Has your job become stale and unsatisfying? Perhaps you've reached a dead end in your career, and feel that you aren't fulfilling your potential?

There are many reasons why your working life might have begun to feel dissatisfying, but many of these reasons can be resolved by taking action and becoming your own boss. Don't worry - you won't be alone!

Thousands of people in the UK alone have already taken the opportunity to change careers and work for themselves. Want to know why? Here are 5 advantages of being your own boss...

1. Choose your working hours.

Being your own boss means, first and foremost, that you can have full autonomy over your working week. This is a major benefit of becoming your own boss: you decide when you work and how long you work for, as opposed to spending most of your working day being told what to do and how to do it.

This autonomy means that you don't have to follow the orders of a nagging employer; furthermore, studies around the world have shown that the ability to choose one's working schedule improves general well-being at work, meaning you are more inclined to want to work harder and better.

2. Realise your full potential.

Having full control over your working pattern allows you to really push yourself and achieve your full potential. As well as having a flexible diary, you can also work as much or as little as you wish, without feeling confined or pushed to the limits by the standard 9-5 hours of your previous job.

This way, you can reach your full potential at your own pace, and being your own boss is the best way to achieve this.

3. Master your trade.

If your current career doesn't require any specific skills that you can develop or improve upon, you might begin to feel disengaged. The desire to have a skill or occupation that requires practice and patience - something that never comes to a dead end and is always giving you new goals and objectives to complete - is inherent in humans.

If you aren't working towards perfecting a certain skill, you might easily become bored and restless. Working as a tradesperson frequently brings up surprises or new challenges that allow you to keep enjoying and focusing on the work you're doing, meaning that you're always engaged.

Being your own boss means you can essentially choose what jobs you want to tackle, meaning each job is always different to the last in some way.

4. Gain a sense of purpose.

Having a sense of purpose is essential to maintaining your enthusiasm in your job. If you feel like you are easily replaceable and the work you do is of no great worth, you are more likely to lose interest in it.

Tradespeople are a vital, respected part of society and have been so since the beginning of modern civilisation. For as long as a population grows and needs houses built, repairs made and new appliances installed, there will always be a place for tradespeople in society. So there is little chance of feeling undervalued if you start your own plumbing or carpentry business!

5. Take the brakes off your income.

If you are employed by someone else and receiving a fixed income, then no matter how hard you work, it will always be a struggle to raise your salary. However, one of the greatest benefits of being your own boss is that you have more control over how much you earn. When you're no longer at the mercy of annual performance reviews, your earnings will depend entirely on how hard you work and the opportunities you are able to find.

As your career progresses, you will be the one to reap the rewards, which will not only be of huge benefit to you financially, but will also give you a greater sense of achievement.

Hundreds of Access Training students have gone on to do just this and use the skills and qualifications they learned at our training centres to start their own businesses and enjoy the freedom that this brings.

Browse Trade Courses >

If you've had enough of working for other people and seek the freedom that comes with being your own boss, enquire today about a course at Access Training or call us on 0800 345 7492. With the help of our course advisers, you're bound to find the right trade course for you.

As a former All Black and Cardiff Blues rugby team captain, 36-year old Xavier Rush is someone sports fans have probably heard of. But after a successful sporting career at both domestic and international levels he’s finally hanging his boots up and moving on to the next stage of his life. Choosing to retrain to become a fully-fledged property developer, he approached Access Training Academies and recently completed our kitchen fitting course. Now he’s moving on toward even more qualifications to expand his trade resume and take on even more work.

We sat down with his to discuss his plans for the future and how he’s finding the change from a ball to a toolkit...

Now that you’ve retired, what’s next for Xavier Rush?

Now that I’ve finished my rugby career I knew I obviously needed to retrain in something. I’ve always enjoyed properties and doing them up so I’ve come here to get as many strings to my bow as possible. The more I can do the less people I’d need to get in for jobs and the less I’d need to pay out.

I first did carpentry when I was 18 and had just left school, but it’s great to have a facility so close to me and the speed at which you can build your skills up. I originally came to do kitchen fitting which I’ve completed, but there’s the Part P electrical component to it too which I’m doing now for the next two and a half weeks. After that I plan to crack on and do six weeks of plumbing as well!

How has the course been so far?

I’ve been really enjoying it and the tutors have been excellent. There’s always some things that you’re better at than others – some of the bends in the plumbing took some time to get my head around. But the more practice you have the better you get at it. You aren’t going to sail through every day – some days are worse than others but you often find once you’ve slept on it, you come back the next day and get it. It’s great to be learning new skills and really refreshing to have a change of career. A lot of people get a bit scared but I’m really looking forward to it – it’s life after rugby for me.

Will you miss the rugby life?

Of course there’s always aspects you will miss – the getting up for a big game like a Heineken Cup match, playing in front of a big crowd. I’ll miss those moments but there’s enough of them in the memory bank to call on every now and then. It’s nice to be on the other side of it now and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my career. I feel quite fortunate – it was a fairly long career and now I’m more excited about getting things started with my own business. It’s just time to move forward with life.

Look forward to more updates from Xavier Rush, who will be sharing his training experiences with us each week as he works towards his new qualifications. In the meantime if you have any questions you'd like to ask him about turning towards a brand new career, let us know on Twitter or Facebook and we'll pass the best ones onto him.

There are a few options open to you if you want a change of career, the good news being it's not as difficult as some people think. If you're looking for a more active job which involves a level of craftsmanship, have you considered one of our intensive carpentry courses? Of course, the first thing you need to decide though is which you would prefer to be - a carpenter or a joiner?

A joiner is the one that makes the time products that a carpenter then fixes on-site. For example, a joiner may be employed to make the doors, windows, stairs etc., "joining" the wood in a workshop. Meanwhile carpenters normally install these products made by the joiner. On-site carpenters will fit door frames, joists, roof trusses and more. Therefore as you can see carpentry and joinery are quite different trades. A joiner might make a beautiful circular window, but the carpenter may do a better job installing it. Similarly, a carpenter may hang a door to a high standard - something a joiner might not be able to do.

Once you've decided which trade you wish to pursue, there are a few options open. The college route will take the longest, possibly up to two years to achieve a CAA Level 2! Being an ex-college lecturer, I've also found that "mature" students mixed in with a class of 16-17 year olds can be a little challenging for an older person. The other route available is an intensive eight week course, which we run here at Access Training. This will give you the same qualification (CAA Level 2) but in an adult environment. It has the added advantage of changing your career in a very short time span and can then be further developed to obtain your NVQ Level 2, which requires some addition evidence being demonstrated at your workplace. Once you have your CAA if you only wish to work for yourself this will be an adequate qualification, however if you wish to go and work "on-site" or in a joiner's workshop then you would need to achieve the NVQ as well. This will give you the full CSCS card required to work in these places.

Once you have your qualification a good place to start (and build your confidence) is by doing jobs for friends, family or neighbours. One of the biggest factors in making a career change is having the confidence to go and try it - the help, training and expertise is out there. Having been training with people for over 16 years I can assure you that it is possible and achievable with some effort on your part

If you would like more information on Access Training's range of carpentry and joinery courses, including the professional qualifications you can achieve from them, give us a call on 0800 345 7492.

- Richard James