Why Being Your Own Boss Is Probably A Bad Idea
For most people, it’s the equivalent of being lost.
You can be very busy, and yet do nothing substantial.
In
my experience, that is the reality for most people who are
self-employed. They work super hard, but their work isn’t directed into a
direction that has the potential of ever getting them anywhere.
Most of my adult life has been like that.
I got excited about something, and I put all my heart and mind into that.
For a while.
I worked very hard on getting as much stuff done as possible with whatever little resources I had other than my own time.
I got myself engulfed in tactics.
Doing. Executing. Working my ass off.
The result? I had done a lot of stuff, but I wasn’t any step closer towards my real goals.
Instead of a good product, I had a nice-looking website.
Instead of real customer understanding, I had a social media account with x followers.
Instead of profitability, I had spent my money on some nice-looking business cards.
… and then the next “exciting” opportunity came along
What was the result of this? New website, new social media accounts, new business-cards.
Yes, I know. I was stupid.
But I really don’t think that this behavior is so uncommon in the start-up/freelance world.
Most
‘entrepreneurs’ simply don’t know what they are doing. They are without
plan. Without accountability. Without any business-sense.
They
are either professionals in a particular field, or they basically have
nothing tangible except for their own youth and enthusiasm. Regardless
of which of these two it is, they have zero experience in building a
real business.
You know, one of these things that actually get money flowing in.
A business with a real, actionable business-plan. Not a fluffy, cute little thing that exists only in somebody’s dreams.
Do you even know what you are selling?
Do you even have a clear plan how to make money?
Do you even know who needs that stuff you are selling?
Do you even know how much money you need to cover your expenses, and whether or not a big-enough market exists for that?
If
we’re honest to ourselves, most ‘entrepreneurs’ can not even answer the
most basic questions around their ‘business’ or whatever that thing is
they are hoping to build.
Busyness without purpose
The
day has come. You have finally decided to take that step. You are now
officially un-empoye… ehh, self-employed. Congratulations! You now have
what you always dreamed of.
Finally,
you can decide whatever you want to do. You can decide when you want to
work and when you want to take a break. You can decide how much money
you want to pay yourself.
You stare at your computer.
“Now what?”, you think to yourself.
Well,
I could… start by building a website! Yes, that way I can clarify in my
head what exactly it is I am trying to sell. And, anyways, don’t all
the experts say that as an entrepreneur I should always be willing to
learn new skills?
So you start working on the website and oops!… before you know it, one week has passed.
Congratulations. You have now spent a week’s worth of time and $100 on building that website.
Now, what are you gonna do with that?
Hmm, okay. So now I have a website. So maybe I could… try to bring on some people who are interested in my product?
(which product, by the way?)
The
problem is that very few people who are ‘self-employed’ are actually
capable of directing their attention on the most central issues that are
actually involved in building a business.
Their
mind is simply jumping back and forth between different things that
could be done, without any clear plan and sense of direction.
With
all the new things that are constantly coming up, in this way it is
easy to get caught up in a never-ending spiral of busyness without
purpose.
Going through years of struggle
A business-sense.
Self-control.
Accountability.
Market knowledge.
Dealing with uncertainty.
Making a clear plan and sticking with it.
These, and many more characteristics, are essential to have for successful entrepreneurs.
Unfortunately,
none of them can be developed in short periods of time. They are all a
result of years and years of making mistakes, learning from them, and
re-applying these lessons learned in new situations.
As a result, the large majority of first-time entrepreneurs or freelancers are most likely going to fail.
What does this mean in reality?
Yes,
that’s right. Years of struggle. Years of living without a decent
income. Years of being scared about whether or not you’re going to be
able to pay the bills next month.
Please, live with the reality:
Being self-employed is really fucking hard.
It
is definitely not what the media are promising us. All this stuff about
being in control of your own life. Having the freedom to make your
decisions. Being able to work from wherever you want.
In
the beginning, and for quite a long time to come, being self-employed
means not being able to think about anything else but your work.
It
means spending almost all of your time on your business, often without
making any money at all. It means being anxious all the time, without
any clear idea of whether or not you are ever going to succeed. It means
devoting all your life to a dream, which may or may never come true.
Are you really one of the few?
According
to the global entrepreneurship monitor, 27 million Americans are
currently either starting- or running a business. This makes up for
about 14 percent of the working population.
70% of all business ventures fail.
Finally,
this means that there are about 8 million Americans are actually going
to be able to live from their entrepreneurial venture on the long run.
Not
only is this less than 2% of the total population, but many of them are
also going to run their business in a way that is hardly better than
survival from a financial perspective.
But please, don’t get me wrong here.
It may sound as if I am trying to discourage you from becoming an entrepreneur. That is not the case at all.
Society
definitely needs people who are producing rather than consuming,
creating job opportunities for others, and push the development of
humanity forward with their inventions.
But
what I really want is for you to be aware of the consequences what it
means for your life if you are deciding to walk that route.
Gary Vaynerchuk
has often said that if you have ever been able to stand working on a
job as an employee for longer than a year or so, then you are most
probably not going to make it as an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs are people who can’t stand living their life in any other way. People who can’t stand working for others. People who love the dirt of working hard and pushing through all odds. People who embrace the pain, instead of running away from it. People who thrive in uncertainty and are pushed forward by it. People who are willing to sacrifice everything in order to make their dream come true.
Before you make that decision to become self-employed, please do yourself a favor and think through all these issues carefully.
Are you really willing to sacrifice almost everything for your dream of being your own boss? And, if yes, do you have the patience to commit to years of eating dirt before you see any results?
If
your answer is no, then please be honest with yourself and don’t commit
yourself to something that will only make you unhappy. The world needs
you the way you are, not the way that the world is glorified by the
media.
If your answer is yes, then please build something awesome. And hey, don’t starve in the process.
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