5 Sure Fire Signs Running Your Own Business Isn’t for You
The temptation to start your own business can be pretty strong, especially if you’ve been hearing whispers about layoffs at your current company.
With the economy the way it is right now, it’s easy to think that the only way to be sure of your future is to take control of everything yourself. However, going self-employed isn’t easy.
Before you quit your day job, consider the following. If your main motivation is one of the things listed below, self-employment might not be the answer:
1. Your Boss Is Always On Your Case
If you’re considering going self-employed to get away from your boss, don’t do it! Everyone gets annoyed with their boss occasionally.
Try to think about the things you like about your job. Self-employment can be isolating, draining, and stressful. Swapping one stress maker for another is not a good idea.
2. You Want To Make More Money
Many people make the mistake of assuming that they’ll be better off if they own the business they’re working for. This isn’t always the case.
Most home businesses can earn a reasonable income, but there’s a big gap between “reasonable” and “millionaire”.
The road to “reasonable” is long and rocky too, and many businesses don’t make it. If you’re starting a business because you need money, you’re probably setting yourself up to fail.
3. You Want More Free Time
The life of a small business owner might seem like it consists of lazy mornings, and relaxing afternoons in coffee shops, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Even if you do see your self-employed buddy at Starbucks at 2PM, what you don’t realize is that he’s chugging espressos like they’re water because he was on the phone to his internet fulfillment company at 3AM.
When you own the business, you’re responsible for everything, and you never really have “time off”.
4. You Want More Freedom
As a small business owner, you might be able to set your own schedule and choose the direction of your company, but you still have a lot of work to do.
You’ll be dealing with more red tape (taxes, insurance, financial reports) than you did as an employee, and you’ll have to arrange everything from customer service to internet fulfillment, accounting, and advertising.
Sometimes, you may even crave the relative simplicity of being responsible only for the things that are in your job description.
5. You Think You Can Do Better Than Your Current Employer
While many successful companies have come about as a result of an employee saying “I can do this better”, there are a lot of problems with this sort of idea.
For starters, you may have signed a non-compete clause when you started working at your current company.
Even if you are allowed to start up a competing company, are you sure you’ll win? Starting a company based on one product is risky at best.
Before you make any life-changing decisions, think long and hard.
It may be better to wait until you have more than one moneymaking idea before you try to build a company.
