Running a business vs being employed
6 September 2011A short blog about the advantages and disadvantages of running a business and being employed…
| Running your own business | Being employed |
| Buck stops with you for everything | Responsibility is shared – how much depends on the company! |
| You’re more in control | Someone else controls to some degree one third of your life. |
| You only get paid for the time you work | Holiday pay, sick pay, pillow days, bank holidays all paid for in varying degrees |
| It’s easier to be passionate about your own business | Often people feel stuck when employed |
| Flexibility – in theory you decide the hours you work and the amount you charge / earn | Someone else decides when you work and how much you’re worth |
| In practice often business owners work much longer hours and don’t take the time off they should | Lots of legislation to enable employees to work sensible hours – in theory |
| You get paid when your clients pay you | Weekly / Monthly pay |
| You’re unlikely to make yourself redundant or sack yourself. | These days employment isn’t as secure as it once was. You can be made redundant, dismissed, need to leave because of outside circumstances…. |
| The ability to change direction, move with the times and work to your strengths | Often you’re held back by bureaucracy, budgets and managers perceptions |
| More job satisfaction | Can be at the mercy of managers and their mood swings |
| You can decide the clients you work for meaning a nicer working environment | You work with whoever you have to |
| Less travelling if you work from home – which has lots of added time, health and carbon-footprint benefits. | Unless you can work from home in your job (which is becoming more common) the average travelling time is around an hour each way |
| You’re at the mercy of your cashflow | No cashflow to worry about |
| Lots of different hats to wear – you need to be up to date with finance, sales, marketing, operations techniques etc. | Generally you’ll have your job and that’s it. |
| You can advance at your own pace – get more training etc. | Training will depend on the company. |
