Ok, I don't want to be really negative here...
I thought about this one for a while before posting. It varies greatly on the person, but people are always saying "it must be great to have your own business - make your own hours! Do what you want!"
Yeah, well, I don't want my own hours. I want 9-5 . Why? Because my wife works 9 - 5, and I want to spend time with her when she's not working. Also, because all my friends work 9 - 5 and meetings at the kingdom hall are designed for people who work 9 - 5. (Granted, this is my opinion - we do have a Sunday afternoon bookstudy).
And you have to consider the repercussions of making your own hours. Say you think "today is a good day to go to the beach!" - well, you don't get paid for taking a personal day. You miss out on making money that you probably need to pay your bills. Sure, you can work really hard and finish your work early - but maybe you could have done that at a regular job too, or just taken that personal day.
And you gotta think about benefits. Every time I consider quitting my job and running my own business, I calculate how much benefits would cost for my family (an extra $500 - $600/month, minimum) and I just can't fathom that. If you have a spouse who has benefits - great.
But other than that ... I highly recommend it ...
i kind of agree. i think i prefer having the structure of a day job, plus my job is pretty laid back anyway which is good. i dont think i'm cut out for running my own business
Benefits are a consideration, but I can hop on Donovan's for not much more per month. It's not the hours I'm concerned about, though, because it would be working from home, and that's actually why Don and I both have laptops, so we can work together in any part of the house and not be "ships passing in the night" even though we're in the same house.
I'm really just sick of my co-workers and my boss. Not to be a traitor to my gender, but I'm sick of all these stupid women. At least if I have clients who are women, I won't have to deal with them for 7 hours each day and I can choose not to pick up the phone if/when they call.
Donovan and I were talking last night, and he commented about how he's never had a job he wanted to quit until his current job became unbearable in the past few months. I laughed and said I've wanted to quit every one of my jobs because I started to hate them, and he said that's why I need to start my own company. I'm in this cycle of hating jobs every few years, and I'm sick of it.
you're right, it's not 9-5 and you can't leave your work at work
my work is out of my HOUSE so i am never away from it
always checking emails, getting phonecalls from clients at all hours, meeting with clients at all hours...
it is a LOT of work
i cannot emphasize it enough
but to me it is still worth it haha because I can be home.. or out in service or at the beach whenever I want to
it stinks missing out on summer Saturday night hangouts, concerts, etc. but ... it's worth it and I have never regretted starting my own business
but yeah it is HARD WORK do not be deceived haha
people always say that kind of stuff like "ohhh you never work" or "ohh you only work 1 day a week"... NO. Not true in the least bit. Not even CLOSE to being true. It's very hard to explain how much work it is. Its like, Sure I'm out in service right now, or i'm talking to you on the way back from a Zumba class in the middle of the day, or sure i'm text messaging you from the beach.............. but I will be working till midnight tonight. haha
But... it is worth it!