Self-employment: is it for you?

Many business owners will agree self-employment can be a path to personal and financial growth.

As of June 2020, Nova Scotia had 32,329 small businesses (1 to 99 employees) in operation. Starting and owning a business is a very personal endeavour as businesses are built on the entrepreneur’s values, beliefs, personality, skills and abilities. That being said, self-employment doesn’t come without its challenges. It isn’t for everyone and there are a certain set of personality traits shown to have entrepreneurial potential.

Being self-employed, a person may feel he/she can exercise more control over daily life compared to working for someone else. On the flip side, most entrepreneurs must wear many hats and, at the end of the day, the success or failure of their business depends on them. That pressure can be consuming, making most entrepreneurs feel that they are “always on” - leading to a great push-pull feeling between personal and work life.

Add to that, there are ups and downs in most businesses, and the pressures of making a business succeed can be extra challenging.

Take for example, the current challenge of COVID and its repercussions. This is an exceptional time for many Nova Scotian businesses. The good is that succeeding through such challenges helps to build confidence, gives the entrepreneur a sense of autonomy and often there are financial rewards.

Even failing through such challenges brings lessons and growth opportunities. Often, some of our best lessons come with failures, so ultimately, they aren’t failures.

A number of traits have been identified for entrepreneurial spirit. Those characteristics are:

Goal orientation: determination in reaching goals

Leadership: the desire and ability to manage, control, and lead

Adaptability: the ability to perceive change and to adapt

Need for achievement: the drive to succeed

Need for self-empowerment: the need to realize oneself through work and to make it enjoyable, satisfying and interesting in addition to helping realize financial goals

Innovation: curiosity and creativity for new ideas, methods, products, etc.

Flexibility: the ability to go with the flow and change and modify as necessary

Autonomy: the need for freedom and independence

Add to that, in our experience, passion and a certain level of tolerance for risk are also important to the success of an entrepreneur.

Ultimately, when it comes to self-employment, there is no magic formula for success and whether or not it’s the right path for an individual. Success depends on a multitude of factors from the actual business concept to the environment in which the business is developed, and ultimately to the person behind it all. Most often it’s the person behind it all that can make or break a business idea.

If you are self-employed, or thinking of starting a business, Acadia Entrepreneurship Centre offers a variety of services and training for entrepreneurs. The organization has been working with small businesses for more than 30 years and have offices in Wolfville, Bridgewater and Liverpool. The centre can be contacted at 902-585-1180.

Acadia Entrepreneurship

Centre helps entrepreneurs strengthen rural Nova Scotia through business counselling, advisory services and workshops. In Lunenburg and Queens Counties, AEC also supports start-up businesses through the Self-Employment program funded by Employment Nova Scotia. Offices are located in Wolfville, Bridgewater and Liverpool. Please call 902-585-1180.