Working as an Employee Vs Being Your Own Boss
Being your own boss is one of the biggest temptations that entrepreneurship poses. Most people venture into business to escape from the stress of having to deal with the daily drama in the workplace, endless traffic jams on every commute to the office and the often meager and disheartening pay. In Nigeria, the entrepreneurship boom has been attributed by many to the shortage of employment and the need for Nigerians to thrive. This is to suggest that it’s a conditional boom.
However, there are actually some benefits to being an employee which you can never get when you are self-employed. And many don’t know it, especially if they haven’ ventured into business yet.
Quitting your job and engaging in business doesn’t mean all the stresses would go away. Thing’s won’t get better in an instant. In fact, there are some disadvantages to entrepreneurship – some may even cause you to think twice about your looming decision to quit your 9-5 job. We’ll explore what these disadvantages are in this article.
Employment or Entrepreneurship which is right for you?
Jumping from being employed to being self-employed is a decision that’s not that hard to make. In fact, you could be working in the office today, quit tomorrow and start with your journey towards entrepreneurship tomorrow.
That sounds easy right but you need some skill set in order to move forward in your new venture. You need to formulate a plan, work on its fruition and if it’s something that people should know about, you need to begin with the advertising and networking.
If you are confident with these then you’re now set for the journey towards being your own boss. Many don’t realize that this decision requires a lot of work especially when the business takes off from the ground and starts growing. It can be tedious in the long run.
So before quitting your job, here are some points that you need to consider especially if it’s self-employment that you’re hoping to land into.
The Pay
Employees just like what you are right now don’t need to worry about their pay. Payroll is on schedule and money comes on time when you expect it. And there are strict laws that exist to protect the right of every employee in terms of pay and benefits.
Freelance workers and entrepreneurs don’t have any of these cushions. You can find yourself dealing with clients who fail to send payments or even bailing out.
Unforeseen circumstances can delay your pay so if you easily get stressed on delayed payments or you’re not that good in saving for the lean months then entrepreneurship is not a field for you to venture into.
Hours of Work
Starting a business require much time and effort. You can find yourself working more than a normal employee would. For instance, a normal 40 hours per week work for a regular employee can easily extend to 70 up to 120 hours a week when you jump into building-up a business from scratch.
This adds a huge amount of stress not just to you but even to your relationships. You end up spending more time on the business and less time on your family for rest, relaxation and recreation. You could be spending all those long hours of work without an assurance of the business making it to success.
The Taxes
Income tax isn’t too kind on entrepreneurs either. If you account for self-employment tax, it means that you’ll get an average of 10-15% to pay for your income tax.
Taxes can turn into a painful blow to entrepreneurs who fail to do good in budgeting. Business is not just about the money that’s coming in but also controlling what’s going out. If you’re not doing good with this then taxes would come like a thief and you end up having little to no savings at all- it would have been better if you worked as an employee.
The Verdict
Jumping to entrepreneurship can be worth it if you have the skill set and you possess a good amount of personal commitment towards doing all the work by yourself. Remember that it will require many hours especially if you’re just starting.
At some point, you will experience payment gaps and deal with other problems that you wouldn’t have to experience if you are an employee.
So it is best to not only focus on the freedom of time and doing the things you love that it promises but also with the amount of work it would require if you really want it to be beneficial in the long run. If you really want to venture into entrepreneurship then here’s what you can do to ensure a smooth transition to it from your regular work.
There are plenty of advantages and drawbacks in being your own boss so before making the leap towards this new territory, make sure that you know every one of its pitfalls and only then you can be sure if it really is worth it or not.
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Culled from: Meet Innovation
