Does Your Salary Stop You Getting Rich?

What is your salary?

• Security
• Endorsement by your company
• A promise of holiday and sick pay
• The easiest way to get paid - no tax/SL calculations
• A representation of the value of your time

"I love my salary like a cosy blanket"

- Weird, stock image woman

What if we looked at it a different way?

What is your salary?

• An annual cap on your potential
• Gives responsibility for your worth to someone else
• A reason to maintain the status quo
• A system designed to pay you last
• You are selling your time, but on someone else's terms

"My salary defines my maximum worth"

- Sad, stock image woman

You need soft skills to get a decent raise

• Comfortable talking to your boss and negotiating
• Shout about what makes you special
• (Make yourself special)
• Convey your own worth
• Be confident in your authority

In the UK most people aren't comfortable with this because a salary isn't seen as a business transaction.

The Alternative

An Example

An Example

This week I set up a client with a React developer who charges £400/day

£400 * 5 (days) * 4 (weeks) * 10 (months) =

£80,000

With two months holiday 🛫

Why isn't everyone doing this?

You need soft skills to get any freelance work

• Comfortable speaking to your clients and negotiating
• Shout about what makes you special
• (Make yourself special)
• Convey your own worth
• Be confident in your authority

The skills which will help you progress in a salaried position are the same skills which will help you be a successful freelancer.

Why do I care what you do?

I think the way many people in the UK view their salary, a gift from their employer, is unhealthy.

You are selling your time (sometimes your entire working life) to a company - do you want to leave it up to them to determine what that's worth?

Things you should do

• Start viewing your salary as a transaction between equal parties
• Sell your time for what it's worth (not what you think it's worth)
• Develop the soft skills you need to get what you deserve as an employee or freelancer/contractor
• Take an active role in raising or removing your ceiling of potential

Thanks!

Define your own value

@mattgrayisok