A lot of ladies say they want to work for themselves. It sounds so glamorous, so fun, so footloose and fancyfree. No boss! No clocking in at 9:00am! No dressing up for work! No stupid staff meetings! No office politics!
While those are definitely some of the benefits of having your own business, people often forget to acknowledge the reality that you still have to do the work. Freedom is priceless, but it’s not free. You can’t have the freedom of being your own boss if you don’t have any money coming in to support yourself with. And getting that money takes a lot of work. It’s not impossible work, but it is work. And lots of time. Depending on the type of business you have, it can take a long while to even figure out what the work really is.
If you want to work for yourself just because you’re tired of working for someone else, that’s not necessarily enough of a motivation to get up every morning to move your business forward.
And if you’re like me, someone who wants to profit from your passion and expertise, it’s really not the kind of thing where you create this magic wonderful service or product that everyone instantly flocks to just because you told all your Facebook friends about it.
For me, working for myself as an author, speaker, consultant and coach has been a constant process of self-discovery, marketing, testing and learning.
This is not meant to be a discouraging post. Far from it. I believe that working for yourself can be one of the most fulfilling experiences you’ll ever have in your personal and professional life.
But only if you go into it with your eyes open.
There is no instant gratification to starting your own business. There is no get-rich-quick formula to follow. There is no overnight success, baby. I don’t care what the gurus are telling you. It just doesn’t happen that way.
My mom started her personal training and fitness consulting business in 2007, with one client and a blog. It took her four years to get to the six-figure mark, and that only came about so soon because of long hours, smart marketing, and a passion for changing people’s lives.
So if you’re one of those people all hyped up to leave your good job with benefits, just be willing to ask yourself some hard questions. Why do you really want to start your own business? Are you ready to stick with it for the long haul? What’s your plan for supporting yourself in the event that it takes your business a while to start turning a profit? Do you have the discipline it takes to follow-through on reaching your income goals?
These questions are so much more important than the constant focus on being able to work in your pajamas.
Because some days, there is just you and the lonely click of your fingernails on the computer keys, pushing through the resistance to share your gifts with the world.
happyblackwoman
happyblackwoman
happyblackwoman
happyblackwoman
So, so, SO true. There have been days when I’ve wanted to say “eff it” and go back to working for the man. I’ve wanted to give up the “freedom” of entrepreneurship for that feeling of getting a regular paycheck again. But it also comes with a lot of other feelings that I’d just as soon do without. Plus I’ve been out of the workforce so long I’m borderline unhireable. So I press on. But yeah, nothing sexy about it.
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Man, this post was timely! I started my blog a couple of months ago in hopes that it can act as a stepping stone to other types of freelance opportunity but, not surprisingly, it is much harder than I expected to get things going, stay motivated to write and market my blog, and stay focused on my 9-5 job at the same time. Attending your Blogging School helped a lot but lately I’ve been acutely aware that building a business is hard, exhausting work. I’m giving myself eighteen months of working to get things off the ground (no stopping, no complaining, no giving in to discouragement) before I decide whether or not entrepreneurship is a good lifestyle choice for me.
I love working from home. It was by chance but so glad the chance came around. It is a lot of hard work but I know that hard work will pay off for me. I am like the lady who posted above who wants the freedom and ability to travel. My business will be as successful because I will work smart and strategically to make it successful. Great post to help shed the light on what working for yourself really means.
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I too appreciate your candor. I’ve been working for myself at home since 1982. Eventhough I just get by from month to month, my friends say I live the life of the rich and famous because “I do what I want to do whenever I want to do it”. This means traveling abroad from 1 to three months annually, with many “time out” days and even weeks scattered through out the year. More than money, I value the freedom to do what ever I want with my time. Sometimes I’m work nearly around the clock many times when the spirit moves me to do so. There are many things I can’t seem to push myself to do, so I outsource to other people who will enjoy it more. Fortunately, I can maintain my lifestyle selling head wraps and other crafts at festivals only 4 to 8 days a month (except when I’m traveling). I have started a humanitarian women’s fundraising collective to provide business vendor coaching to show other’s how to achieve my lifelifestyle. Let me know if you’re interested in bartering, making and selling fair tradehead wrapping products and fundraising for women entrepreneurship training in developing countries. In short, there can be a lot sexy about working for yourself, if you have a business that feeds your passion and sends you around the world like mine does.
Your Mom made 6 figures in four years. I’ve been working for over 15 years and I’m no where near it. I get what your saying. However, hard work pays when your self-employed.
I really appreciate your candor about the realities of being a solopreneur. While it is definitely a worthwhile endeavor, you truly have to examine your life and lifestyle before jumping out there. Not everyone is willing (or able) to sacrifice the creature comforts that can come with a job, like health insurance or paid time off or a retirement account.
I have spent the last few years working for a small business owner who does not provide any benefits, so as I prepare to move forward with my own endeavors, I have had to realistically begin the pursuit of a “real” job in order to create some financial stability in my life. As a single woman, I must think about the big picture and not just focus on my desire to do my own thing. So for the time being, my small enterprise will continue to be my sexy part-time lover until the day that I can divorce my day job and make a commitment to full-time entrepreneurship.
Ha! I love the analogy of your business being a “sexy part-time lover.” That’s how I felt when I was working full-time and building my business on the side. Financial stability is huge and when you don’t have it, anything you try to do creatively in your business can feel forced, rushed, stressed. Glad you’re thinking about the big picture!