Small businesses make up a very large portion of our economy here in America and it’s no secret that I’m a fan of entrepreneurs. There is a pride among the entrepreneurial community about their freedom and about their success (current or eventual) that they can’t help but speak about. Sometimes they even go so far as to say that’s the only way to be happy is to own your own business.
Yes, there are freedoms that are associated with being an entrepreneur such as making your own schedule, picking your own line of work, and deciding who you get to work with. But there are also downsides too, like the struggling startup years, or the times when you are “on call” 24 hours a day, or the times when your company gets sued. I want to talk about the argument for entrepreneurship and the one against it.
DEBATE TOPIC: Is it better to build your own business or work for someone else?
My Past Experience
The reason I bring up this topic is because of a conversation I had with a friend 2 weeks ago and it has been stuck in my head since. We talked about employment, employers, and the pros and cons of working for others.
We also talked about how we’d both been in positions we loved, as employees.
We had similar stories: corporate training positions with a wide variety of responsibilities that required travel. This is obviously a very short & generic description, but these were some of the main similarities that our previous lives shared. And for the most part, we both loved them.
When we reflected on them, we only had good things to say about the former positions we held and the work that we did. Of course we had reasons for leaving that didn’t necessarily have to do with the work itself. We found our sweet spot as Dave Ramsey calls it, the intersection of our passions and our talents.
Happy Entrepreneurs
As I scour the internet each week on blogs and podcasts I hear this faint ‘battle cry’ from entrepreneurs for people to not “get stuck in the 9-5” of a boring life. Now granted, people who own a business are typically more prideful and, well, entrepreneurial, so they’ll be the ones starting blogs and podcasts to talk about their experiences in the first place.
But they all seem to have a sense of pride that they have broken out. That they are on their own and that it’s a bad thing to work for someone else. They encourage others to do the same, even though the road to a successful business is littered with failure and sacrifice.
There is the obvious argument that entrepreneurs make more money than the average worker bee. But that is still up for debate when we consider the average salary of a recent college grads and the fact that 95% entrepreneurs have a bachelor’s degree. Wouldn’t it make sense that even after a few years of working, they would be able to match that of the average salary of an entrepreneur and have some sort of benefits package included?
Then there is the argument for entrepreneurs that there is more freedom, but many people don’t know what to do with all that responsibility. There are still so many people in this world that need to be told what to do and cannot think for themselves, but let’s leave our education system out of this. I have seen this inability to think for one’s self over the past few years, and we’ve done it to ourselves.
Job Hunting
This whole conversation started because my friend asked me who I would want to work for in a perfect world. I told her I’d found my sweet spot in my previous life, but that it was seemingly impossible to find that again.
I explained that I applied to a few companies, but I couldn’t exactly cram my last 6 years of experience onto an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper since my experience was so varied.
I know that there are people out there in the world that are happy at their jobs and have no inclination to leave, I was one of them for a long time! But we don’t hear from them, and it seems that if they are talking, they are being drown out by the entrepreneurs that are more willing to put their opinions out there.
Open Debate
So that brings you up to date and me to my conclusion. I couldn’t find what I wanted to do, so I’m creating what I want to do (new website is not up and running just yet).
I would love to hear from people that have lived in their “sweet spot” as an employee and enjoyed great benefits with a happy work environment, is that a place you’ll stay? Or do you have an itch to start your own thing?
OR
And for those entrepreneurs, do you ever wish you could just have someone pay you and not have so much responsibility? Are you one that preaches to others about quitting and starting on their own?
I know there are two sides to this argument, and I think I’ve seen both, but I want to hear from both sides and why you have chosen your path. Please share let me know your thoughts and share with someone you think has a great opinion on this topic for me.
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Leave comments below or chat with me on Facebook and Twitter, I’d love to hear other’s opinions!
Have a great day!
