People often say that they wish they could just "clone" themselves so they could deal with all the obligations that they have in the day. My friend who works from home and wears at least three professional hats complains that he needs an assistant but that there's no way he could find someone who'd be able to just do all the administrative tasks he has to do without constantly interrupting him. So he spends ridiculous amounts of time filing, following up, calling, mailing, fixing and so on, instead of actually working. In a regular office these sorts of tasks are usually divided and nobody just does everything. A lot of us also get to leave work at work -- unlike my self-employed friend who's dragging it (work and work-related tasks) with him everywhere and at all times if he forgets to turn off his BlackBerry.

Then there are people who will use assistants to do absolutely everything for them. Take the guy who pays an assistant to arrange dates for him. Seriously? I understand doing the filing and even making an occasional dry cleaners run for your boss, but managing your boss's love life? Too strange. I wonder if the guy will hire someone to take his potential date on a date -- I mean, why stop with the email exchange?

It turns out that this is not such an isolated incident. According to CNN's Personal Assistants: Not Just for J.Lo article, "fielding calls from a nagging mother-in-law, or approaching a handsome stranger on behalf of an employer looking for a date" are just some of the tasks that personal assistants have been asked to do. Perhaps this is the way of the future -- when I was a kid, "nanny" was a fictional character in a fairy tale, today nannies, although still reserved for families who are well off, are becoming a popular luxury among busy urban parents.

Jowita

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A few years ago I started my own magazine. It was an online publication that I, ambitiously, hoped to launch every month. After the first issue it became clear that a bimonthly would possibly be ambitious enough and even that would be pushing it. And, because online publications thrive on frequent updates, this method of operation was doomed to begin with.

In the article Taking the Leap to Self-Employment, Phyllis Korkki talks about some common misconceptions related to being your own boss. First of all, the number of hours that people predict it will take them to start off a successful business is usually nowhere near what is actually needed to be able to succeed (hint: double or triple the amount). I used to spend a few all-nighters and full days a month putting my magazine together, but if I wanted to take it one step beyond it being a wee hobby publication, I should've spent at least three times as much. I thought all I had to do was find writers and photographers and edit this and that. Instead, I ended up programming the site, looking for advertisers, trying to spread the word in the online community, putting out calls for creative talent, answering email enquiries ... It was exhausting. In the end, it just wasn't worth it, and -- most importantly -- it didn't pay a penny.

According to Korkki's article, some of the major self-employment issues, besides uncertain pay, are: unpredictable (and many) hours, no health benefits, no structure and no sense of belonging. All these concerns cause many entrepreneurs to fail, and data (referred to in the article) shows that half of all businesses fail within the first year. The upside is that some self-operated businesses do thrive and their founders never have to go back to the 9-to-5 ball-and-chain.

Jowita

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If you've got a bee in your bonnet to work the land, living in Canada's largest metropolis isn't as ridiculous as it sounds. Although farming opportunities don't exactly abound here, the movement towards local food, means more and more city dwellers are saving money on food by growing their own. And a few even make money off their enterprises.

For instance, some Toronto beekeepers bring in extra cash by selling honey. The big smoke is apparently a hive of beekeeping activity with city dwellers sheltering the stinging insects in their backyards, balconies and rooftops. Toronto even has a Pollinator's Festival where you can learn all you ever wanted to know about the life of a honey bee.

If you're turned off by the idea of donning a full-body beekeepers suit, don't get discouraged. You can raise less dangerous (not to mention less sugary) crops without stepping out of your eighth-floor apartment. Just set up a vertical, hydroponic, high-yield "edible window garden."

Of course, if you're feeling cooped up in your condo or apartment, a windowfarm won't do -- you'll need an earthier option. Luckily, websites, such as Shared Earth or Sharing Backyards, can link you to land owners willing to let you farm their backyards or plots of land for a portion of your crops.

And, if you want to make a serious living growing food, consider managing a franchise for Young Urban Farmers, which installs garden boxes containing healthy munchies, like radishes, carrots and peas, for clients.

There are even options for small-scale chicken farming if you're willing to flout the City of Toronto's prohibition against keeping hens. A clandestine farmer, going by the name of Toronto Chicken, is doing her darnedest to promote chicken-raising here. (In fact, she's persuaded her city councillor to push to have the ban lifted.) Not only has this resourceful chicken lady set up a website about keeping chickens, she's lined up a number of "safe houses" that she and her brood can go to in neighbouring hen-friendly Brampton if things start heating up.

I'm not sure I'd go so far as to smuggle chickens on the GO train, but my hat goes off to all those with the initiative to bring the farm to the city.

kathyo

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With the growing popularity of reality TV shows Shark Tank and Dragons' Den, the race to entrepreneurdom is officially on. Although I don't consider myself a business kind of gal, even I flirted with the idea of starting up a writing/editing venture while I was unemployed last year. The thing is, creating a business is no easy feat. It takes determination, dedication and a real passion for what you’re selling. And you need to be in it for the long haul.

I only started to understand the complexity of entrepreneurship recently while I was working on articles for poss.ca's Entrepreneurial Toolkit. Doing market research, writing a detailed business plan for potential funders, deciding whether or not to incorporate -- that's what business development is all about. And did I mention risk? According to Industry Canada, "About 96 percent of small businesses (1–99 employees) that enter the marketplace survive for one full year, 85 percent survive for three years and 70 percent survive for five years." But that's just talking about businesses that actually get off the ground. Many business ideas are dead in the water before they're even launched.

But taking a business risk can really pay off -- especially if you've got a dynamite idea that responds to or creates a market need. For instance, I couldn't help but be impressed when I read about Vincent Cheung, the creator of Shape Collage photo software, who turned his personal need into a business: "I wanted to share my photos with my friends and family and didn't want to subject them to flipping through hundreds of images." Or what about Gary Fung, who saw an opportunity and launched Ping!, a popular iPhone application, to address the lack of instant messaging capabilities amongst iPhone users.

Great ideas can appear in a flash. If you've got the pluck and persistence to latch onto one and nurture it into existence, who knows what could happen? You may end up doing it your way after all.

Veronica

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A friend of mine, Jessa K. started a "passion group" several years ago with another friend. Intrigued by this passion group, I wanted to know more and interviewed Jessa.

How did the passion group come about?
We started the group after I left the company I had worked at for 10 years. Although I had a good salary and [job] security, I wasn’t experiencing a connection between my skills, my talents and my passion.

What are you passionate about?
Nurturing my spirituality, exploring my creativity and living mindfully.

How does the group work?
We talk about how we can bring creativity into our lives as well as any barriers we’re experiencing towards cultivating our passion. We give feedback to each other. This helps us define our blocks and create paths that lead us to the things that bring passion and joy. There’s something magical about being in a group -- there’s an energy and excitement that can inspire people to take action.

How has the group helped you?
The group has sustained my hope. It has motivated me to take up drumming and singing, to start a decluttering business and to try out living in a spiritual community. It’s inspiring to see people who don’t know how to proceed with their goals get clearer about the actions they need to take.

Do members do homework?
Some of us commit to taking specific action steps. For example, one member has committed to researching cameras and bringing this research back to the next group. Other action steps have included contacting employers or applying for school or for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada programs, such as or the Self-Employment Program or the Opportunities Fund.

What have you learned from the passion group?
I have learned to focus on the steps I can take now. Long-range plans are great, but I don’t have to figure everything out before I proceed -- I need to stay in the moment and let the process unfold. In addition, I have learned to pay attention when I feel motivated or energized by something. This year, for example, I explored academic upgrading in two streams of interest (health care and recreation); I found that my energy felt lighter around health care –- so that seems to be where I am heading.

kathyo

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What nobody tells you about self-employment is that it is not exactly what it seems. You are not really your own boss, you don't really get to choose when to end your workday, there is not necessarily more freedom and you don't make more money than your nine-to-five friends. It's true that you can actually spend a whole day in your PJs while working and that in the long run self-employment can be quite a lucrative way of earning a living. But it takes a lot of energy and perseverance to get to that point.

In the article From Unemployment to Self Employment, the author, Julie King, talks about all the myths of being your own boss and how challenging working for yourself really is. When I was self-employed for a few months, I spent more time chasing after payments and taking care of administrative issues than writing or editing. In order to get assignments I also spent a lot of time hustling, or, if you'd rather, pitching my ideas, or I'd spend time researching where to pitch them and in what way. My hours were Monday to Monday or as long as my laptop and my phone were on -- and they were on all of the time.

I do know someone who's always worked as a freelance writer. He's been at it for 20-plus years, and in addition to being a writer he is his own extraordinary office manager as well as his own public relations firm. But I know it took an enormous amount of discipline for him to be able to get to this point. Good on you if you have that -- I just couldn't compete in that race myself.

ttyl

Jowita

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Recently it was fashion week in Toronto. It's not as big here as it is in other large cities (like New York) but it's slowly becoming bigger and more important. There was a huge white red and pink tent planted right in the middle of the city (for fashion shows) and you could see skinny women with stiff, fierce hair and high heels trotting all around downtown. I went to one fashion show during that time and noticed that three out of five labels were from a duo of designers. In the article Canada Produces Fashion by Buddies and Brothers, the author, Loretta Chin, talks about how the dual set-up is a new trend among Canadian fashion designers. Evidence of this are the popular Canadian siblings, twins Dean and Dan Caten of Dsquared2, who have been conquering the fashion world for years now.

So are two heads better than one when it comes to business? The website Online Business Plans says the big advantage of partnership is that you have a pool of skills of two (or more) individuals as well as a faster way to increase your capital. At the same time, as a business partner you may have to compromise on a lot of things and you are legally liable unless your partnership is limited. Partnerships work best if everyone is exactly on the same page.

In the Canada Produces article, two brothers, Doug and Ben Burkman of the Burkman Bros, explain why partnership was the only solution: "We always wanted to work together, to find something for both of us to do."

ttyl

Jowita

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Many have envied the owner of the pink Cadillac that Mary Kay hands out to its top sellers. I've never been to a tupperware party or lead a Mary Kay lady into my house. Neither was I ever inclined to sell cosmetics or plastic containers from home. (I did buy an Avon iron cleaning stick once from a co-worker who would frequently pass the Avon catalogue around the office to help a friend supplement her income.)

In the article In Tough Times, Folks Turn to Tupperware Nancy White points out that, "In tough times, more people are attracted to direct sales jobs -- be it promoting plasticware, cosmetics, natural health products -- to supplement or replace an income, or as a hedge against a pink slip."

Being out of work can be a lonely business. It's hard to keep your spirits up when you're at home alone with only a pink slip as company. It can feel as if the whole world is at work except you. A direct sales job puts you out there, amongst the working. It can also provide great networking opportunities that may lead to other job opportunities.

Avon makes the claim that becoming one of their representatives is not just about selling but "about taking charge of your life (...) a proven process for financial and personal success." There's something to be said about taking control of your own work situation and coming up with your own job description, work hours and way of doing things.

So, if you've been given the pink slip, you may consider taking a direct sales job. It may not give you direct access to a pink Cadillac but it could keep your piggy bank pink.

Josée

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I always loved those stories of great personal success -- the poor girl who becomes a movie star, the shy high school dropout who builds a multimillion-dollar enterprise. It's good to read those sorts of stories for inspiration -- especially now that so many people have to think about second careers and ways to invent and re-invent themselves.

A while ago, I interviewed Dufflet Rosenberg on the 30th anniversary of Dufflet Pastries. I remember being really impressed with the delicious treats that the company made but what truly amazed me was Rosenberg's own story of success. She began working out of her mother's house, staying up all night baking and delivering apricot squares to private clients and women's clubs during the day. Today, Dufflet Pastries supplies more than 500 specialty retailers and restaurants.

In the article Re-inventing Yourself: The Ultimate Balancing Act, you'll find more stories similar to that of Rosenberg's. The article links to videos in which three people discuss how they ended up being so successful.

ttyl

Jowita

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I was impressed but somehow horrified to learn that media executive Bonnie Fuller never took her last maternity leave and returned to work in a matter of weeks, bringing her newborn and a caretaker to the office. Fuller is known for her extreme feats of family-career balancing, managing to somehow do both successfully. But Fuller is still an exception and many people criticize her lifestyle.

The recent CBC article Women Entrepreneurs Seek Way Through Glass Ceiling talks about how women who are doing the proverbial juggling of both family and careers often find it easier to become self-employed than to work in the business world. The article points out that the more successful a worker is in the corporate world the more that travel is required; if women can't be away from their families for long the demand of travel might in itself prevent women from advancing in their career.

The research firm, Spencer Stuart, quoted in the article, found that in 2007 only 13 per cent of women held available seats on company boards in Canada and in 2006 only five chief executive officers were women. At the same time, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business estimated there were almost 684,000 self-employed women in 2006, a 234 per cent jump from 25 years prior. This might explain why there is a steady increase of resources that help women develop businesses.

ttyl

Jowita

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Do you have a routine that you follow every day? I do. I tried changing mine many times but I always ended up having the same sort of morning before work.

In the past, when I held a regular job plus freelance, I tried getting up at 6 a.m. to write my freelance articles but I just ended up falling asleep at my desk at home. When I only did freelance for living, I had to create a routine that would not only be beneficial to my income but also would ensure that I would not go nuts from the lack of structure. It's so easy to just take a day off when there's no one there to make sure you're doing your work. And then you have to scramble around on the day of your deadline. Not fun. Although self-employment may seem like a dream come true, it takes a lot of discipline to be truly successful at it. I couldn't do freelancing for too long, and I would do it differently (more rigorously) if I had to do it again.

The blog Daily Routines (How writers, artists, and other interesting people organize their days) describes the routines of lots of famous people. They are cleverly combined into categories such as Philosophers, Night Owls, Exercisers, Writers, Procrastinators, Drinkers ... I immediately read Alice Munro's routine (I love her writing, plus she's Canadian) and discovered that: "As a young author taking care of three small children, Munro learned to write in the slivers of time she had, churning out stories during children's nap times, in between feedings, as dinners baked in the oven."

She published her first collection of short stories when she was 37.

ttyl

Jowita

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Ever since I can remember, I've done work for free. I've designed websites, page layouts, took pictures, made business cards, created tags, banners and logos. I've written articles, stories and essays all for free. Currently, I work full-time but I have two projects on the go where I work (long hours) for absolutely free. I do both in the hopes that they will eventually lead to paid assignments. Sometimes I tell myself that it's art and I'm doing these projects for fun, but a part of me is a little bitter and frustrated with the fact that I've become such an enthusiastic charity institution and can't seem to get out of my work-for-free mindset.

The New York Times article When to Work for Nothing addresses the issue of working for free, including the misperception that it benefits self-employed workers to work for payoffs such as "exposure." The author, Michelle Goodman, reminds freelancers that agreeing to work for free can "reinforce people's misguided ideas that the self-employed are independently wealthy hobbyists."

My partner, who is a full-time freelancer, is constantly asked to work for nothing; in fact, many people seem to expect him to do so since he's established in his field. In his case this is no longer for "exposure" but rather to "give back to the community." He gets phone calls and email requests asking him to speak at this or that meeting, write this or that speech, judge this or that contest. or edit this or that book. For free. After all, isn't he free to do so? He fulfils many of these requests, but I know that sometimes it's hard for him to justify working for free and that he often does it out of guilt.

But seriously now, I don't see "the community" paying our phone bill or buying us groceries. I'm not saying volunteering is wrong but that's the thing about volunteering ... you have to volunteer for it.

ttyl

Jowita

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My co-worker Katherine sent me a funny email. She wrote: "I thought it ironic that The Wealthy Freelancer blog does not pay its contributors (although it does give them a 35-word bio in compensation)."

I went to check out the site to see for myself. Indeed, the blog does not pay its writers and its tag line says: "It's Your Freelance Career - Make it Rich!" Okay, but how is that going to happen if even the Wealthy Freelancer doesn't pay? Its "About Us" page reads: "The Wealthy Freelancer blog is all about sharing ideas, tips, techniques and inspiration to help you create your own wealthy business and lifestyle. A lifestyle that comes from building the kind of freelance business you've always wanted. A business that brings you riches in the form of freedom, creativity, independence, satisfaction and big financial rewards." And so on.

I'm all for great advice, tips and techniques but I am a little surprised that no one on the Wealthy Freelancer's team of writers thought the name to be a little unfortunate. I think it would make sense to pay those freelancers writing for the Wealthy Freelancer if only just to kick-start all that wealth that is supposed to result from writing. (Or should they just call it The "Wealthy" Freelancer?)

ttyl

Jowita

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