4 Reasons to Work for Yourself

4 Reasons to Work for Yourself
By Arthur Cooper
(c) Copyright 2003

Almost everybody working as a paid employee of someone else must at some time or another wished they were their own boss. Nearly everyone at some time or another thinks that they could run things better if they were in charge. Whether in a shop, in an office, in a factory, - wherever – most people at some point think about becoming self employed.

For many it is just a passing thought, and they remain perfectly happy working as employees. Some of course rise to high positions of responsibility within companies owned by other individuals or by public shareholders.

For others it becomes a real obsession and they make the break and go off to run their own businesses with greater or lesser degrees of success. They are fulfilling their dream.

Still more, though, continue to dream and to wish but never take action. They never make the break. If you are still wavering, here are just some of the reasons to consider why you might prefer to work for yourself.

1.Freedom and Responsibility

As your own boss you are free to do as you like. Nobody is there to order you to do what you don’t want to do. No-one will tell you to arrive early or work late. You won’t have to do the menial and routine tasks that need doing if you don’t want to. You won’t have to be nice to unpleasant customers if you don’t want to. You have total freedom to do as you want.

But of course the other side of the coin is responsibility. It comes with the freedom. You are free not to do certain tasks, but it is you that is responsible for the consequences. You choose. Nobody forces you. You decide what is worth doing and what is not. And once you have that freedom of action it is surprising what you will happily do that you would not have done before.

Why do so many self employed people work long hours and sometimes do apparently menial tasks without complaint? It is not just because they are struggling to make ends meet. Many very successful self employed people continue to do these things. It is because the whole game has changed for them. They enjoy the challenge of building their businesses. They see that what they do now will benefit them later. They take pride in what they are doing. The same task becomes so much more satisfying when working for themselves.

2.Money

Yes. This can be a real motivator. Very few people achieve real wealth by working for someone else.

Certainly you can earn a very good salary indeed in some companies and achieve a high material standard of living. At the very top of big enterprises financial rewards can be large. Nevertheless, the really big jackpots are hit by men and women who start up their own businesses.

But lets be realistic. The big jackpots and the huge fortunes are few. Most of those who run their own concerns will never be amongst the super rich. Some may never achieve more than a very modest living. But make no mistake, money is there to be made and the chances of making it working in your own business are far more than if you are working for someone else. It is the same old story. Risk and reward. If you take the risk you have a chance of getting the rewards. If you don’t take the risk you don’t get that chance.

3.Security

This may seem a strange reason for going self-employed. Surely you are more secure in a salaried job than you are working on your own account? These days it is not so obvious. The days of working all your life for a single blue chip employer have long gone. No company is immune from the storms of national and international affairs. No company is free from the effects of economic downturns and international competition. You are as secure as the length of your notice period. A month? Three months? A year even? None of these are very long compared to your working life.

At least as your own boss you are in control of your destiny. You do not have to watch helplessly as bad management wrecks your company. You don’t have to suffer the consequences of short term pillage of the company to the detriment of long term viability. You don’t have to put up with the consequences of others’ imcompetance. You alone are in change.

It is for you to decide your own strategy. You can decide your own balance between security and risk. You can base this on your own criteria, and these may change over time. You may start off prepared to take high risks to achieve your initial aims. As time goes by you may prefer to lock in the gains and build up a level of personal security to safeguard your achievements. As you approach retirement you may be a lot less inclined to take risks than you were when you were younger - or maybe your still are. The point it that it is entirely in your own hands. You decide.

4.Satisfaction

The satisfaction gained by doing something yourself can never be equalled. To know that you have achieved something worthwhile by your own efforts alone is enormously satisfying.

Those ordinary people who decide to run a marathon will never be the fastest or the best, but their pride in their achievement knows no bounds. A man who builds his own little boat in his back yard over many years has a product that to him is fabulous even though probably no better than one bought from the supplier. Their satisfaction and sense of achievement is of the highest simply because they did it themselves

How much more so with your own business? In business you really can aim to achieve the best. You can make the best product or give the best service. You can do things a better way. And each step along the way you can say ‘I did that’, ‘that was my decision’, ‘I am responsible for that’, ‘I did it my way’.