The biggest advantage of working for yourself is control. You decide when you work, who you work with, and what your day looks like, and no salary buys that back. A member of the Small Business Owners Community put it better than I ever could, and I shared her post on Businessing.
What does “this is my workday” mean?
A member posted a photo of her workday with a line that stopped me. Sometimes she thinks about getting a job, and then she thinks, wait a minute, this is my workday. She’s working right now. She gets to talk to people she likes, on her schedule, doing work she chose. That’s it? This is work? That feeling is the whole case for ownership in one post. Knocking off early, sleeping in when you need it, lunch with a friend on a Tuesday, taking a break when you need a break, and not wearing real pants are all part of it. Those aren’t perks a company grants you. They’re the default setting of a business you own, and it’s worth remembering that on the days ownership feels heavy.
Is working for yourself actually easier than a job?
No, and I won’t pretend otherwise. My old manager Mark Halverson used to say there’s poop in every pasture, and he was right. Whether you work for someone else or for yourself, there’s always going to be stuff you have to do that you’d rather not. Ownership trades one set of problems for another. You carry the risk, you make the sales calls, and you answer for the product. The difference is what you get for carrying it. An employee endures their workday, and an owner designs it. The problems don’t disappear when you work for yourself, but the decisions become yours, and that changes how the same hard day feels. The bad Tuesday still happens. It just happens on your terms, in a business you built, and you get to decide what to do about it.
How do you earn the small business lifestyle?
Control of your calendar is the reward for discipline, not a substitute for it. If you can control your behavior, which means making the sales calls, delivering an outstanding product, getting out there to meet people, and running for office in your market, you get the chance to lead a small business lifestyle that’s simply unmatched and impossible working for someone else. That’s the trade. The freedom is real, but it comes after the boring, repetitive work done consistently. Some days you’re the king of the world, and some days you want to put your phone in the wood chipper. Both days count. The owners who win are the ones who keep showing up through both, and who have people around them who get it.
Why does community matter for business owners?
Because nobody around you understands, unless they own a business too. Your friends with jobs hear “I set my own hours” and think you’re on vacation. They don’t see the risk, the invoices, or the nights you do the books. That isolation is why I built the Small Business Owners Community, and why I do a weekly show for owners. It’s an island of people who get it. When you’re surrounded by owners, the “this is my workday” moments get celebrated and the wood chipper days get talked down. Nobody taught you how to run a business, yet here you are running one anyway, and the fastest way to figure out what to do next is to ask people who’ve already done it. It’s your dream. Don’t grow it alone.
Questions owners ask
Is working for yourself worth it?
If you value control over comfort, yes. You trade a predictable paycheck for the ability to design your own days, and owners who make the trade rarely want to go back.
What’s the hardest part of working for yourself?
Discipline without a boss. Nobody makes you do the sales calls or finish the work. The freedom only pays off if your behavior earns it.
How do I stop feeling isolated as a business owner?
Get around other owners on purpose. Join a community of people who understand the risk and the reward, because friends with jobs usually can’t.
Here’s the homework. The next time you catch yourself thinking about getting a job, look at your calendar and name three things on it that no employer would ever let you do. Then go sell something. You can watch the full episode of Businessing with Pat Miller for the whole segment.
Related
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- How to set boundaries working from home
- Training problem or wrong hire? How to tell the difference
More on this topic: Keep going answers from the Small Business Owners Community
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