Pros and Cons of Having Your Own Business

If you’re ready to start and own a business, it is time to know the pros and cons first.

When you know what you are getting yourself into, you’ll know whether you’re ready or not and if this is really what you want. You don’t want to fall into the category of 20% of businesses that fail in their first year.

Every business you own has an advantage and disadvantage; therefore it’s necessary to know them if you want success. And in this post, you’ll find out these pros and cons of starting a business that will be helpful to you.

Pros of Owning a Business

1.       Being your own boss means you have the freedom to make your own decisions, plus you can’t get fired. You are independent and are not always looking over your shoulder because nobody is ordering you to do this and that.

2.       You are in control of your finances or business. With a 9-5 job, you always know by the end of the month how much you’re getting. But with owning a business, what you put in is what you get out. You might make $50,000 today and tomorrow make $100,000, so you have power over your finances, plus you determine if your business will succeed or not.

3.       You can work from anywhere you want, whether it’s a home, an office, or a different country. Since you own the business, you call the shots, and if you started this business to be closer to family, having a home office will be perfect for you.

4.       You are more confident and have self-belief because when you start implementing your ideas and you start succeeding, your doubt is eliminated. If I ask you – can you do my homework, and you give me unconvincing answers, and you seem unsure, I won’t be confident in your ability to handle that work; therefore, I won’t risk my money on you. 

5.       You set your own hours and aren’t limited to working from 9-5. You can either work for more or fewer hours, it’s your business, and that brings flexibility.

Cons of Owning a Business

1.       You take a greater financial risk because there isn’t a guarantee that it will succeed. This financial risk you’re taking means using most of your own money, and you’re prone to getting into debt or go bankrupt.

2.       You’ll devote a lot of time to running and building the business. You own the business; therefore a lot of work will likely fall on you. You’ll be spending more hours and expect to be sleeping late and waking up early.

3.       You will be experiencing more stress than when you were an employee. You’ll be constantly haunted by failure, and keeping that business-relevant will bring a lot of headaches and stress. For example, you decide to venture into real estate. Although it’s a safe business, it’ll still cause you high levels of stress. If you don’t know how to invest in this business, you will lose a lot of money, plus your business will surely fail.

4.       You must learn different skills from being a salesperson to a marketer. You will be a one-man show, but if you don’t know how a good marketing strategy works, the survival rate of your business is low.

5.       You are faced with uncertainty about your income and business.

 Having your own business doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed success; you will experience ups and downs. But by knowing these pros and cons, you can be better prepared.