Should You Be Your Own Boss? Here Are 3 Questions To Ask Yourself…

Should You Be Your Own Boss? Here Are 3 Questions To Ask Yourself…

More than 38 million people quit their jobs in 2021. 

According to statistics published in the Wall Street Journal, the numbers are showing that people are fleeing corporate America and opening their own businesses. Here are some staggering stats:

  • The Labor Department shows that there are now 9.44 million self-employed workers – up 500,000 from before the pandemic. 
  • The number of Federal Tax ID number applications rose 54% between 2019 and 2021. 
  • Between February 2020 and November 2021, the number of people who consider themselves self-employed rose from 5.4 to 5.9%.  
  • The number of Etsy sellers rose from 2.6 million in September 2019 to 7.5 million in September 2021.

Hanging your own shingle over the door is a romantic notion, but should you be your own boss? 

Becoming your own boss means picking up the slack on all fronts. Instantly, your job responsibilities expand to include accounting, marketing, payroll (even if you're just paying yourself), and admin. That's on top of what you actually do whether that's programming, content marketing, or consulting.

Most people don't realize how big of a psychological toll it can take. Which is interesting because the top reason cited for leaving the comfort of a J-O-B is burnout. 

The lure of self-employment is freedom and choice. But the reality is taking on jobs and clients to make ends meet, especially in the beginning. It also means paying healthcare premiums and managing your own taxes. 

There is a misconception that self-employment means not having a boss at all. In fact, it's about having a lot of different bosses, called clients, each with their own deadlines, demands, and demeanors. 

Before stepping out on your own, spend some time in self-reflection to determine if it's right for you. Here are some questions to help you decide if you should be your own boss. 

  1. Why do you want to be your own boss? 

If you can't answer this question fully, you cannot design your life around self-employment. A lot of people want to earn more money, create freedom to live and work as they want, have more flexibility, or pursue a passion. 

Here's the truth. If you pursue your passion as a job, your passion will become your job – not so much your passion. Your chances of success are far greater if you pursue self-employment based on doing something you're skilled at doing. This is the premise of my work in my bestselling book, You Turn: Get Unstuck, Discover Your Direction, Design Your Dream Career.

Your core skill set is far more powerful to harness in your career than your interests. Your interests and passions are a backdrop for your work– your skills should be the main focus. 

This brings us to our next question…

2. What do you do best? 

Before setting out on your own, take a hard look at your strengths and weaknesses. Be honest. Your strengths are what will help you succeed. Your weaknesses are what could sink your ship. 

If you’re not sure what your strengths are, don’t be afraid to ask the people who know and love you. Ask them, “when have you seen me at my best?”... Their answers could be hugely insightful.

The skills you've gained while working for someone else could be what you use to make money working for yourself. On a team, it’s important to find team members who have strengths in the areas of your weaknesses. For example, if you're a computer networking genius but don't know a thing about finding clients (marketing), it's likely that the company you worked for had a marketing guru. 

When you're on your own, you are the marketing guru. 

Knowing your weaknesses will help you manage those to give you the best chances of success, just as understanding your strengths will help determine what direction to go. You can always improve…especially once you know where to start. And in this example, your starting point is hiring a marketing consultant or taking a marketing class. 

3. What are your core competencies? 

Your core competencies are the inner workings of your being. They are what drives you to become a great entrepreneur. These are things like an unwavering commitment to succeed and a willingness to take control of your future. 

The University of California, Irvine describes five core competencies of successful entrepreneurs. Those include: 

  • Taking control of your own destiny. You live your life on your terms and don't need someone else telling you what to do or deciding your fate. 
  • Believing you can empower others. You will not succeed by yourself. To make it on your own, you will need to employ the strengths of others and that means empowering them to do their job so you can do yours. 
  • Having street smarts. This is your gut – it's what you listen to when nothing really seems to make sense or fit together as it should. 
  • Being creative and persuasive. Find your own voice and express that in your unique and creative way to persuade others to follow you. You will not succeed if you cannot persuade people to work with you. 
  • Never giving up. You don't own a white flag! When things get tough, and they will, you dig deep to find solutions or changes to be successful. 

Once you've explored your core competencies, strengths and weaknesses, and fully get your "why," whether you make it or not depends on one final question: Do the benefits of self-employment outweigh the costs? 

Stacey Marmolejo

Need help "humanizing" AI copy? Message me!

2y

Great advice for someone wanting to start their own business. Thank you for sharing. For those who have never owned their own business, I'd recommend that they consider buying a franchise. You are your own boss, but the business comes with a proven playbook, a support team and a known brand, making the road to success shorter, less arduous and a heck of a lot more fun!

Like
Reply

To view or add a comment, sign in

More articles by Ashley Stahl

Insights from the community

Others also viewed

Explore topics