When you are self-employed, focus your resume on the same elements as covered in a traditional resume: your skills, work history, education and professional accomplishments and awards. Treat your business like you would an outside employer: Describe the nature of your day-to-day work, talk about your role within the company and show that your skills meet the needs of your prospective client.

Job Description
Begin by listing your current business on the chronological listing of your work history like you would a job that you held through a traditional employer. State the name of your business and how long you have been self-employed, and list the city and state where you operate your business. Follow this with a brief description of the type of work your company performs and what type of tasks you perform on a day-to-day basis.

Along with creating a description of your work, give yourself a descriptive job title, such as "freelance consultant," "owner" or "founder" to give the client or prospective employer a clear picture of what role you play within your organization.

If applicable to the position you seek, explain the type of client base you serve and detail how many regular clients employ your services.

Skills
Within your self-employed resume, discuss both what type of work you perform for your clients and what administrative and executive duties you play in your company. When listing your skills, think outside the scope of your daily job duties and consider what you have gained from being self-employed.

Think about the varied roles you play as a self-employed individual, and don't overlook skills and responsibilities such as budget management, recruiting new employees, supervising workers, preparing financial and legal documents and developing business plans.

Functional Formatting
If you have created your resume with the intention of returning to traditional employment, consider a functional resume format. While a traditional resume lists education and work history chronologically, a functional resume places these sections near the end of the document, instead beginning with a list of specific skills, which may include customer service, writing, human resources management, marketing, finance, IT management, computer programming or artistic skills, such as graphic design, desktop publishing, Web design and photo editing.

For each specialized skill that you list on a functionally formatted resume, briefly describe how you developed your professional proficiency in the course of your self-employment.