The Pros and Cons of Running Your Own Business
Are you sick of being stuck at work, spending the best years of your life slaving away for a big company that doesn’t appreciate you? Are you fed up with going home each day without feeling rewarded, feeling like your creativity is being suppressed and you’re working to the point of exhaustion just to earn money to get by? If so, why not consider starting up your own business? Taking the leap from employee to the boss could be one of the best things you ever do, but there are some pros and cons to consider first.
Pros: Flexibility
We live in a world that’s dominated by work. Most of us work in excess of forty hours a week, top this off with time getting ready for work and time commuting to and fro, and it takes up a huge portion of our lives. What’s worse is there’s no flexibility, you have to be in work at the times your boss states with even a few minutes tardiness being penalised.
The great thing about working for yourself, however, is you can be completely flexible. Of course, you will still need to meet client deadlines and make sure the work is done – but you can work to your own schedule. You’re not micromanaged so it’s a lot less stressful and you can fit work around your life, instead of fitting life around work.
Cons: Responsibility
When you work for yourself, you’re responsible for everything. You have to make sure your accounts are kept immaculately so that no mistakes are made on your tax return. You have to ensure that you’re earning enough money to stay afloat with your bills, and you need to make sure that you’re protecting yourself and your customers from fraud amongst other things.
Secure passwords and Know Your Customer software can help with this. There’s a lot of pressure when you’re working for yourself, as an employee all you need to do is show up and do your job properly and you’ll get paid. As the boss, you’re responsible for every element of your business, as well as doing your job properly.
Pros and cons: Earning Potential
When you go to work as an employee, your paycheck is pretty fixed. While this can be a good thing as you’re guaranteed an income, you are capped and however hard you work, unless you pick up some overtime or extra shifts. However, working for yourself means your earning potential is far higher.
On the downside, this does mean that sometimes you will earn a little less – however, on a good day, you could earn far more than you ever would as an employee. Just be sure you have some savings to act as a buffer, or alternatively, you could sign up to a freelancing site and pick up some work here if your earnings are lower one month. However, when the work is coming in fast it’s incredibly exciting watching your bank balance grow!
This is a collaborative post.
