A growing number of people want to start companies because they want to “be their own boss”, it is a flawed picture. Totally flawed.
The wrong assumptions include thinking that just because you run your own business, you can choose to work anytime you want and you can do whatever you like per time. It does not work that way, in fact, it is nearly the opposite; starting your business will require an insane amount of time investment from you. You will spend most of your waking hours working on the business, trying to grow the business, fighting to keep the business alive for another month.
Just because you are a talented person with some good technical skills does not mean you can start a company. You have to understand and respect the fact that the only work that keeps a company floating is not the technical aspect. Running a business involves the (sometimes complicated) co-ordination of many moving parts, running a business is not for the faint hearted.
Now, let us move on to the truth: we all have bosses, we all have people who tell us what to do.
Working in a company means you have a person you report to. Working for “yourself” might mean trading your one boss for many bosses; angry clients bombarding you with deadlines and ready to tear you apart. Many freelancers are not really entrepreneurs like they like kidding themselves to believe.
In a business, the ultimate boss is the customer, customers tell us what to do all the time and we can either comply or get fired – the customer has got choices.
Going Boss-less is really an illusion. It does not happen, you will always find yourself reporting to someone or the other. My candid advice to people is to seek out a place where they can find the leadership and mission that excites them, if you do not find such, feel free to start such a place.
Starting a business is not about whether you are the boss or not. It is about asking yourself every day: “Are we working on something that matter to the world in this place?”, “Does this organisation empower me to do my best?”.
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Watching The World
- Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, has inaugurated the Anambra State Small Business Agency (ASBA), the goal is to give loans to MSMEs as needed.
- A new ecommerce player with lofty ambition plans just launched. Meet Yudala.
- On a lighter note, Twitter and Medium Announce They’ve Invented Email.
