Self-employed means self-empowered, busting the myths around working for yourself.

01 July 2020

Maybe you’ve always known what you wanted to do, but for most of the population, it’s not that easy, with lockdown measures eased most of us are in the process of returning to the 9 am till 5 pm daily grind, dealing with never-ending deadlines and living for the weekend. But would we ever leave this world to become self-employed? We’ve all considered it or even daydreamed about it while sitting at our desk, but what’s stopping us?

In our current climate filled with bloggers, influencers and freelancers it really has never been easier to become self-employed and working for yourself especially as a personal trainer is becoming an ever-aspirational career path. It’s exciting, empowering and liberating, you can carve your own path, do what you really love and make a difference. I don’t think anyone would be sad to wave goodbye to office politics or their daily commute, but what would be replacing this? The world of self-employment has a lot of noise surrounding it, but what’s true and what’s a myth? Here at PT Academy, we wanted to bust the top 5 myths around being your own boss.

You’ll never get a mortgage- FALSE

This is probably one of the most common myths, and we’re happy to say it’s false. Self-employed people have exactly the same rights as anyone else when buying a house, just like everybody else you’ll need a deposit and to show your financial records. In fact, now there are lenders who specialise in mortgages only for people who are self-employed.

You get to do what you love- TRUE

What are you passionate about? What gets you up in the morning? One of the greatest parts of being self-employed is that you get to do something you love, every single day! Whether that’s helping people change their lives through fitness? Designing websites? Or writing blog articles (just like this one). You’re completely in charge of your own workload, and not only that but you get to share this passion with other people, bonus!

You get to spend all day in your PJs - FALSE

Spending all day in your PJs, watching daytime tv and being practically hooked up to a drip of Yorkshire tea, will very rarely be anyone’s reality, however, as a full-time personal trainer, you do get to wear leggings and joggers to work! Also, not having fixed working hours has serious benefits. You can say goodbye to the rush hour commute and managing children, friends, plans and your life can be done in a totally relaxed and flexible manner.

You can choose who you work with - TRUE

We’ve all been there, the jobs great the salaries good, but there’s that one co-worker, or client or even boss that we just don’t click with. Issues with colleagues and managers can really affect working environments and taint your everyday work experiences. Well, the good news is when your self-employed, and in particular if you’re a self-employed personal trainer you can literally choose your clients and only work with the people you want to. So wave goodbye to that dreaded that awkward kitchen cuppa or meeting with your boss you’ve been putting off all week.

You’ll have no job stability - FALSE

This is another common myth when it comes to being self-employed, people tend to assume as you’re not employed by a company your job and career are less secure. The reality is quite the opposite, as you’re not employed by anyone else no one can fire you, or end your employment in any way, also you won’t be subject to surprise restructures or redundancies, you’ll always know exactly where you stand.