British Boom in Self Employment

We are finally coming out of the financial meltdown, or at least this is what is reported in the news. The damage that was caused was so substantial that it may well be a long road to getting back to a steadfast financial state, which of course will still have a knock on effect to small and large businesses alike. Across the British news channels of late, reports have been coming in that look specifically at how the financial crisis affected businesses and reporting on a boom in those of us turning to self-employment. It is obvious to see why in many ways; choosing to be your own boss means that you have the control over your career, you can work within a sector of your choice and take back the overall power of your finances. The question is, is this boom a good or bad thing to the overall economy and does this even matter when it is creating stable businesses across the country.

A recent article on the BBC website, stated that as of the end of 2013 almost 4.3 million people had turned to starting either their own business or working in a self-employed capacity. This is a huge increase considering that the climb was not great in the early 2000’s, so the trend in turning to self-employment was as a direct impact of the financial meltdown of 2008. It looks as though, between the years 2008-09 there was a sharp rise of around 15% of people turning to starting up themselves, which then dramatically rose by 60% from 2011 until now. Currently, when this is broken down, it means that for every 7 people, 1 will be self-employed.

So what has the impact of this been when we consider the unemployment rate in the UK. If these people had not chosen to start out on their own, the figures released by government would be a lot worse than they actually are. There are worries though, as turning to self-employment as a means of getting employment seems to have been the only choice for millions of people across the country, showing just how severe the state of unemployment has been within the UK. The trend in turning to self-employment shows no sign of slowing down in 2014 either, I do believe that some of this is down to us taking back the control in our lives ad equally turning to self-employment can help other sectors. for example, the more people that turn to starting small businesses of their own, the more will be hiring accountants in Manchester, London, Liverpool etc. This is only going to create a positive ripple effect across the economy.

So, if there has been such a rise of late, what are the down sides if any? In terms of turning to self-employment, the only down side is that you will have to start out within recovering markets. This is no easy feat, when some major companies have failed; you may find yourself working twice as hard to stay afloat. However this seems a small price to pay for the flexibility and entrepreneurial stance that the UK seems to be creating for itself. There have been reports of late, that the sudden rise in self-employment is proof that the UK has not cracked the problem of unemployment yet, which i would have to agree with. This does not mean that turning to the self-employed market is a bad thing. As more and more of us do, it is becoming very clear that this is a great choice for many of us.