What's one good thing about owning a business?

[msaelim]

You can work hard and smart to still have your job. I just got laid off today and had my position eliminated with no warning today. I had to immediately leave and the ex boss said to use him as a reference.

Psh! a part of me is relieved because I feel like I can focus on myself a bit, find myself, go into finding my passion for entrepreneurship which I know I always wanted. I will probably try to find a pt corporate job if possible or wherever life takes me.

I can't trust someone else to my security. Articles were right, job security at corporations are a lie!

[Harold Mansfield]

Sorry to hear about the job. The first few days are the best because there's no immediate panic, and you get to sleep in and not have to deal with all of the things that you didn't like about the job. Enjoy them. Probably the most free you will ever feel for a while.

Best thing about owning a business/working for yourself to me are?



Knocking off early or not working at all on a weekday for no absolutely no reason. Just because.
My morning commute is 25ft. My uniform is whatever I want it to be, and I don't have to shave everyday.
Not needing approval from anyone for anything.
Get to listen to whatever music I want, all day, everyday.
Getting to the point where you can actually enjoy 1-4.

[billbenson]

I graduated in 1980. Even back then I could see job security declining. You have to go with the changes in the times.

One thing I suggest, whether you are an employee or self employed, become very knowledgeable in an industry apart from what you are doing. We've seen entire industries disappear in this economic turndown and the dot com crash in 1997. You need to be able to hit the ground running if it happens to you.

[huggytree]

going into business was the best life decision i have made.....it would kill me if i ever had to work for someone else again

i think of it like a game....if you win your rich, if you lose you have to lower your lifestyle and have a boss again

[Wozcreative]

As a freelance graphic designer, having worked for agencies in the past, traveling 2 hours to and 2 hours from work back home I can say I've earned the right to wake up, walk to my kitchen, make a coffee and head over to the other room I have my office in. What kept me taking two buses, a subway and a streetcar to and from work every single day was just the love I had for what I was doing and learning. During winter storms those 2 hours each way commutes turned into 4 hours. I happily tell that story now because it was COMPLETELY worth it.

Other benefits:

1. I wear what I want. Usually an old tshirt and some sweatpants. I joke about working in my pajamas, but I do need to get dressed to feel like I'm ready to work!
2. I feel I have more control over my schedule.. even though I work long hours and on weekends quite often. However this is by choice and out of boredom. Weekends are great to get projects you feel like doing done. It is also very peaceful, no emails or phone calls to attend to. No deadlines to rush for either.
3. Being able to take the day off, have a half day etc when it's a slow day or you don't feel well, or have important errands to run.
4. It would be difficult to find a job in my career that pays me what I currently get paid as a freelancer.
5. I enjoy setting goals for myself to see if I can achieve them. It gives me a great sense of pride in my own abilities if I do achieve them.
6. I just love my life a lot better. I control who I work with, the projects I work on. This allows me to work with fun and positive clients who respect my knowledge and I can learn from. Working in an agency meant I was stuck with the hours, the pay, the clients, the projects. A designer needs to explore.

[Freelancier]

Everyone on here will have great reasons to own your own business. We're all made those decisions already and so you're getting confirmation bias from a group of self-selecting individuals.

Here's the flip side: whereas with a job you're hunting for a new paycheck every time you have to change jobs, with your own business you're hunting for a paycheck every single day for the rest of your working life. If you're not efficient at that hunt, being self-employed will turn out to be a miserable experience.

[Wozcreative]

Everyone on here will have great reasons to own your own business. We're all made those decisions already and so you're getting confirmation bias from a group of self-selecting individuals.

Here's the flip side: whereas with a job you're hunting for a new paycheck every time you have to change jobs, with your own business you're hunting for a paycheck every single day for the rest of your working life. If you're not efficient at that hunt, being self-employed will turn out to be a miserable experience.

Great point! This is EXTREMELY important to keep in mind. The hunt for a paycheck is the reasons why I haven't figured out/can afford vacations. The usual process for me is if I go on vacation, sure I can afford a $2,000 for a cruise, however I have to remember I am not making $2,000 - $3,000 during that cruise. I then have to remember that I have to come back and start finding/working to even start being paid. So a vacation costs me $8,000 and not $2,000.

If you can't handle not going on vacation for years (I've gone 6 years without one), then you are not ready. But if you are like me and just need weekend rest, or have another hobby to take your mind off it during the weekend (for me it's trying something new/experiencing something I haven't before). Then owning your own business is fine. The other thing is if you don't have a family and don't need any benefits then you are also fine. I live alone, so I work around the clock when I'm bored. If you can do that, then start a business.

[KristineS]

Here's the flip side: whereas with a job you're hunting for a new paycheck every time you have to change jobs, with your own business you're hunting for a paycheck every single day for the rest of your working life. If you're not efficient at that hunt, being self-employed will turn out to be a miserable experience.

And this has so been the sticking point for me when it comes to launching my own business. It's such a reality that people don't consider. Yeah, a steady paycheck comes with a lot of crap sometimes, but it's steady paycheck that you know is coming. I don't have a problem with working long hours (do that already for someone else) or having all the responsibility (do that already for someone else), but the idea of having to hunt down work and what do I do if it can't be found kind of terrifies me a little. Promoting myself is not my greatest skill (which is kind of odd for someone who makes a living promoting others) so I worry that I won't be aggressive or confident enough.

I know enough people who run their own businesses to know there are a lot of great things about being a business owner, but I also know it has it's rough spots.

[Harold Mansfield]

And this has so been the sticking point for me when it comes to launching my own business. It's such a reality that people don't consider. Yeah, a steady paycheck comes with a lot of crap sometimes, but it's steady paycheck that you know is coming. I don't have a problem with working long hours (do that already for someone else) or having all the responsibility (do that already for someone else), but the idea of having to hunt down work and what do I do if it can't be found kind of terrifies me a little.


At first it is terrifying. Very. Especially when it's just you and you don't have a lot of money saved up, nothing or no one to fall back on, or another income source like a spouse bringing in a steady paycheck.

But it gets less and less terrifying as you get more comfortable closing new clients and learning how to keep business coming in. It definitely doesn't happen overnight and how you keep that business coming in is not the same for everyone.

It's worth it now, because I feel like I've gotten over that hump and now it's about growth. But it was a big hump that lasted much longer than I expected, and I have a lot of broke weekends, paying bills at the last possible minute, and weeks of empty refrigerators under my belt during the journey.

[Freelancier]

The hunt for a paycheck is the reasons why I haven't figured out/can afford vacations.For mental health, you should do it anyway. I think it helps if you have someone else there who insists that you have down time, otherwise -- you're right -- you can end up working all your waking hours away trying to stay ahead of poverty (or "poverty" if it turns out you're doing better than your brain lets you think). Even when I was single and struggling, I tried to schedule a week of something fun every year just to have something to look forward to. And you adjust all your working schedules around to account for that lost week, since you had enough lead time to do that.

[user2837]

One good thing is that you can be in total control of everything...work hours, decisions, etc.

One bad thing is that you can be in total control of everything. Owning your own business can sort of be a double edged sword if you are not careful and do not remain diligent in your efforts.

[billbenson]

For mental health, you should do it anyway. I think it helps if you have someone else there who insists that you have down time, otherwise -- you're right -- you can end up working all your waking hours away trying to stay ahead of poverty (or "poverty" if it turns out you're doing better than your brain lets you think). Even when I was single and struggling, I tried to schedule a week of something fun every year just to have something to look forward to. And you adjust all your working schedules around to account for that lost week, since you had enough lead time to do that.

Wish I could figure out a way to do this Freelancier. I have a website but most orders are closed over the phone. It's a technical product and I'm good at technical sales. After 8 years of building up a website and customers, I took on a a partner a year and a half ago. I hoped that would lead to the ability to take some time off. What it did instead is allowed us to have much better customer service and respond to all RFQ's. Probably doubled our business, but didn't make time for vacation. He went on vacation Thursday and Friday of last week. No way I could handle the calls and emails.

The next move would be to hire a salesman, but it's an unusual technical product. A lot of training involved. Beyond that, I like getting up in my underwear, getting a cup of coffee and walking into my home office. To move beyond where I am I would need to set up an office and a sales staff. That's not what I want to do.

So to the OP: Be careful. You may bite off more than you really want to chew, even if its the best steak in the world.

[Dan Furman]

Great point! This is EXTREMELY important to keep in mind. The hunt for a paycheck is the reasons why I haven't figured out/can afford vacations. The usual process for me is if I go on vacation, sure I can afford a $2,000 for a cruise, however I have to remember I am not making $2,000 - $3,000 during that cruise. I then have to remember that I have to come back and start finding/working to even start being paid. So a vacation costs me $8,000 and not $2,000.


What I do is a month before my vacation, I start offering tire-kickers a better deal to book the week I get back. I always fill it with a project or two.

[Freelancier]

Wish I could figure out a way to do this FreelancierI have three different businesses that keep me hopping... and I still figure that if the customer wants what I have to offer, they can wait 6-8 hours for me to respond to their request. As long as I do it that day and I usually tell them that I'm on the road and having connectivity issues, that usually covers a multitude of sins. Make sure you are in a place with WiFi, then use the early morning and late afternoon hours to handle any pressing issues. I do it all the time... I'm doing it right now, as a matter of fact.

Just go make the reservations!

[ActionMan]

Whatever you do, make sure you're not buying yourself another job. I did that once and after four grueling years I finally got out of it and went back to the old J-O-B! Now after a several years back in a job I think I'm finally ready to consider starting my own business again.

Consider what business you want to do and figure out whether it has potential for growth and can scale relatively easily and without you having to do all the grunge work all the time.

[DeniseTaylor]

After that, you're probably looking for inspiration. I'm sorry for your loss, by the way.

Keep in mind that having a business isn't all wine and roses. It has its downsides, too.

But in this case, I think not being fired or laid off is one of the biggest pluses of having your own business. Also, being able to set your own hours is great, too.

[Tc123]

Great point! This is EXTREMELY important to keep in mind. The hunt for a paycheck is the reasons why I haven't figured out/can afford vacations. The usual process for me is if I go on vacation, sure I can afford a $2,000 for a cruise, however I have to remember I am not making $2,000 - $3,000 during that cruise. I then have to remember that I have to come back and start finding/working to even start being paid. So a vacation costs me $8,000 and not $2,000.

If you can't handle not going on vacation for years (I've gone 6 years without one), then you are not ready. But if you are like me and just need weekend rest, or have another hobby to take your mind off it during the weekend (for me it's trying something new/experiencing something I haven't before). Then owning your own business is fine. The other thing is if you don't have a family and don't need any benefits then you are also fine. I live alone, so I work around the clock when I'm bored. If you can do that, then start a business.

This is where a lot of small trade and practice businesses have an issue because of vacation days are like a dream. This issue was dealt with in the past through apprenticeship. this sparks a growth in the trade yet you then have to deal with expanding your market even more. You can grow your business quite well if you are willing to take on an apprentice or intern to guide them as a master at your work. Before vacationing though you would have to be sure that they are reliable enough to track down that paycheck for the both of you. Most serious entrepreneur trade professionals will understand the idea of if you don't eat they don't eat right away it also helps the paycheck grow but it also depends on how small or how big you want to grow and what area you live in for the market. This is a tricky one right here because you can make a small franchise based on what your doing it all depends on your exit plan of when are you planning to go out of business that also leads you to vacation time as well if your exit plan is to work till your in your 50s-60s you model your business around that exit plan and save for that time so you can play but you have to factor in the inflation costs of the future to have a stable exit.

[Blessed]

And this has so been the sticking point for me when it comes to launching my own business. It's such a reality that people don't consider. Yeah, a steady paycheck comes with a lot of crap sometimes, but it's steady paycheck that you know is coming....

This is why my husband works for someone else right now - until we can put enough back that he feels confident we could go a year without his income he'll keep working for someone else. The stress of not knowing money is coming each month is too much for him. I'm able to freelance because what I earn is for our extra's - but at the same time I never get a "real" vacation - and like @Wozcreative mentioned - anytime I do take off, I'm loosing not just the money we're spending on the vacation - but the money I'm not earning during the vacation. HOWEVER - I've learned to make it work and I can usually get 2-3 days with minimal involvement with clients/etc... for when we want to take a short vacation somewhere - we're not into cruises, but do enjoy taking the camper out to the park for a weekend, so it works & it's valuable down-time.

So, like @Harold Mansfield mentions - I can freelance because we have a steady income source, and my income is stabilized - I can count on earning enough to pay for the kids school each year $2k; put tires on our vehicles $1k each; take at least one vacation $1k; buy clothes, shoes, gifts; fix the cars, fix the appliances, and etc... that leaves the extra we have from my husbands paycheck as truly extra - that we can save - working towards that goal of both of us being able to work for ourselves.

Next step - pushing hard enough on my business to see it start to grow and expand - so that we can reach those financial goals faster.

Now to answer the original question: Owning my own business lets me stay home with my kids - as a Mom with a 5 and (almost) 7 yr old - that's important. It also means that my working hours include 10pm-midnight and/or 4am-7am... weekends and a sporadic 30 minutes here and 45 minutes there and an hour when I can squeeze it in :D so Momma is tired most of the time, but it's worth it!