Have you always thought of breaking out on your own and enjoying the flexibility of being your own boss? Well, you’re not alone. Statistics from the Department of Labor indicate that over 380,000 people left the labor force in August 2019. The economic recession affected American workers, and more people are exploring the option of becoming their own boss.
Although the idea of starting a business is exciting, it’s not right for everyone. You may find it challenging to succeed if you don’t have the passion, resilience, consistency, and skills required.
In this guide, we look at what it means to be your own boss. We also explore some challenges you may face and the steps to take to become your own boss.
What it Means to Be Your Own Boss
Being your own boss means having flexibility in working hours, choosing the projects you want to work on, planning your daily schedule, and having full control of a business or enterprise.
Becoming your own boss allows you to enjoy the perks and flexibility that come from working independently. However, it’s something that will require you to put in more work hours for the venture to be successful.
It’s critical to dig deeper and ask yourself some questions before you take the plunge. Some of these questions include:
Why Do I Want to Start a Business? Starting your business may seem like a good idea, but you need to be passionate about your business and have the desire to make it work.
What are my Lifestyle Goals? Getting into business means a lifestyle change. You may have to work on weekends, extend to nights, and on holidays. Sometimes you may find it a challenge to take paid time off, especially when your business is in its startup stage.
Am I Resilient? Although the idea of being self-employed may sound fantastic, you’ll realize that there are chances of the business failing due to various challenges. It’s essential to learn from your past mistakes and bounce back.
What are the Perks of Being Your Own Boss?
Some of the benefits of becoming your own boss include:
Ability to Enjoy Flexible Working Hours
One of the most significant advantages of breaking out of employment to start your business is flexible work hours. Typical work hours in an office environment are set, and you have to adhere to the rules. However, as an entrepreneur, you can decide on the time to work and schedule relaxation time.
Remember that although flexibility is a fantastic thing, failure to commit to a set work schedule and working inconsistent hours could lead to failure of your business. You need to have the right work-life balance to succeed as a business owner.
Have Greater Control
You can only exercise control within what’s stipulated on your job description as an employee. Being a self-employed person gives you control over the business. You can make decisions on behalf of the company and in your career.
Sense of Satisfaction
As an employee, you may get a reward like being an employee of the month medal or receive a pay raise. Nevertheless, when you perform and meet your set targets as a business owner, you not only get an increase in your income, but you also get to see the company grow as a result of your decisions. Inevitable failures won’t be greeted with losing your job, dealing with harsh criticism, or judgment. That results in a feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment.
It’s a Learning Curve
Another advantage of being a business person is that you get to learn different lessons in business management like consumer psychology, micro-management, account, professional correspondence, and more. The knowledge acquired can help you run a successful business and even venture into new startups.
As technology keeps changing, you may need to broaden your skills to improve your business. That means taking up courses, attending conferences, and going to networking events.
A Chance to Business Networking
As the owner of a business, you’ll need to do more networking as opposed to being employed. If you are employed in marketing, advertising, or public relations, you’ll need to do a lot of networking, but you may not need to if you’re in the accounts or HR department.
Being your own boss means having to conduct transactions and communicate with people in related industries consistently. You get abundant networking opportunities as you interact with other business owners and managers.
Passion Becomes Your Main Drive
Sometimes you may get into employment because you are desperate for an income. However, being in business means pursuing your passion and finding something that resonates with your purpose and values. Working on something you are passionate about inspires personal involvement and can help you push through any setbacks.
Acquire and Form Positive Attributes and Habits
Being employed means, you don’t have as much responsibility as a business owner. You may develop some traits, but not as.many as a self-employed person. After running a business for a long while, you’re likely to develop attributes like diligence, punctuality, reliability, frugality, and diplomacy.
Get Ultimate Autonomy
As an employee, despite having a good working relationship with your boss, he/she still has an ultimate say in your professional life. Becoming your own boss gives you autonomy, which means you can decide how you manage various aspects of your business, how you treat your customers and suppliers, where you source your items, and other elements.
Create More Employment Opportunities
Venturing out as a business owner means not only creating a job for yourself but others as well. Hiring other people to help you around also contributes to the local and national economy. Over time, you can offer to mentor others, support local charities, or even offer internships to give back to the community. More people are choosing to incorporate social change into their business models, and you can decide to do the same.
An Opportunity to Leave a Legacy
Never underestimate the power to improve and influence other people’s lives as small as your impact may seem. You’ll realize that through your business, some people will draw inspiration and value.
The Sky is Not the Limit For You
You are limited in regards to how far you can go as an employee. The chances are that you may have excellent ideas that could transform a business, but you’re not in a position to implement them. Being your own boss enables you to experiment and try out different strategies to find out what works best for your business. You have the opportunity to think outside the box and reinvent the wheel.
Decide Your Reward
You get to decide what you want as a reward as a business owner. Some people decide to boost company profits instead of getting a salary, while others wish to have a salary at the end of the month. As your own boss, you can decide on extra time off, allowances, bonuses, and more.
An Opportunity to Make More Money
When running a business, you are likely to earn what you are worth. You have an opportunity to dictate your amount and charge for value. What’s more, you get to enjoy business tax perks, which may translate into more income.
Retire Early
You can save more towards your retirement as your own boss. That’s because you have a chance to make higher annual pension contributions than the retirement package provided by an employer. You can retire early if you so wish as a business owner.
Challenges of Being Your Own Boss
Being your own boss also comes with its problems like:
Feeling Isolated and Alone
Getting to run your business might seem like a cool thing, but most of the time, you’ll feel isolated from the rest of the world and alone. You’ll miss the excitement and thrill of being a part of the corporate sector.
Unsteady Income
When starting, you’ll not have a steady income like someone who’s employed. You may need to work a little harder to make money and pay yourself a salary. Also, you may have to do without paid leave if you go on lots of vacations.
You Need to Work Round the Clock
Most people have the misconception that when you’re working for yourself, then you can work whenever you feel like. However, this is not always the case when you’re building the right foundation for your business. You may need to put in more work hours to get things running.
Handling Most of the Work on Your Own
As an entrepreneur, you have to take up a lot of tasks, unlike when you were employed. At some point, you may have to become the sales, HR, communications, and admin person. You’ll need to ensure that every part of the business is functioning correctly. Once you’re established, you can hire people to help you with the other tasks.
A Chance to Lax in Your Style of Work
When working as an employee, you have a boss who monitors your work and ensures that you meet the set deadlines. Having these deadlines prompts you to work efficiently and swiftly. Nevertheless, as your own boss, you have to set your working hours. If you’re not on a strict work schedule, you may become lazy in your style of working. Using shortcuts and cutting corners may lead to the downfall of your business.
Miss Perks
Employees have the benefit of enjoying a lot of perks when working in big companies. As your own boss, you’re likely to miss out on these benefits like bonuses or paid vacations. You need to understand that at the onset, you’re likely to miss out on these perks. At some point, you may feel like giving up, but you need to push and be consistent to get the results.
Everything Depends on You
Although running your business can be exciting, you’ll have to do a lot of things alone. That means if something happens to you, work stops, and that translates into your business getting losses. You have no one to blame if anything goes wrong because everything is your responsibility.
Lack of Guidance
As an employee, you have someone you can go to for guidance and advice. Nonetheless, once you become your own boss, you’ll miss out on this, and you may need to trust your instinct when handling things. You won’t have the motivation and support.
Signs That You’re Ready to Be Your Own Boss
A report by Freshbooks shows that 27 million Americans are expected to leave the corporate world in favor of self-employment by 2020. Starting a business takes more than passion and a business idea. Remember that you may be leaving the comfort of a steady salary, and you may have to deal with the unknown. That’s why it’s critical to take a step back and decide if it’s worth the risk.
Below are some signs that show it may be the time to be your own boss in 2020.
Lack of Energy and Enthusiasm in your Job
Was there a time you were excited to go to the office and were ready to be authentic and get things done? If you’ve lost this morale and motivation, it may be time to consider becoming self-employed. Being your own boss means that you get to experience your authentic self without pretending to be a different person at your job. Another sure sign is when work starts to affect your relationships and leaves you feeling frustrated and angry.
Your Job Leaves you Feeling Suffocated
As a creative person who’s excited and inspired to go to work, you may start feeling unenthusiastic and suffocated in your career. You lack the energy to keep going, and you’d instead be deciding what hours to work, when to go for vacation, and the amount of salary to earn. All these indicate that you’re ready to start your business.
Change of Goals
Chances are that you’ve been trying to climb the corporate ladder if you are an employee. However, you may get to a point where climbing the ladder is not your ultimate goal. A report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the median years of tenure with a current employer for those over 25 years is only five years. If your job doesn’t give you that fulfillment anymore, then it may be time to explore the business world. You may also feel like the world has more to offer and that it’s time to align your career with your values.
You Have a Clear Vision of Where You Need to Be
Being self-employed is only the beginning; you’ll have to deal with the decisions you make afterward. For you to do that, you need to have a vision of where you intend to be and come up with a plan of how to handle whatever challenges you face along the way. If you’re not ready for this, you might as well stick to your job.
You need to know your why, which includes your intentions, reasons, and motivations behind starting a company. Ensure that your WHY is strong enough to endure challenges.
You Have a Realistic Business Model/ Business Plan
The US Small Business Administration attributes a business plan as one of the essential aspects of becoming your own boss. The plan should span three-five years and account for revenue projections, milestones, and goals.
You Work Well From Home and You’re Ready to Work Odd Hours
If you’re tired of working in cramped cubicles, noisy offices, or you’d rather work in a place with some background noise, then you may be ready to work at home and pursue your business. Also, you may be prepared to be your own boss if you like working odd hours. Having a schedule outside of regular business hours may prepare you for the business world.
You’re Convinced That You’ll Succeed Regardless of the Timeframe
You may be ready to be your own boss if you believe that you can find greater success on your own. Success lies in the chase, and you’re willing to be consistent throughout to get to your goal.
You Have the Finances to Fund Your Idea
You might have enough savings, the family supporting you, or an investor who’s willing to walk the journey with you to ensure success. Having funds during the start-up period allows you to sacrifice and reinvest back to the business before getting back to a steady paycheck.
You’re Ready For Challenges
As an entrepreneur, you’ll have lots of challenges and setbacks to deal with. You need to see potential pitfalls and have a plan on how to deal with them. If you have advisors that can help you with brainstorming sessions and you can discuss problems as they arise, you may be ready to become your own boss.
Being ready for challenges also means that you can handle making difficult decisions. You may need to train, hire, review, and terminate some contracts. Understanding these harsh realities will better prepare you for the entrepreneurial journey.
You’re Passionate About the Business You Plan on Doing
Success will come naturally if you do what you love and believe in. You need to be passionate about what you’re doing, as this ensures that you can keep going despite the hurdles.
Steps to Being Your Own Boss
Do you now feel ready to jump into entrepreneurship after going through the signs? You may feel like this is the right choice, but you may be hesitant. It’s perfectly okay to feel this way since this is a significant transition. Fortunately, we’ve done all the work for you, and we’re ready to guide you on the steps to take to become your own boss.
These steps to being your own boss include:
Have Clarity in Your Vision and Believe in Yourself
The first step to making it in business is to have clarity in what you aim to achieve and to believe that it will be successful. Having the motivation to run the day-to-day operations or starting a new venture is critical. Being clear about your vision will help you stay motivated throughout the journey.
Find a Business That You’re Passionate About
When choosing a new business, it’s best to start with your knowledge and passion. Remember that you’ll need to out in long hours and deal with multiple challenges on your entrepreneurship journey. For this reason, it’s better to follow your dreams and decide on a business idea that you’re passionate about.
When starting.a business, it’s essential to also work with your experience. Find a business niche that you could use your unique expertise or skill. A part of finding a business idea also involves learning from others. You also need to find something that’s missing in the market, educate yourself on the subject, and get advice.
The next step involves analyzing the underlying economics in the opportunity. Find out what regulations you may have to deal with, what people like, and who will be your main competition.
Have a Business Plan
A business plan is critical for the success of your company. Apart from attracting investors, a plan also provides direction. Moreover, you’re able to sit potential challenges and come up with ways to resolve them to run a smooth business.
Creating a business plan also helps you understand who your ideal customer is, where you can find them, and what they’re interested in buying. Building a buyer persona will have an impact on your marketing, which will translate into the success of your business.
Understand Business Basics
If you’ve never run a business before and you’re not sure whether you should have a limited ability company or an S-corporation, it’s time to learn all these things. Start by reading books, consulting an accountant or attorney, and find a mentor to guide you in the startup stage.
Get Your Finances in Order
Having funds to run your business is one thing, and managing it is another. You need to figure out how you spend the money you have to better plan for your business. That means you’ll need to come up with a budget to know where you can make cuts and where you can reinvest. What’s more, working with a budget enables you to know how much money you have, the amount you need to spend, and the money that you’ll need to bring in to meet business goals.
Invest in Yourself and Your Business
For you to run a successful business, you need to invest in yourself by reading books and taking courses in your area of specialization. You should also get the necessary equipment that you need to run the business. Starting with items you can afford will reduce the stress of having to pay for them when you’re an established entrepreneur.
Have a Support Network and Build Your Network
The key to turning your dream into reality is to surround yourself with people that can guide and support you on your journey. That could be business owners that you admire, a business coach, or an entrepreneur whose philosophy you resonate with. Find a team that advocates for success instead of competition. Also, a support network holds you accountable and motivates you to succeed. Remember that when networking, you need to focus on being authentic, building trust, and figuring out how you can also be of help. Some of the places you can look for successful people include social media groups, networking events, connecting via email, or asking somebody to mentor you.
Test the Business Idea Out
Sometimes it’s best to launch your business as a side hustle as long as you don’t violate the set policies. That translates into lower costs and risks when working full-time. It’s also the best time to test your market and determine if there’s a demand for your products/services. You’ll also get to figure out what pricing and marketing strategies work best.
Take the Plunge
It can be daunting deciding when to take the plunge full-time or if to wait to build your business after months of working on your business and handling your full-time job. Nonetheless, if you’ve done your research, understand your market, and know that you have demand to sustain your business, then it’s time to dive in. Understand that you’re not going to get everything right, but starting is the only way to determine your hurdles and overcome them for you to be your own boss.
Final Thoughts
Being your own boss requires you to step out of your comfort zone, be adaptable to change, thinking big, committing to life-long education, and learning how to set your priorities and taking responsibility for all your actions. There are advantages to becoming your own boss, although you’re likely to face some challenges.
However, after all the handwork, perseverance, and consistency, you’ll enjoy great rewards and satisfaction. Don’t forget to get a mentor to guide you in the entrepreneurship journey. With our detailed guide, you should have an idea of how to start and build your business.