by Brian McKay
There are a vast number of benefits to being your own boss; the most prominent being that unlike being employed by someone else you get to dictate the terms with regard to how much money you make, how many hours you work, the schedule you choose, and who you work with.
Indeed, many of the problems of employment, beyond the financial limitations come down to having to do things on other people’s terms; whether that’s being forced to work with people you don’t particularly like or get on with, the unsociable hours, or lack of money that makes you feel like you aren’t being paid what you are truly worth.
Interestingly, in business, when you are your own boss you will get paid exactly what you are worth as your compensation will be in direct proportion to the amount of value you create to a third party (e.g. customer).
This is greatly advantageous when compared to the traditional model of employment, as in this sense, you are predominantly paid based on the amount of time you put in rather than on the basis of the value you create in terms of input.
This can be particularly frustrating when, for instance, you have a lazy co-worker that works nowhere near as hard as you do, yet gets paid the same amount for their time, or even more, as often salary within employment is pegged in some way or another to the length of time that employee has worked for the organisation - rather than the value they bring.
Being your own boss is a great way to reclaim your life and take control of some of these issues, however not everyone is cut out for being their own boss and there are some drawbacks.This website; the8figuredreamlifestyle.com offers six questions to consider in working out whether you have what it takes to be your own boss, at this stage in your career, and it’s wise to fully consider your motivations for wanting to be your own boss.
Are you wanting to have more time freedom, so that you can peruse shops like lush.com and have lazy afternoons spent in a nice hot bubble bath whilst everyone else is out tacking the congested commute in the rain - or is more about fulfilling your potential and developing a business that leads to complete financial freedom?
Whatever your motivation, it’s worth considering the drawbacks of being your own boss too - as many people end up trading a secure and well paid job for working longer hours with a lot less security and certainty, with much less pay to the point they are sometimes unable to make ends meet, and a lot more stress.
The point is that being your own boss has some wonderful advantages but there are drawbacks to consider too. This is particularly true if you’re used to the corporate trappings; such as a nice office, premium leased car and business class travel. It’s important to have a balanced perspective when considering being your own boss as, on the one hand, there’s a lot more freedom, control and potential prosperity, whilst on the other hand, there’s often an uphill battle to just keep your head above water when starting out as your own boss that can take its toll on your health, family, wealth and happiness.