Many people are taking the self-employment route when it comes to escaping from financial difficulty, new figures show.
The latest numbers from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have revealed a sharp increase in start-ups. Since the recession began, the number of those deciding to take the plunge had increased 9%.
During this time, there has also been a 1% decrease in employment, an indicator of the impact self-employment has had.
Concerns have been expressed by the TUC that the high level of self-employment is having a negative effect upon opportunities for those seeking work.
Having said that, the fact remains that in comparison to the situation a mere five years ago, a considerably higher number of individuals can now class themselves as self-employed. There is, therefore, an increased emphasis upon technology and set-up and providing maximum efficiency. IP telephony will surely have a role to play as it can create an effective and lean infrastructure for businesses.
IT telephony provides an inexpensive option for the self-employed to make international telephone calls without concern of high charges associated with many conventional telephone companies.
One of the reasons behind many business owners’ decisions to switch to IP telephony is the reliability. Cost effectiveness and low maintenance costs also play a big part. While competition between conventional telephone service providers has led to slightly lower prices, these still rarely match the cost efficiency offered by IP telephony. With budgeting and reliability being such high priorities for companies, particularly start-ups and the self-employed, the rewards of such systems are obvious.
The figures from the TUC show a large number of small businesses are cropping up, including those working from home, where IP telephony can really come into its own; enabling business owners to maintain communication with both acquaintances and clients.
