From Zero-Hour Contracts to Business Owner: Why Self-Employment Works for Young People

Hannah Morris-Quinn is a former BBC journalist, and the videographer behind Stoke-on-Trent video production company VideoHQ. Hannah specialises in case study video interviews for businesses and educational suppliers.

When I saw the Alan Milburn report recently revealing that more than a million 16-24 year olds in the UK are NEET — not in education, employment or training — I absolutely wasn't surprised.

While I'm fortunate enough not to have been in that position, I've also spent nearly thirteen years working and have never had a full-time, permanent contract in that time. From my experience, there aren't as many opportunities for the traditional route into the workforce.

I had two zero-hours roles while studying my journalism degree at university. After finishing my degree, I split my time between casual/freelance work at the BBC, and setting up my Stoke-on-Trent-based video production business, VideoHQ.

Hannah at one of her first video jobs, filming a Crewe Alexandra football match.

When doing all of those roles, I would have absolutely loved the security of a permanent full-time job. I was a freelance radio producer and journalist for nearly six years at the BBC and was never able to get a contract, and I saw a lot of other young reporters in exactly the same position during my time there.

But as someone who has been through that, and now has nine years of experience as a business owner after setting up VideoHQ at 21 (where did that time go??), I want to share why self-employment — with the support of organisations like Launch It — is a great route for young people to take.

Determine Your Own Career Path

If I'd entered a video production company as a junior videographer straight out of uni, I'd likely have spent years doing the lower-skill tasks.

But working for myself, I threw myself straight into the deep end running the whole video production process — pre-production, filming and editing — right from the off. And with that also came managing client relationships too.

Was it terrifying at times? Yes. Was there a really steep learning curve? Also yes. But going through that, I think I became a better videographer much quicker, because I had so many opportunities to practise my skills early on.

Interviewing young footballers while working at BBC Radio Shropshire.

Develop Skills You Wouldn't as an Employee

And speaking of skills, I really think being self-employed gives you the opportunity to develop skills you don't always get while working for someone else. Take networking, for example.

Although I started my business in August 2017, it didn't really take off until January 2018, when I began attending business networking events.

I was really nervous about this before going — throwing myself into a room of established business owners at 6:45am in the morning was extremely intimidating!

But I soon found my feet, and I still attend networking events fortnightly now. In fact, most of my business comes from referrals generated at networking events, so I must be doing something right!

Lots of employees in the workforce never get the opportunity to network in this way, and being able to have conversations with people from all different backgrounds is a skill that benefits you in more than just business.

Hannah at her production studio at Launch It Stoke-on-Trent.

It's Scary Taking the Leap to Self-Employment

While there are loads of benefits to self-employment, I'm not going to lie and say it was easy.

I had a lot of support networks behind me. My dad is a self-employed accountant, so he was able to advise on all my tax and financials. And having freelance work at the BBC alongside the business meant I didn't need to worry too much about revenue initially.

Even with those factors, I still spent many a Sunday night thinking I'd made the wrong decision. Every time work dried up, I felt like an idiot with the most expensive hobby in the world, as opposed to having a business.

That's why the support of organisations like Launch It is so important for young entrepreneurs. I'm now part of the Incubation Programme at the Stoke-on-Trent centre, and I'm seeing first-hand just how much support is in place to help young entrepreneurs make their businesses successful.

At Stoke, there's a relaxed monthly networking meeting to give you the confidence to go out to more formal meetings.

There's a monthly bookkeeping club with a Chartered Accountant if you've got any questions about tax or record keeping.

Our centre manager, Gemma Bourne, is always around to give advice and make connections. Even with nine years of experience, I've had a couple of wobbles this year (I suspect they never end) — once when I missed out on a big contract I'd expected to win — and Gemma was there to give some really sound advice, and get me out of the spiral I was threatening to go down!

Self-Employment: A Path Out of the NEET Trap

So many of the young people in the unfortunate position of falling into the NEET category aren't there because they lack skills. They're there because there aren't as many traditional work opportunities available.

But self-employment lets you make your own opportunities, and it's absolutely an exciting and fulfilling route to take — when you have the right support.

Find out more about Hannah's work & support her journey at https://www.videohq.co.uk/