4 Reasons Why You MUST Start Your Own Business
1. Freedom to do what you want. This is the big one for me. Not having to drag myself out of bed and trudge my way to work. Being able to take a day off whenever I want. Not having to answer to a manager who knows less than I do. And not having to live paycheck to paycheck.
Of course you can’t expect to spend all your time goofing off (not right away at least). It does take a bit of work to get things rolling. But as your business becomes more self-sufficient you should be able to take more and more time off.
2. You reap the rewards for your own efforts. Companies always try to boost morale by making their employees feel like their job is important. But if you’re sitting in a cubicle pushing papers around, it’s hard to feel like you’re really making a difference.
When you work for someone else, your work is their gain. When you own your own business, your work is your own gain.
3. Your job can disappear in a heartbeat. We all know someone who has been down-sized out of a job. Made obsolete by a new computer system or cheaper labor.
First it was the blue-collar factory jobs that went overseas. Now thousands of customer service, data processing, and other white-collar jobs are being outsourced to India and other nations where companies can pay workers a fraction of the amount they’d pay you.
What will you do if your company decides to send your job overseas? Competition for jobs will be fierce as everyone who is let go will be fighting over the same few jobs that remain.
4. Pensions are all but extinct and 401ks suck. Ok, maybe it’s not fair to say they suck. 401k’s are good in theory. If you can afford to save the maximum amount available every year ($15,500 in 2007) and invest it wisely for several decades, you could have a nice chunk of cash when you retire.
But if you’re living paycheck to paycheck, you have a hard time putting ANY money away. And you may not have the knowledge or skills needed to grow your savings to their potential.
Back in “the olden days” you would start working for a company right out of school, stay with them for 40 years, and then retire with your gold watch and your monthly pension check. Reliable. Safe. You knew what to expect.
But the old-school pensions that previous generations enjoyed are going the way of the dinosaurs. What we’re left with is the 401k, which puts all of the burden squarely on your shoulders. It’s now your responsibility alone to save for your retirement. And as powerful a tool the 401k can be in the right hands, it’s of little use if you don’t know how to use it or if you can’t afford to fund it.
Many (if not most) people will be sadly disappointed by their savings when it comes time to retire. The system is just not set up to help the average worker. If you want to do better than average you’ve got to change the rules. Get out of the “worker bee” mentality and start thinking like an entrepreneur.
Tags:entrepreneurship financial freedom
