To quit my stable job to go self-employed?

[sgtz]

I’m horribly indecisive and get tunnel vision with certain ideas, so looking for some outsider perspective before I make a huge decision…

I’m a single mum to a toddler working for the NHS as a qualified healthcare professional. Band 5 with potential for promotion to band 6, but not sure I want the extra responsibility. Currently work 3 days a week. I also have a small business that I’ve run since DC was born, that makes me some decent extra income. I’m struggling with inflexibility with my employer when it comes to DC/childcare, and generally feeling like I have no work/life balance despite only working 3 days a week.

I’ve started doing some locum work remotely, which is very flexible and pays very well. There’s plenty of this work, albeit I am aware that it isn’t guaranteed. My AIBU is, am I being completely idiotic to give up such a stable and secure job with the NHS to go fully self-employed, relying on my locum work and small business? I’ve done the sums and on paper it should work out similar financially, especially as my tax return will be smaller when the self-employed income is my only income, rather than it being additional income on top of my wage.

I’m terrified to hand my notice in! On one hand, I’m thinking life is far too short to be miserable at work and barely have a life (I’m under no illusion that being self-employed will be bloody hard work too, but I hate working for other people!). On the other hand, the thought of giving up a reliable wage every month, decent pension, holiday pay etc, is making me question it. My role is fairly niche, but in high demand, so I have no doubt that I could get another job if I needed to…

Sorry, totally convoluted thoughts coming out but happy to hear opinions or if there’s anything I haven’t considered. I have a fairly long notice period so ideally will decide sooner rather than later…

“Horribly indecisive” and “self employed” don’t tend to go well together

stick with employed

Your first sentence does not bode well for self employment. But if you are unhappy in your current job, then find a different one.

Stick with your wage and pension.

What sort of savings buffer do you have & does your child’s father contribute to their upbringing?

You would have to make sure you protect yourself. If you were to become ill and not be able to work, how would you support yourself? Can you afford to take time off for holiday? It's all those little things you need to consider too

What happens when the work dries up?

In your situation I wouldn’t. What if you get ill and can’t work? I think you’d need have a good amount of savings and / or a partner with a good income, as back up

@Aprilx fair! Although I’ve been running a fairly successful business for 2 years now, so maybe it’s a field where indecisiveness isn’t the worst quality to have!

I think the replies will overwhelmingly tell you to stay employed because that is what the vast majority of people do. However, self-employment doesn't mean a little cake business or whatever and can be a sensible career choice. My husband has been self-employed since university and has probably the most flexibility of anyone I know in terms of going to see children's assemblies etc while still pulling in a professional level wage. I think it very much depends on your business but if you can supplement it with locum work, it's certainly worth seriously considering. I don't think MN is the place to get decent advice though!

@cinnamonfrenchtoast I can’t see the locum work going anywhere due to the nature of it. My own business can be seasonal, but thinking I could supplement it with more locum work when it’s quiet, and vice versa when it’s busy. If it dried up altogether, I would go back to employment.

Locum work as a HCP when you’re not running your own business is very different.
mug depends who easy it would be to get back into the nhs if the locum work dries up.

I’ve done mainly locum work for years as I find it really flexible.

I'd stay until the kids are older. The pension benefits are too god unless the Locum deal offers this too. Also use unpaid dependent leave if required.

I'm self employed and the volatility is horrible you have to be really organised and live well within your means.

You need to make significantly more money in a self-employed capacity to have a similar quality of life, because you need to account for your own pension, holiday, sickness...

@Alphabetica thank you. I think I need to do some more sums and some worst-case scenarios and take it from there. The flexibility whilst my DC is so little is really what’s pulling me towards it at the moment!

Will you make as much when you factor in pension and other benefits.

Don't just compare take home with take home.

Also when I saw the title I was intrigued to see what job you had in a stable that you were now going to do self employed! Wondered if you had a big field or something

Do you have savings because if you are ill, go on holiday, or have a few bad weeks with sales, you absolutely need some savings.

Look online about tax when you’re self employed. You will need to save tax and NI along the way, otherwise you’ll be in a very difficult position when your tax bill comes. Plus remember you pay tax “on Account”, if you don’t know what that means, Google it or speak to an accountant.

My dh left a very well paid, secure job to set up his own business, he was unhappy in his job and I supported him all the way. Life is too short to be miserable everyday but just make sure you have some money behind you and understand tax etc.

@LizzieSiddal thank you. I’ve been self-employed alongside employment for a number of years, so luckily quite familiar with tax and that side of things. I’m hoping to secure enough locum work to make up my wages at the moment, and then any extra would come from the business. At the moment doing the locum work, plus the business, plus employment isn’t leaving me any better off so something needs to give.

Can you not keep your employment and try to make that more flexible?
Three days per week offers flexability in itself.
Is it the childcare that needs changing?

Maybe you could keep two days of secure employment. The dropping of one day might be all you need to try the other options for a while.

Honestly, if you need the guaranteed income from self employment, that does not go hand in hand with being flexible for a child. You can't have both. Don't work, don't get paid. You will still have a boss, in fact you'll have a lot of bosses, your customers.
Your idea of running a successful business is a little warped. You aren't, it's a side hussle. There's nothing like the stress levels thrown at you when you find you haven't got enough work coming in and you've got mouths to feed and bills to pay.

I say go for it OP. Single parent in a not dissimilar profession. I started locumming almost 2 years ago and I've never regretted it. I have to turn down work on a regular basis. I choose when I take my holiday rather than fighting for Xmas etc, which as you'll know as a single parent is not really optional since there is no childcare open. Don't have to deal with 'appraisals' or any other BS, and I certainly don't do any unpaid overtime like permanent staff are expected to. Just go in, do my job and go home and send my invoice. I love being self employed. The initial leap was a bit scary but I now have enough clients to keep me in full time work 52 weeks a year if I want.

Also a lot of people mentioning sick pay. Lots of jobs don't pay sick pay above SSP, although I know the NHS does.

You’d need to crunch the numbers - get a 6 month savings buffer before you do. Do some extra locum work to do that - if that means you need to wait for free nursery hours to kick in then wait and save. You will need this in case of your or your child’s sickness, a work drought, holiday pay.

really check that the work isn’t going to dry up (ie is there a recruitment drive in the offing that will reduce bank work)

really check the money with a financial adviser - yes you will pay less tax but you will also won’t have a pension so you may find you have to put so much extra in it isn’t worth it

It’s not intrinsically a terrible idea, but I’m not sure the finances will stack up - in which case you’d be better looking for another job that works better

@DelilahBucket I’m not sure if you read the post properly, but the business will supplement the locum work, which I can do remotely from home. It’s essentially the same work that I do in an employed capacity, with the caveat that I can do it from home much more flexibly. I should have probably worded that better - I am looking to replace my stable, employed job solely with locum work, with the business topping that income up which it already does with my employed income.

@Readthebooks thank you, that’s really helpful. I didn’t want to be too outing, but my profession sounds similar to yours - there is a real shortage of qualified workers yet so much work, so I’m not massively concerned that I’d struggle for locum work if I needed extra.

@user1492757084 it’s not just the hours I’m working, it’s limited childcare options, a commute that makes the nursery drop off and pickup really tight time-wise with not much in the way of support locally, micromanagement, no real challenge or stimulation at work, office politics, being made to feel like a pisstaker for needing time off when my DC is ill. I’m starting to really loathe it. I can look for another job, but I want to explore if self-employment would work, at the very least, in the meantime.