Advantages and disadvantages of starting a business

Resigning from your job and starting your own business is a huge decision. You are not only changing your job, you are changing your lifestyle. The new freedom is amazing, but also comes with new responsibilities and pressures you never had to face whilst working for someone else. If you are just considering making it on your own, here is a list of what we think are the pros and cons of starting your own business:

Advantages:

1. Being your own boss

This is it – you make your own decisions and you get things done the way you think is best. You no longer will be told what to do, need approvals or having to explain your decisions. This is your own business and there are no limitations to your success.

2. It’s your success

Every little achievement is your own. All your hard work is what makes your business successful and you will be very proud of what you achieved. You will become more and more confident as you see yourself succeed and you will feel a great sense of self-fulfillment.

3. No more office politics

You no longer have to deal with all the the office politics and the related non sense or having to attend pointless meetings. You chose your meetings and how you want to spend your time.

4. There is no income limitation

You will only be able to earn as much in a job.  When you work for yourself it’s down to your hard work and abilities – there are no limits to how much money you can make.

5. No more commuting

You can work from home or a nice convenient location – you can even chose to work from a different place each day if you prefer to work in a cafe or co-working space. Again, you make your decisions and work from wherever it suits you.

6. Flexible hours

You set your working hours. Yes you will be working much longer hours at times but you have the freedom to decide which days and hours you work. You can start late, leave early and take breaks whenever you want.

Disadvantages:

7. It can get a bit lonely

At the beginning you are likely to work on your own, maybe even from your own home and it might feel a little isolated. Make sure you communicate with others on regular basis, listen to music and go out as much as you can.

8. It’s all on you

There is no one else to blame, you are responsible for all your mistakes. You will no doubt do your best (it’s your business after all), so don’t be too harsh on yourself. Even if things get temporarily difficult, focus on fixing the problem instead of worrying about it too much.

9. There is no pay day

Of course you will be making money, but your invoices won’t get paid on a specific day. At times you will have to chase your clients for payments and other times it will just take a lot longer than a month for the money to reach your account. So it’s a good idea to have a little bit of money saved up to be covered for those times without stressing yourself out over unpaid bills.

10. Some days will be very long

You will be probably doing longer hours than you would in your regular job. It’s not just about the time spent doing the work, it’s all those additional times when you think about work and try to sort things out in your head. But its natural – it is your business and you care!

11. There is no paid holiday or sick pay

When you are too unwell to work or if you are taking time off you would get paid for that time at work. Not if you are working for yourself – so be aware that you will need to plan your work around times when you want to take a holiday. Obviously you can’t plan for a sick leave, so again having a bit of spare cash is important to be covered for those times.

12. You will have to multitask

You are the one person in charge of everything (at least at the beginning) so be prepared to multitask. It can be stressful at times so talk to your friends who might have the skills or expertise that you are lacking and ask for help if you need to.