Transcription in English
I’m Emil. Currently, I’m still studying to become an architect. I finished my BA, but I may not graduate as an architect since my goal is a multidisciplinary master’s degree. But it has proven quite difficult, at least in Finland. My minor is industrial engineering and management, and I have got a lot of support for the entrepreneurial aspect. I have consulted a student counsellor about my degree. In addition to architectural competence, I want business and innovation know-how.
I have a company as a private trader, under which I do two kinds of part-time gigs: I play DJ gigs, mostly for my own fun and for networking, and architecture jobs, which have been more about developing a concept. I don’t have a degree in architecture, but I can utilise my knowledge of the field in these jobs. Now, I’m taking a pause from work, but, before that, I used to do maybe max 40 hours of gig work per month.
I completed my civil service, during which I got a daily allowance and compensation for living costs. Or, actually, I split the living costs with my girlfriend. Study grant is much smaller, but, during the civil service, I took a leap of faith and started a company. My work is quite simple, and I do my own bookkeeping. I use a service called verkkolasku.org. I have only few expenses. I pay a sum for the architectural licence, and my principal pays me a fixed sum every month, so it’s very simple to me. Online, you can find a lot of information about bookkeeping.
Currently, I have no need, but, in the future, I will get customers through my networks – through my different social networks. All networks are useful. For example, architecture is a bubble, and the cultural circles are another. Also, different kinds of associations are absolutely useful. Through them, I’ve met many people.
What comes to pricing, I’ve aimed at the level of hourly rates that I could get from salaried work. That’s been my starting point. I also ask around among friends who do assignments too. These are the TEK union recommendations for engineers and architects.
I’ve manoeuvred a bit so as not to exceed the YEL income limit because I do business on such a part-time basis. If I did this more seriously, I’d take out the YEL insurance. What comes to insurances, I have familiarised myself with the agreement conditions in the consulting business and avoided causing damage by “serious deliberation”, as they put it. In that case, the liability amounts to the paid fee at most. I have been a bit nervous about the insurances, about how they work in practice and how the principal could interpret them.
I’ve learned the hard way that we humans need time off. We can’t work all the time, or our mind and body will start to show symptoms. I don’t know how healthy it is, but I’m a bit of a “crunch” kind of person, I may take these dashes. Sometimes, I clearly have more work. I’m mentally prepared for it, I take care of my well-being and know that I’ll have some time off, and it may be longer than a normal vacation. It evens the stress from working during the “dash”. I think I’m pretty good at using money and doing my finances. I mean, I know how much money I spend in a month. So it’s easy to calculate that I have a financial landing strip for, say, the next three and a half months and that I need to come up with something new during that time, if I want to continue doing this, or come up with options in general. Or I can use the three and half months for vacation time.
Even though I said that there’s a lot of information available, the biggest challenge for a self-employed person is still the feeling of insecurity, helplessness and loneliness. I do have good social safety networks, but I still can’t be certain that everything will go according to plan. That indistinctness causes insecurity. And another challenge is not to oversell yourself and end up doing 60-hour work weeks.
Freedom and self-determination. Those are the best things. When I’ve been an employee, I’ve been listened to only superficially. And nothing is explained in depth. Doing it for yourself is much more motivating.