Making a Leap: Reducing Employment Hours to Increase Self-Employment

Looking back to 2012, one of my goals was to increase my self-employment income to be more than 15% of my income for the year.  Three years later, I've surpassed this goal!  Although we aren't at the end of 2015 yet, I can estimate my numbers quite well.  There is a possibility that my self-employment income will be more than I have forecasted.

Primary job: (25 hours/week)
  • 2012: 79% of income
  •  2013: 75% of income
  •  2014: 80% of income
  •  2015: 70% of income 
Secondary job: (average of 5 hours/week)
  • 2012: 12% of income
  •  2013: 13% of income
  •  2014: 10% of income
  •  2015: 10% of income
Self -Employment:
  • 2012: 5% of income
  • 2013: 11% of income
  • 2014: 10% of income
  • 2015: 20% of income
Other Income:
  • 2012: 4% of income (Maternity Employment Insurance during January)

WOOT!! This year my NET self-employment income will be 20% of my total income.  I've grown business slowly, quite purposefully.  I havn't advertised due to fear of growing too fast, and not having time to allocate to new clients.  New clients currently come via word-of-mouth from current clients. 

I've been hesitant to reduce my hours at my primary job up until now, because it pays well, has employer paid RRSP contributions, and paid sick time. It also includes FULL medical benefits while working Part Time.  There are not many places where you can obtain medical benefits working part time!

I'm making a leap in 2016.  I've already discussed with my manager permanently reducing my hours at my primary job, probably starting in February.  I'm not reducing by much, but I will have an extra two days a month to have available for self-employment work, or a small amount of contract work elsewhere.  Maybe I'll even start blogging more or pursuing more within the social media world. I will probably even advertise my services a bit this year. In case you are wondering, I do Income Tax Preparation and E-Filing, Payroll, and some Bookkeeping.  I'm also open to new opportunities!

It's a big jump to do this, because reducing my hours means that I lose medical benefit coverage.  I'm earning enough in self-employment to both purchase medical benefits for my family, (medical benefits are EXPENSIVE), and to cover the wages for the number of hours that I'm decreasing by.

I'm excited to make these changes, and to leap into them in the New Year.

Ready to jump!  (Not really!) See my husband at the bottom? 1/2 way up Dorset Tower

Comments

  1. MaureenOctober 2, 2015 at 8:35 AM

    Well done! It think it is so important to set realistic goals (and write them down)! My goal is to retire completely from my full time job in 5 years! Slow and steady wins the race :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownOctober 9, 2015 at 12:51 PM

      Slow and steady works for me! :) Now on to make new goals for me. :)

      Delete
  2. Ashley P.October 2, 2015 at 10:02 AM

    That's awesome - all the best with your self-employment!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AlisonOctober 2, 2015 at 12:56 PM

    This is my goal too! Fewer cubicle hours. More laptop no pants hours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownOctober 9, 2015 at 12:52 PM

      I can't go with the no pants because clients come to the house, but I like being able to take a nap when needed if I'm really tired, or being able to bring dd to appointments and activities.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Tell me your thoughts. I love to hear from readers. Say hi! :)

Popular posts from this blog

Week One at Toronto Sick Kids. A recap of Oct 24-30th.

Image
In memory of our baby Kyle: Oct 24, 2011 - Nov 8, 2011.  We had 15 days with him.  This is a summary of the first 7 days. As many people reading this know, I was pregnant with a baby boy affected with a severe mutation of Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency, which means that he can't metabolize protein properly.  Protein gets changed into ammonia, but it doesn't get past that point in affected children.  The ammonia builds up, causing potential brain damage, and eventually causing the organs to shut down. We were going to do medical treatment to be followed by a liver transplant.  We weren't convinced we would get to the point of transplant, because the treatment would be difficult to manage.  But we were willing to try.  We were doing it day by day.  We were going to try, and if he made it, we would go buy everything that was needed. I was due Nov 14, or Nov 11 based on ultrasound.  I've had two previous full term pregnancies.  My daughter was born at 10 days ove
Read more

1 in 100 Canadian Births Conceived With IVF

This past Saturday, the Globe and Mail newspaper had an article regarding PGD - pre implantation genetic diagnosis.  I plan on writing more about that topic in the future, but in the meantime, one of the statistics that was in the article was that approximately 1% of the live births in Canada were conceived via IVF - in vitro fertilization.  The 1% quote is pretty close.  In 2009, there were 380 863 births in Canada , and 3160 of these were via IVF based on the statistics stated below.  This is an overall rate of  0.83% of births were via IVF, which can easily be rounded up to state approximately 1%. I know a number of people who have used IVF in order to get pregnant, but I had never considered the overall percentage before.  I'd share one of cute pictures of friends children who have been conceived by IVF, but even for those who are open about the conception, it feels a little too public to request permission to use a picture. One in one hundred children being born ar
Read more