Start a business or 9-5: Which Should You Do?

Has it ever occurred to you that you are confused about your career options? You don’t know whether to become an employee and earn your salary while working nine to five or kickstart your own business. Maybe you’ve heard many influencers talk about the benefit of having your own business, and you’re impressed by the beautiful stories of successful companies. The direction seems blurry to you, and you can’t figure out which way to go.

You are afraid of making a mistake that might cost you happiness and freedom. If that’s you, you’re not alone. The average person today finds it difficult to choose between entrepreneurship and getting a job. And it’s not their fault. Endless news, myths, and facts are pushed out every day around this topic. Some people even make it seem like you will never succeed as an employee, while others campaign about the failure and risk of having a business.

However, there are always the right answers to every dilemma, and in today’s blog, we want to be the messiah that will provide that answer you have always longed to know. We advise that you read till the end. This is for two reasons; one, you never know the message that will change your life in this blog, and two, we have a fantastic bonus that clears all your doubts and fears and sets you up for financial success regardless of whichever path you choose to take. Relax and enjoy.

What You Should Know

Before anything else, we need to remove the lid on an important fact. And this is it; Whether entrepreneurship or employment, neither choice is a bed of roses. Each has its pros and cons, and how you will manage it depends on your personality. To know the perfect one that resonates with you, you should understand the depth of the water. So let’s examine the benefits and demerits of each side of the dice.

PROS OF HAVING A BUSINESS

You must have heard of different success stories of the entrepreneurs and are thrilled with how much they have been able to achieve in wealth and social status. It even got you thinking entrepreneurship is the way to success. We’ll know whether your motive is correct or not by looking at both sides of the dice. But, first, let’s see some of the merits of having your own business.

Unrestricted income

With a business, there is no limit on your income. How much you can earn depends on you. If you can work hard and sacrifice what it requires, then you can earn it. This holds regardless of if you’re in service or product businesses. If you want to make more, you just have to be willing to improve yourself, learn more, and do more. Then, you’re in total control of your potential income. That gives you the chance to scale your way to wealth and abundance, the likes of which might not be realistic with a job.

Working on your terms

As an entrepreneur, you have the chance to work terms. This does not mean you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. It only means that you are in control of when and where you can work. No one is going to shout at you for your decisions. This can help spice up your creativity and productivity as tension from your boss is now out of the equation. Many people will find this benefit very attractive.

Wide learning experience

Having your own business demands that you learn and develop yourself in more than one area. You must learn how to manage people, customers, finance, communication, and many more. Such experience serves as an asset to your life. It increases your perceived value should you decide to work for someone again or start up a new business. With your wealth of experience, many people will look up to you, companies will be willing to have you on board, and you are in a better position to coach and guide others in building a successful business. That alone can even mean more money for you.

Improved feeling of fulfilment

It is no easy thing to build a business to the point where it becomes a brand to reckon with and generates consistent growth and revenues. Before you get there, you have to deal with competition, market inconsistency, and many failures. The pressure and stress make it hard to achieve and only a few survive to the end. Because you survived through all these with your business, your confidence and esteem will be at the top of the brim. On top of that, you will also be seen as an example of a courageous, diligent person, among others. This usually brings a great sense of fulfilment to the heart and takes you to another realm of happiness.

Independence and innovation

Ideas are everywhere. Millions of them flow through people’s minds every second. But only a few people are working on those ideas. The rest allows it to go and fly away forever. The majority of the former are entrepreneurs. Because of the complexity of liberating an idea in a corporate environment, many employees would rather allow it to die. As an entrepreneur, you don’t need to present your idea to anyone for approval. You can test and try new things as much as you want since you will be in a position to face the consequences. This allows you to explore and discover new things that will change the world and build you an empire.

Becoming a better person

Entrepreneurship will change many things in you. It’ll teach you toughness, resilience, hard work, diligence, trust, and the will never to stop learning. It also forces you to see life from a new angle. You might as well know all this as an employee, but it’s on a different level. Having a business demands more than just doing your work. You have to do whatever it takes to keep the business alive and flourishing. All these processes improve and change you completely into a better person.

CONS Of HAVING A BUSINESS

Risk

If you have not heard that entrepreneurship is not for the weak-minded, it’s one of the truths you will hear today. Having a business is like running barefoot on a burning fire. You have to keep running, or you escape into the unknown world. Statistics show that twenty percent of businesses fail in their first year, and fifty per cent fail five years into the business. In entrepreneurship, your success is not guaranteed. It has put many into debt and bankruptcy. That shows the level of risks involved.

Capital

Although there are ways you can start a business from scratch, you still won’t get by with some expenses. Even if it’s the money you will use to take care of yourself and maintain the business during those primitive stages when it is yet to start bringing in profit, you need finances to set your business up for success. You can cover up for this by looking at financing options. Nevertheless, we must be realistic. Borrowing to start a business alone has swallowed people into the cage of bankruptcy and debt.

Stress

Another big reason anyone might think twice before taking entrepreneurship as an option is a stress involved. Without the presence of a boss, secured income, co-workers, or someone to guide you, it can be lonely and stressful to have a business. Anyone with a business has to train himself to remain optimistic, calm and focused even when everything is going wrong. All these, coupled with the fact that you alone will bear the consequence of everything that goes wrong, can feel very daunting and stressful. This is the reality in the life of an entrepreneur.

PROS OF HAVING A JOB

Suppose you want to get a job and work for someone. These are some of the benefits you will enjoy.

Secured Income

This is the leading and most apparent merit of a job. It allows you to earn an instant reward in the form of a paycheck. Knowing how much you will be receiving at the end of the month gives you that sense of security you might not get from a business. You can budget with certainty since your income is fixed and guaranteed. Generally, it gives you peace of mind and eliminates the fear of uncertainty. You can pay your bills and put food on your table in accordance with your earnings as opposed to looking forward to an uncertain income from uncertain business profit.

Improved work-life balance

When campaigning for the importance of a business, one of the myths commonly shared by people is that you will have the free time to do what you want when you want it. This is garbage that doesn’t hold in reality. You have to deal with a lot of things as a business owner. But as an employee, you’re only concerned with the tasks dedicated to you. When you do more than that, it’ll be from your passion or else you want to earn extra income. You don’t have to deal with anything outside of the purpose for which you are employed, and you can always zoom your way out of work once it’s closing time. This might mean more time for yourself, kids, loved ones, recreation, passion, and other things you love. You probably might not want to take these things for granted.

Skills and personal development

Another impressive thing about getting a job is that it is a free way to learn. Calling it free is even an understatement because you learn and develop yourself while getting paid. As you find yourself in the cooperative world, you will discover certain ethics and manners of relating with people, managing, organising, and participating in an organisation. You might also be assigned more significant roles like leading your team and managing some projects. All these and many more improve your expertise and enhance your personal development. Want more? Working as an employee also offers you the opportunity to connect with more people and experts in your field. This can open more offers for you within and outside your workplace.

Improved Experience

In addition to improving your skill and personal development, it adds one more asset to your life. It increases your experience. Even if you’re just a year into your job, you would have gained more experience in your profession as you practice and deal with several challenges you might have faced. This experience increased your perceived value and gave you an extra edge above many other people. And guess what? Your expertise can even help should you decide to start another business. We’ll talk more about that later. Take it as our bonus as you read this blog.

Now that you know some of the best aspects of getting a job it’s time we show you the other unpleasant side.

CONS OF HAVING A JOB

You are thrilled by the benefits, right? It’s time to see the downside of nine to five.

Job insecurity

This is probably the leading cons of working nine to five. Although your income might be guaranteed in the corporate world, there is still a risk. Your job security is not assured. Your boss can wake up someday and decide to relieve you of your work for no tangible reason. This can put you in a severe financial problem you never envisaged and make life very miserable. Reasons like this are why some people prefer to stay away from nine to five. They believe it’s better for them to take complete responsibility for their success and failure.

Restricted room for innovation and improvement

Another difficult aspect of working nine to five is the ceiling on your ability to innovate and manifest new ideas. Everyone has the gift of beautiful ideas that flow through our minds, some of which could change the world and make them a fortune. But unfortunately, if you have this idea for your workplace, you can hardly bring it to life because it has to pass through many stages before approval. And after many meetings and checking, you can still get rejected, which means that your idea soon fades into the air or you find other options.

Lack of independence

When people talk of freedom with a business, this is what they are saying. But there is a clear difference between the two. Freedom means you only work as you like, while independence means taking full responsibility for your income. You are ready to face the risk and reward of your actions. You can set goals for yourself and work towards them without anyone checking or controlling you. This is something that you will lack under the shield of employment. You can only do what your boss permits you to do, except you are ready to get fired. Each of your actions is also under watch and observation from above. In short, in a business, you can’t do what you think is the best; you can only do what your boss approves of you.

Restricted income

There is a limitation to how much you can earn as an employee. Even though you can push and call for a wage increase, the rate at which you can scale your income is minimal. And the reason is simple; the control is in the hand of your employer. They decide how much they want to pay you for your work. If you’re not satisfied, the highest you can do is to leave the job and seek another green land. Most of the time, employers pay you based on time as an employee. And since we only have twenty-four hours a day, even if you work all day and night, your possible income is still predictable and limited. This seriously restricts your chance of making huge money monthly or yearly.

Should You Be An Entrepreneur Or An Employee?

Either of our choices is correct. If you decide to get a job and live on a paycheck, you’re right. And if you choose to be an entrepreneur, you are equally right. The answer completely lies with you. What you think is best for you is the perfect thing to do. You just have to go for it and conquer your fear. Then, it’ll all be fine. But before you select any option, you should consider some crucial factors. These factors will help you to think realistically and make a logical selection. Let’s check them out.

Passion for learning

How passionate are you about learning and improving yourself? Is it something you’re ready to do for the rest of your life? Your answer will determine where you fall between getting a job and starting a business. Improving and filling your container of knowledge is a must for an entrepreneur.

You have to consistently study your competition, market movement, trends and new developments in your industry. On top of that, you also need to learn how to run a business properly and manage your emotions. The business world never stays in one place, and so must you if you want to have a successful adventure. Therefore, getting into a business means you are in for a lifelong partnership with increasing your knowledge daily. If you are not in for this, then you might want to consider another choice because, in businesses, it all depends on you. But if you find it exciting to learn new information, try new things, attend seminars, read books, and get advice from your superior, then having might be your call. Either way, your passion for the endless seeking of knowledge is a great factor you should consider.

Your purpose

It’s excellent and okay if your drive for going into a business is to make a considerable profit and build an empire of wealth for yourself. Of course, that’s the primary goal of every business. Nevertheless, you need to have a stronger purpose beyond just making money to succeed. It usually takes time before a business will start bringing in the huge profits you desire.

So, you need something else to keep you going at the time when you are not making observable success. This is why you need more than just the desire to make money. Maybe you love houses and would want to have an impact in the housing industry; that’s a good reason to venture into the housing industry. Your reason must be strong enough, and you have to love what you do. The same goes for getting a job.

The courage to keep going

When your business hits a big wall and begins to crumble, what will you do? This is how you should think before going into a business. If you are someone good at managing your emotions and keeping your head straight when things go wrong, then you have the toughness and resilience a business requires. But if the smallest obstacle devastates your existence and gets you worried, it’s not a good choice to start a business now. You can get a job and train yourself to be resilient enough to handle the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.

The will to handle stress

With respect to the things you have to deal with in a business, we don’t need a fortune teller to know that it will be stressful. You should ask yourself how ready you are to leave your comfort zone and do things you might not really like. Yes! Loving what you do is not enough to do a business. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get what you want out of your business.

Here is an exercise to know if you fit in. Imagine the scenarios of stress and pressure in your business and see if you will cope with that kind of life. You can also ask people who are already in the business of the darkest time they encountered. Ensure you have the will to handle those kinds of stress before you head in. If you’re not in for that, then you might consider getting a job. It’s also stressful but very minimal compared to owning a business.

Adaptability

Leading your business to success will require that you stay glued to your goals and principles. In the same way, it also requires immediate adaptation to new developments. New competitors might enter the market, government policies, customer behaviour might change, your present competitors might take new turns that can put your business behind, and many more. So, to keep your business relevant, you cannot do without change and improvement.

Strength of patience

Another factor you should consider is the length of time you are willing to wait before getting results. That depends largely on your personality and your current financial status. If you’re broke, what you need might be something that will give you instant results for your work. And that’s a job. Not a business. Before you start a business, you must be willing to wait for as long as it takes to get results. Having a business is like planting a seed. You can’t expect to reap the fruit as soon as you plant the seed. So, if you’re not ready for a long-term deal, it might not be wise enough to start a business.

Your experience and finance

Starting a business is not all about your desire to make it happen alone. Without the skills and finance required to run the business, you will only set yourself up for a glaring failure. If you lack the experience or finance needed to run a business, you might first need to consider getting a job that will put food on your table and pay your small bills first. It’s even advisable that you get a job within the field of your dream business. That way, you will be able to gain enough experience, save up and fund your business on the side. With time, you can decide to go full-time in the business.

In conclusion, all you need to clear all your dilemma is a six-word question. The reason you don’t know where to head is that you are asking yourself the wrong question. When you replace the wrong question with this six-word question, you will gain clarity and make a sensible choice. Here it is. “Which one resonates with my personality?” 

Instead of asking yourself, “which one should I choose” ask yourself, “which one resonates with my personality”. Once you answer this question, you already know the career direction you should take. When you do what you are passionate about, you have more chances of success and happiness. So, observe yourself and go for what fits you the best. 

More importantly, never forget that even if you get a job, you can also start a business as a side hustle and learn and manage through it. And when your business is strong enough, and you’re ready for what it takes, you can become a full-time entrepreneur.

WHAT YOU NEED FOR FINANCIAL SUCCESS AND FREEDOM

Take this as another bonus for reading this blog. Nine out of ten times when this question of a dilemma “should I start a business or get a job” is raised, it always originates from the fear of financial future. People want to know the one that will help them secure their retirement and save them from poverty and bankruptcy.

They want to choose the one that will guarantee their financial success and freedom. So, when someone asks, should I have a business or get a job? What they are actually asking is, which of these alternatives will guarantee me financial freedom and security? The answer is simply “none”. None of it will eliminate that source of your fear. In fact, both of them have been a source of financial doom for as many people as possible.

Financial freedom goes beyond just having a business and getting a job. It is a three-sided triangle that involves making money, keeping and investing it. Your job or business will only provide one side of the triangle. You need to learn the other two to grow your money and become wealthy, which we cannot cover in this blog. Now that you know that this is just about you making money, you can make rational choices that will not be driven by your fear. Whichever one you choose has its ups and downs. What’s more important is the one you are happy doing. Your financial freedom demands more than just earning from a business or job. So, make a choice and learn to grow your money to wealth and abundance.

If you love this blog, please give it a thumbs up and share it with those that might need it. They will thank you for saving their future. Remember to also signup to our newsletter to get more blogs like this. Having your business or working for someone; Which do you think is best for you? We’ll love to know in the comment section. You can check out also the relevant posts on “Don’t fail to ask yourself these 17 questions yearly“.

© Lifestyle Tips by Antoaneta

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Recommended books for further reading:

• Good Vibes, Good Life: How Self-Love Is the Key to Unlocking Your Greatness
• Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• Mindset – Updated Edition: Changing The Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential
• The Miracle Morning: The 6 Habits That Will Transform Your Life Before 8AM