There are two types people in life; those who want to stay in the corporate world with all the security and pay it has to offer, while the entrepreneurial others will branch out and set up their own business.
Going it alone can be difficult and terrifying initially, but it also offers a host of both sort and long-term benefits. Here’s a look at just a few advantages of working for yourself:
1. Be your own boss: This has to be one of the best things about working for yourself. You don’t have to answer to anyone and can choose how much or how little work you want to do. You don’t have to ask the boss if you can have the morning off to go to the dentist or doctor or try and prove to the boss you are worthy for a pay rise.
2. Set your own salary: Following on from the last point, you can decide on how much you want to pay yourself. Obviously if you aren’t bringing in a lot of money, you cannot receive a high wage but if you have worked really hard and won new business, you can give yourself that bonus.
3. Work from home: Working for yourself (depending on the company) allows you to work from home or closer to home. This means you can save a lot of time and money as you no longer need to commute into the city and you can be more efficient with your time.
4. No risk of getting fired: In the economic crisis, more people are worried about getting fired if they do not meet their targets. If you’re your own boss, you won’t be firing yourself but you will need to make sure the business succeeds, otherwise you’ll have to go back to working for someone else.
5. Flexibility: You can be more flexible with your day. If you want to head down to the beach at lunch time, you can do so. For those that have young children who need to be picked up earlier from school than 5pm, you can do this as well.
6. More time, less waste: Working for yourself means you can spend time on the areas of the business that are important to you. You do not need to spend time on brochure design for a product you do not believe in. If you feel one product should be marketed more than the other, you can make that decision and you do not need to waste money on excessive marketing material.
7. More confidence: Some people find they have more confidence when they are working for themselves as they are in the position to make decisions and get the work pushed through without having to worry if the boss will criticise their decisions. Being in charge of a project and having to answer to only yourself gives a lot of people more confidence.
8. Work to your own schedule: You don’t have to meet deadlines set by an overachieving and overbearing boss – you set your pace. If you want to work slower one week and make sure all the bases are covered before moving onto the next stage, you can. You only have yourself to answer to and therefore it can be less stressful as a result.
9. Implementation is easier: Once you’ve decided on a project to complete for a client, you can just get on with it. You don’t need to keep having meetings with your boss for approvals on the next steps which will slow down the project.
10. Sole responsibility: This can both be an advantage and a disadvantage, but for those who are their own boss, having sole responsibility is the best way to work. If you are the one person to manage and ensure the work is completed, then you don’t have to worry about setting up status calls with your co-workers or checking with the finance team that you are in line with the budget. You have sole responsibility and you’ll know that if you promise the work will be delivered on time, it will be.
