects When you work a normal job, you are on a set range of hours and often after a long day or week you don't feel up to doing much. When you work for yourself you have headroom to take on other projects. You might have a side business or project that you're indulging in or perhaps you play in a band, having the flexibility of a non-standard working week allows you to dig into every creative avenue that you want to and still keep your income stream steady. For me, it allowed me to get started on some song writing and performing projects that I'd had in the pipeline for a while. Once I had that extra scope to get creative, it was amazing.
- In Charge of Your Own Income If you need to earn more, you can open some slots and take on more students. You are in control of what you work and what you earn. The only downside here is that being self-employed doesn't entitle you to the usual perks of an employer like a set wage, paid time off and holiday/sick leave. Any time you take is at your own expense and your wages can vary from month to month, but you should be able to easily get yourself to a minimum benchmark to cover all eventualities.
- Freedom Freedom is great. You're now out there in the wild doing your own thing and loving it. There is no boss waiting to tell you that you've done something wrong or to make you work late. Everything that happens from here on in is because you've chosen it to happen. You've made the decision to take that job or keep that day free. You're in total control of your own calendar and every hour of the day is now your own.
If you're about the take the leap, enjoy it. It could be the best thing you ever do.