Many people dream of starting their own small business. It’s not hard to work out why; the freedom that comes from being responsible only to yourself (and family) outweighs many of the benefits offered by a traditional career. In fact, it is this one word, ‘freedom’, which lies behind many people’s decision to forge their own path rather than follow a traditional career route.
Read on to find out more about the benefits of self-employment…
Why start a small business?
Time Freedom
Time freedom is probably the main benefit of starting a small business. Despite the fact that while starting your new business you’ll almost certainly be working longer and harder than you did when you were an employee, you will still gain time freedom.
Time freedom is being able to do what you want to do whenever you want to do it.
If you want to go to the store for twenty minutes there is no one stopping you. If you want to see a film in the afternoon you can do it. If you need to send a parcel you can do it when the post office is empty, rather than at lunch time when the queues are stretching out of the door.
“Since starting my own business, I have made a habit of going for long walks in the countryside in the late afternoon. I walk for an hour at least, several days a week. I take my binoculars and simply spend time with wildlife. Of course, my brain is always bubbling away with business ideas. But just being able to take these walks is worth all of the personal sacrifices I have made in starting my business. Joining the rush hour traffic driving home makes me wonder what motivates other people to stick to their own routines.”
Career Freedom
If you start your own business you are free to take that business in any direction you wish. Many small businesses started off as one thing, and over time have evolved into another. Picture framers have become art galleries, music teachers have become publishing companies and freelance writers have become marketing agencies.
When you’re the boss you can do anything you want – it’s actually quite unsettling before you get used to it. That is why you need a good business plan in place. You can take on employees at an early stage, you can do the grunt work yourself and save money, or get people in to do it for you while you get on with adding value to your business. It’s all up to you: marketing, design, hiring, firing, vacation time, costing: the list goes on. The freedom of running a small business is both frightening and exhilarating.
A Warning
If at some stage you want to get back into employment, there is a warning: employees who are tasked with hiring other employees are often rather narrow-minded with their criteria. If they see that you have been running a small business, it can start to set off alarm bells in their heads. This may well be justified. Whereas the person who has been self-employed is likely to be more inventive and knowledgeable, there will always be the concern that they are plotting their next flight of freedom. In many businesses creativity is not seen as desirable (despite what the job advert may say).
Mortgages For Small Business Owners
The other downside of self-employment it that getting a mortgage can be very tough for owners of small businesses. In the UK, the general requirement is three years of accounts, which usually have to have been prepared or verified by a chartered accountant. This is why it may be advisable to wait until you are paying the mortgage on a suitable property before making the jump into self-employment. It seems crazy that your employees are better able to get a mortgage that you, but you should bear this in mind.
Family Freedom
Ask most small business owners one of the biggest benefits of starting their own business and they will tell you that it allows them to spend more time with their families. This is particularly true of a self-employed or freelance worker who works from home, but it can include anyone with the time freedom that enables them to be able to work when they please. A mother who runs a bookkeeping business can pick up the children from school and still do a full day’s work. A father who isn’t tied to his desk is able to spend more time with his wife and family. They can come into his workplace whenever they want.
Money Freedom
Making money with a small business is tough, and for any chance of success, you need to be serious from the outset. However, one doesn’t start a small business with the aim of not making money. Money is the be all and end all of a small business. It is central, even if you run the business as a lifestyle choice rather than a purely profit making machine. Even if it is a not for profit, money is central. It’s the air any kind of concern needs to live.
“Making money is tough. Very tough. When I started my own small business, I will confess my business plan was more ‘buy the right equipment, sell my product’, rather than sitting down and working out how I was going to do this. The first six months were ridiculous. I genuinely wondered why all of the people whom I had expected to buy my products were failing to do so. I think I expected them to just come pouring through the door, excited at the chance of giving me money.”
Running a small business can give you a great deal of money freedom. Having made it, you can do anything that you like with it: put it back into the business, take it out and spend it elsewhere, give it to charity or invest in new businesses.
“Personally, I dislike money. I despise the pursuit of money for the sake of owning it. The only reason I want to make money is to buy freedom. Literally, it buys time. Time to spend with loved ones, or in the countryside with nature.”
Why Start A Small Business
The main reason for starting a small business for many people is time freedom. Being able to spend your time as an when you like it should more than make up for the sacrifices you will no doubt have to make as you start your own small business.
“Everything else stems from time freedom: money freedom, family freedom, career freedom. All are available if you are in charge of your own time.”
So, if you are sitting at work, watching the clock and dreaming about starting a small business, why not draw up a simple business plan? Work out how much money you need, how much you’ll need to get by, and how much you can expect to make.