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Personal development for contractors
This article was kindly provided by inniAccounts. inniAccounts are Queen’s-Award winning accountants and can be contacted here
Life as a contractor is a continual developmental curve. For many people, the move from being an employee, who is essentially directed by an employer, to being the director of your own company can be a monumental leap. As well as being an expert in your field, you now need to be an expert in running your own business.
Starting up can be relatively simple, you’ve done your research and appointed an accountant to handle the company incorporation and finances. What’s next? Personal development is best viewed as a continuous journey. Deciding how you want to develop your own career is one of the most rewarding aspects of contracting. You no longer have to follow standardised career paths, or fight for a smidge of that training budget – training courses that relate to your business are a legitimate business expense and reduce your tax liabilities. So you can expand your skills whilst reducing your tax bill.
Personal development opportunities
Unlike most permanent employees who are restricted to personal development through paid-for courses and on the job training, contractors have a much wider and richer bank of personal development available as you ultimately control your own spending. When you start life as a contractor, there are a few key areas you should look at to continue your development in conjunction with the better-known training routes.
Membership of professional bodies. Seek our specialist bodies within your field, they can broaden your networking opportunities and also provide reduced rates on many training courses as well as opening up access to knowledge-sharing resources. HMRC recognises certain professional bodies and personal development tools such as business publications as a necessary business expense. You can check that the professional body is recognised by visiting HMRC’s recognised bodies list.
Journal subscriptions and books. One of the easiest and most efficient ways of keeping up to date with industry developments is to subscribe to a relevant periodical. You don’t have to set aside time especially to keep up to date, make use of time spent travelling by keeping a stash of the most recent releases to hand. Alternately, any down-time you have between meetings is also a perfect time to catch up with developments.
Government-run courses. HMRC, DTI and other governing bodies offer free courses to business owners to enable them to run their business effectively and remain compliant with the relevant guidelines. This is a very cost-effective way of keeping on top of legislative changes concerning the running of your business.
Trade-specific and personal development courses. As a new contractor, you’ll undoubtedly be up to date with your area of expertise, but you’ll likely require some improvement in certain business skills. As time goes on this is likely to change, unless you keep up to speed with courses specific to your area of expertise. Remember – to remain competitive it is important to maintain your level of aptitude.
Alongside these formal training routes, there are several more informal ways to continue your development. As well as learning directly from one another, having a good network of successful peers and mentors allows you to easily bounce ideas and discuss any new innovations in your field. If you’re looking for a mentor, remember that they don’t necessarily need to be in the same line of work as you are for you to benefit from their knowledge and business acumen.
When it comes to incorporating your development into your work – you can stay at the top of your game by being selective in the contracts you undertake. Try and ensure that each new opportunity fits with your goals. Your contracts are the best way to get experience with new technologies, to try out new areas of business growth or to give you the opportunity to thrive within a different cultural dynamic to what you’re used to.
Plan, review and change
As a contractor, you need to always be moving forward with both your contracts and your understanding. If you stand still, you risk being left behind. From the outset of your career, it’s important to understand your weaknesses and areas for personal development and actively list them. This can form the first draft of your personal development plan.
Unlike permanent employees whose personal development is managed by their employer and thus aligned to their goals, you control your personal development. This means you have the opportunity to steer your career in the direction that fits with your life plan. By having a clear understanding of where you want to go, you can ensure that you build the skills and knowledge to get you there. Ensure that you have a timeframe in mind for your development, for instance if you’re in your twenties think about where you’d like to be in three to five years. As you get older and more experienced, you can plan over longer periods.
It’s worth remembering that developing yourself through training shows that you are actively investing in your company. This is very handy should your IR35 status come into question as it is robust evidence of you acting as an independent trading company.
Your personal development plan
Your personal development plan is a map of where you want to take your knowledge and understanding.
Start by noting down your areas of weakness and where you need to develop your skills and knowledge.
Identify opportunities to develop these areas; remember that utilising all the avenues discussed doesn’t offer a complete answer.
Map out a self development plan. Think about how and when you can improve your skills and knowledge, but remember to plan around any peaks and troughs in working patterns and ensure that you find the time to build development into your work life for the long term.
Review the plan regularly and amend it accordingly ensuring that it continues to meet your personal goals. Make sure to take advantage of new and upcoming courses that may not have been available when you wrote your original plan. Try reviewing your plan quarterly instead of yearly; you’re more likely to make minor tweaks and keep things up to date.
Plan your investment and ensure you look at development plans forming part of your business expenses. Remember, most forms of training and development are tax-deductible.
Useful links
Here’s a list of interesting development links that you can use in conjunction with industry-specific suppliers in your field.
HMRC approved professional bodies – lists all the professional bodies and societies that HMRC recognises for tax relief.
TED – inspirational talks and thought leadership.
The English Manner – experts in etiquette, protocol and social skills. Courses on essential business skills and market-specific courses such as Chinese etiquette.
IPSE – a not-for-profit trade association that represents the interests of the UK independent professionals and the self employed. It actively develops tools, services and relationships to advice and support you in your own business journey.
Entrepreneur and Minutehack – thought provoking resources for entrepreneurs to inspire and help fine-tune your business ideas.
Start With Why – an inspirational book by Simon Sinek, for those who want to learn the art of inspiring others or need to find someone with a powerful, effective leadership approach to be their own source of inspiration.
This article was provided by inniAccounts. inniAccounts are Queen’s-Award winning accountants. They combine specialist software and on the tap pro-active advice to make managing accounts simpler and contractors more productive. Got a question? They’re happy to help with any queries, simply contact them here.
