A comprehensive guide to the growing trend of self-employment is now being made available at no cost. The book, Look Before You Leap: Self-Employment Survival Strategies, is a part of a partnership project between CERIC and Life Strategies Ltd.

Whether you’re a career development professional helping clients explore self-employment as an option, supporting self-employed clients to be successful, or considering self-employment yourself, this book – written by Dr Roberta Neault and Deirdre Pickerell – provides tangible tips and strategies for success.

This resource is designed to help you examine your beliefs about self-employment, evaluate your readiness and identify the supports you might need. Topics include characteristics of the self-employed, trend-spotting and the logistics of self-employment, including developing business plans, marketing to get clients, customers and projects, managing money and evaluating success.

Based on their experience in a wide range of self-employment endeavours, the authors share 10 self-employment survival strategies combined with inspirational quotes, reflective activities and worksheets. Their goal is to help readers understand the realities of self-employment – to look before leaping. Readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of what self-employment means beyond “being your own boss,” “setting your own hours,” and “working from home.” Through an exploration of both the good and the bad, career professionals will develop a clearer vision of self-employment realities ensuring that they and/or their clients are making informed self-employment choices.

Self-employment is on the rise in a variety of sectors; it’s also increasingly an option for career development professionals. Yet, most career professionals have little understanding of self-employment or work as an independent contractor. With career services education focusing on the more traditional topics (e.g., theories, ethics, resumes, interview skills), career professionals have limited access to targeted professional development on the topics of self-employment and entrepreneurship. This book fills that gap.