One-Person-Enterprises -series-2

Sideline entrepreneurship
Self-employment as side job option is to be disregarded issue in third world countries. Despite this it holds a lot of potential for individual self-realisaztion, job and social safeguarding as well as soft entry strategies into entrepreneurship. Self-employment has changed considerably in the last few years.
The popular notion of a businessperson - typically a man - at the peak of his career making use of years of workplace experience to launch his own enterprise and employ others no longer describes conditions for many. Self-employed labor is becoming increasingly diverse. The proportion of female workers in this category is
increasing. From 1990 to 1998, the number of self-employed women rose by more than 50%, from 591,000 to 891,000. In 1998, 13.7% of women in the labour market in Canada were self-employed, and more than 35% of self-employed people were women. The majority of these (59%) were between the ages of 20 and 45.

The types of work done by those who are self-employed are also changing. The vast majority of self-employed jobs created from 1990 to 1998 (75%) were non-incorporated businesses without paid employees. In 1998, 55% of self-employed jobs fell within this category, and more than three out of four self-employed women had a job of this type.

The quality of self-employment jobs can leave much to be desired. While self-employment can potentially result in a good job, a significant portion of the self-employed, particularly women without employees, are at the low end of the scale in the job market. In 1995, the before-tax average revenue of persons whose main source of income was self-employment was $30,800, or 91% of the average income of salaried employees. Those without employees earned even less, about 68% of the average income of salaried employees. Nearly half of the self-employed made less than $20,000

in 1995, while the proportion of salaried workers with similar low earnings stood at only 25%. Among the self-employed without employees, 55% earned less than $20,000. In addition, the gap between the earnings of men and women was greater among the self-employed than among other employees. For full-time work, self-employed women received 64% of the average revenue of self-employed men, compared to a figure of 73% among salaried employees.

what about investigating the possibility of entering into a partnership with a company that does business across Canada as Contractor or Employee? Do you know how important are credentials/education?

For information on other individual occupations, check out explore types of jobs. below some Self-employment common areas of work

Information technology
Home computers, small businesses who cannot afford full-time IT people and organisations which need to augment their computer staff for different projects present fantastic opportunities for those who want to be self-employed. Job roles include:

IT consultant;
IT trainer;
Web designer.
Opportunities for new graduates are reasonable, especially in web design/development and IT training, but less so in contracting.

The artsGraduates in fine art, craft, visual and design disciplines

sometimes become self-employed by choice, more often through necessity. Examples of jobs include:

Graphic designer;
Illustrator;
Printmaker;
Metalwork/silversmith designer.
Income from sales and commissions may not be enough to live off.

Many people take part-time jobs to support their practice.

Health and exercise
This category consists of:

practitioners who could stay within the National Health Service (NHS) (check NHS Careers) but prefer to work for themselves, all or part of the time;those outside the mainstream health service who combine part-time

NHS work and private referrals;
those providing complementary treatments;
those offering sports related therapies.
The range of jobs is wide, for example:

Dentist;
Counsellor;
Osteopath;
Podiatrist/chiropodist;
Sports therapist.
It can take time to build up a practice. Jobs covered by the Health Professions Council (HPC) usually require a year in the NHS before setting up on your own.

The mediaA significant number of those working in the broadcast and printed word industries are self-employed, freelance or on short term
contracts. It is common to have to ‘pitch’ for work. Job areas include:

Film/video editor;
Magazine journalist;
Make-up artist;
Runner, broadcasting/film/video;
Writer.
Talented graduates can progress rapidly in this area. For others, it is an uncertain process, accompanied by unpaid work, unemployment or under-employment.

The performing artsSelf-employment is the ‘norm’ for all performers and some technicians. They need to be pro-active, approaching venues or putting together ensembles. Examples of jobs include:

Actor;
Musician;
Theatre stage manager.
Luck and being in the right place at the right time can count as much as talent and hard work, but getting a foot on the ladder could be a lengthy process.

Business and the lawSelf-employed consultants provide expertise across a variety of

commercial services. Locum work (short-term cover for time-bound periods) is also possible. Job roles include:

Accountant - chartered accountant; chartered certified accountant;

chartered management accountant; chartered public finance

accountant;
Barrister;
Human resources officer;
Management consultant.
It is rare, but not unknown, to make an impact without a previous

professional background.