[AAA]

I would like to get some input on advantages and disadvantages of owning your own business or advantages and disadvantages of working for a company/govt. I have never worked for myself so don't know anything about the pros and cons.

Advantages of working for a company/govt:
-As long as you are working you can expect a regular pay check
-Better hours
-Less stress
-Medical, Dental, & Vision Benefits
-Retirement plan such as 401k, pension, etc...
-Less responsibilities
-Company help desks for computer issues, retirement questions, etc...

Disadvantages of working for a company/govt:
-You can lose your job at any time
-Little vacation time
-Ultimate decision making rests with someone else
-Could be forced to move positions or move locations
-Dependent on someone else for income

These are obviously just a few.

.

[Ludi]

The main advantage I enjoy as a business owner is almost complete freedom over how I use my time. To a large extent, my income is only limited by the amount of time I put into my business. My work hours are extremely flexible and I can usually take time off if I need to. I usually work only about 4 hours a day for money (often less, sometimes much more - depending on deadlines) and make a lower-middle class income.

I probably wouldn't be able to work for someone else anymore, because of the stress. I'd probably have to go on disability.

Of course as a business owner one is entirely responsible for everything.

[Quinny]

I agree with Ludi if you want to develop a lifestyle business without employees. As soon as you start employing people it changes. Even with a small team of good workers that are co-operative it's hard work, but it only needs one worker from hell and they can ruin all your good work.

My wife had a wonderful little business which she built up to employ 6 people as well as her. One employee was very good for the first year until employment protection rights kick in - after that she became the employee from hell. She was totally dishonest and brought the business to its knees. If it hadn't been for the honesty and attitude of her trade union representative we would have been landed with a massive tribunal payment!

It cost us hours of work preparing and made my wife ill. When it was over we started to try and build the business back up,and got back to 4 good honest staff.

One girl then fell down stairs and broke her back (at home I might add) and has been off sick since. Her friend who had been wanting to work in Social care became her carer, so we were down to 2 so my wife had to increase her hours again. Another member of staff then fell pregnant, so we were then down to 1 member and my wife.

Last weekend to cap it all, the final member injured her foot badly and could be off work for a long time. My wife is trying to keep customers happy the best she can, but there are just not enough hours in the day.

We could employ replacements on short term contracts, but to be honest my wife is too exhausted to spend the extra hours training that's needed on someone who could well end up ripping us off.

My own business has suffered seriously from treacherous employees acting in a way that in the States would be a federal offence. They will suffer in the long term, as they know they are guilty and looking in the mirror must be difficult in the morning. Financially though crime does pay!

Self employment is often not the answer though as you often end up working for the bank if you're not careful!

Read the E-Myth it's quite good at explaining the problems of Entrepeneuralism, and a good guide for successful small businesses as wel.

[heroineworshipper]

Most people who go into business for themselves become independant contractors & end up doing salaried work without the benefits.

Starting a business where you actually produce & sell something of your own is hard because you have to do everything yourself. However, it's getting easier with the internet & most salaried jobs now consume the same amount of time as if you were running your own business.

[AAA]

When I first started working my boss told me to put in a good 8 hours and then go home and don't worry about work because it really doesn't matter except during those 8 hours.

That is what I love most about my job. It doesn't control my life. It only controls 8 hours a day and I actually really enjoy those 8 hours or else I would have worked in another area.

[kpeavey]

I've been self employed for half of my adult life. I've cleaned windows and carpets, bought and sold rare coins, made lollipops and chocolate novelties, cabinetry/carpentry/woodwork, managed property. For the next 2-4 weeks I will be finishing up as a foreman for a contractor, then its back to self employment.

Most people that I have met accept employment as a means to an end. Regular pay, steady work, the piece of mind that comes with fitting into the world, being able to raise a family and live the American Dream without risk all contribute to making employment acceptable.

Working for yourself is a different story. Hacking a living out of a hostile world, permits, licenses, taxes, taxes, taxes, finding suppliers, making do when supply is unavailable, get the product made, moved, sold, competition, attorneys, everyone has their hand in your pocket, can't get good help, no money in the account to buy materials/equipment or even put gas in the car to try to make a sale, customer wants it by Tuesday when it will be a month from Tuesday before you can get to it, customer can't pay or returns it for no reason, customer wants it blue instead of red, insists he said red to begin with, you cut it twice and its still too short, 10 people call today then nobody calls for 2 weeks, the security company calls at 3 AM because the frost triggered the alarm, start at 5AM, quit at 5AM, the new hire's grandmother died on his 2nd day of work, the old guy came in drunk, they new girl can't come in because all the hair fell off her cat, the old girl has a sick kid, they all want Christmas bonuses, benefits, more time off and a raise every 3 months, oh, and can I leave early today?

40 hours a week? Try 168 hours/week. I've worked for a week straight to get an order done, that's no sleep in there buddy. The hired help will bitch and whine if you ask them to stay a couple of hours over. There is no TV. There are no days off. You think about the business while you eat dinner. 6 hours of sleep is a lot.

How's the money? If you are lucky you can afford pasta. The rest goes back into the company for a piece of equipment that broke, gas, light bill, phone, fuel, parts, supplies, materials, insurance, permits, taxes, payroll, bank fees, rent, shipping, advertising or the partner you have known since you were 5 decided it was a perfectly good idea to write a check to himself for the balance of the account (yes, this is a true story). The family wants it for free, friends want a discount, customers want to pay for it in 30 days, and the government thugs, city/county/state/federal, wants their cut whether you get paid for it or not, and will help themselves if they have to.

Retirement
If you are able to stay in business long enough to recover your investment and make a profit, don't get cleaned out in a lawsuit, maybe your kids will take over running the company, keep it going and you can draw an income that way?

Disadvantages of working for [s]a company/govt[/s] yourself:
-You can lose your [s]job[/s] company at any time
-[s]Little[/s] No vacation time
-Ultimate decision making rests with [s]someone else[/s] you
-Could be forced to move positions or move locations
-Dependent on someone else for income

Advantages of working for [s]a company/govt[/s] yourself:
None I can come up with, but I would not have it any other way.

Being self-employed is not a job. Its a lifestyle.

[Jotapay]

I would love to work for myself again. I started a landscaping company in college and did that for a year. It was very enjoyable. Just make sure you take care of your customers, give them a good product, and make them feel like they are #1 and you will have plenty of work.

I make about 5 times as much now though, working for a large corporation. It is very, very stressful but I make enough to live comfortably. It's hard to walk away from the money. But on a level of 1 to 10, I think my stress level is about a 7.5-9, depending on which day. I'm on call 24 hours a day, getting calls at 3am. If anything goes wrong with the systems I'm in charge of, a dozen people could be rousted out of bed at 2am because tens of millions of dollars of inventory could be ruined. The pressure to get things done as fast as possible without mistakes is very important where I work. I can accomplish that with consistent success, which is why I think they hired me. At the very minimum, I'm completely brain dead when I leave every day. My job is like taking an SAT math test for 9 hours a day.

But sometimes I think it will be worth it to make 40% of what I make now if I could relax more while I work.

[davep]

I feel your pain, Jotapay.

I've got my doomstead, but need to work far from my family to do things required to ensure my wife is happy (I, personally, could live in a cave).

If I fuck up, we could lose billions of dollars worth of satellites. But you have to be Zen about it, or the stress destroys you.