Run your own business: There are no downsides

run your own business Sam Leader I realised how lucky soloists are when having a conversation with a friend who couldn’t decide whether or not to leave her job to run her own business.

Here’s how the conversation went.

“My job is well paid, but it’s meaningless to me. On the other hand, I think of my dream and come alive. But I’m worried about the risks and the downsides.”

My answer was emphatic “There are no downsides.”

What I heard her say was “I don’t enjoy dying, but I’m scared of living.”

Even in the face of gloomy economic times, at a time when many soloists may be tempted to throw in the towel and get a real job, I still believe with all my heart that she should go for it.

After all, if you run our own business you are no more vulnerable than employees. If anything we’re better placed as we’re more agile and able to control outcomes than someone stuck in the Cube Farm.

I know less optimistic soloists who, regardless of the economic climate, would discourage my friend.

“It’s not as safe as a normal job.”
Here’s what Tom Hodgkinson, author of How to be free, says on the topic: “Avoiding danger is a pathetic excuse for not doing your own thing. So what if there’s a little danger in your life? That’s good. Wake up!”

“It’s really hard to separate work from life.”
That’s because your work is your life, or part of it anyway. Spending time devoted to realising your identity is preferable to holding a job that “requires just enough concentration to prevent you from going off into a dream but not enough to really occupy your mind.” (Tom again)

“No paid holiday”
Per-lease! When you run your own business you get to dictate your own hours, choose your clients, and compared to working for the man, every day’s a holiday!

Listen, I’ve found no shortage of challenges as a soloist. Misunderstandings with clients, lean months, fatigue after wearing too many hats, apathy at networking events. Besides all this, it’s bloody hard work to run your own business.

But all this pales against the sense of connection - of aliveness - that soloism offers.

I just want to see my friend come alive under the soloist sun.

So what would you say to your friends? Let us know.

Love your work,

Sam Leader is a director of Flying Solo and its editor. She is the co-author of Flying Solo - How to go it alone in business.

24 Mar 09

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Totally agree Sam. But did you read the article in The Australian Magazine on the weekend about Alain de Botton's new book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work? In this article, he argues that one of the main reasons to work is to put food on the table (something we're reminded of more acutely in tough economic times) and that telling people that everyone can find deeply satisfying work is a "weird way in which optimism and kindness slips over into unintentional cruelty". He does acknowledge that it's a sad insight but it is true - not everyone is going to find their dream job. If you have found it, stick at it - and enjoy it! Kerry Sunderland from Byron Shire
Yes, I agree with both Sam and Alain de Botton. Please explain? Well, your friend should absolutely get out there and pursue her solo business if it is viable and not just a hobby she's fantasised about turning into a job. But that's the real test. Will it put food on the table? If you need to put food on the table (and let's fact it, that's what jobs are for or else all zillionaires would still be sitting behind a desk instead of on their yachts), then your solo career must be economically viable. Whether it's a company position or your own business, you should pursue it with practical passion. But don't waste each day agonising about what you could be doing instead of doing it. Life is short. Tammy from Sydney
I like the way Kerry Sunderland has so subtly put the other side of the coin in her comments. I have a problem with the highly optimistic view that everyone will be able to make a reasonable living out of soloism. For someone like myself who is not good at selling oneself (and an extreme pessimist), I worry about where the next crumb will come from, if it does at all.
It is encouraging to have positive feedbacks and encouragement but reality has to kick in sometimes. BoK from Sydney
This article was timed so well, as I had only been discussing with my husband (business partner) that times are tough and I may have to reluctantly enter the workforce again. The thought of 9-5, wishing for fridays and traffic made me shudder. I think that the joy we get from being soloists, is enough to stick with it! I certainly would advise anyone thinking of following their soloist dream to go for it. Mindy from Melbourne, Australia
I take both sides of the coin. In this economic downturn I would argue that as a soloist you have more control over the money coming in then you do as an employee. As an employee someone else is making the decision about how much you earn and whether you'll have a job tomorrow. As a soloist you control all of that. However, if your solo career is in a field that cannot survive hard economic times then, put simply, do not do it. Finally, should the dream become reality or should it stay a dream? Once you add the long hours, hard yards and all the stress of being a soloist to the dream, how tarnished will the dream become? Can it withstand all the strain of reality? If it is a viable product and will keep you feeling uplifted even with all the stress of soloism added to it, then go for it Bernadette from Sydney
As an added thought - only soloists have the pleasure of going to bed each night with the knowledge that "I did this. I built this. I am a success and my business is a success. The business is a success because of me. All me. No-one but me". If you are an employee the most you get is "I am part of a wheel that keeps turning and it is a success perhaps because of something I did? maybe?" - with is in mind how can you choose anything but going solo? Bernadette from Sydney

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