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My work life is over. I retired in 2010.
If I had it to do over I would not work for anyone but myself. I was successful enough as a salesman - I was top salesman at 3M in 1987 - but working for other people and different companies was NOTHING compared to the satisfaction I get from being self employed.
I established myself as a manufacturer's rep and represented about 8 different manufacturers. I worked with my wife and we worked hard. When the Chinese ate up our fabric industry I only needed to work another 5 years, and the closest thing I could arrange to being self employed was driving an 18 wheeler. So I did that for five years, 750,000 miles and made $300,000.
I got absolutely nothing out of working for the 3 corporations on my resume. Looking back, I would have been happier mowing yards or rebuilding bathrooms than I was wearing a suit and flying all over hell's half acre.
Maybe these comments will help someone out there looking. I have been fortunate and accumulated enough real estate to keep myself busy and keep the books balanced. Should have concentrated on that all along....
It depends on the person of course. I think self-motivated and high energy people like yourself would do very well owning and running a business successfully.
Myself, I don't think I would ever have been successful owning my own business. I've never actually minded working for others and preferred mid-sized to large corporations. I'm kind of lazy so prefer to have all the details taken care of such as insurance and other benefits. I'm also someone that preferred the relative security of a steady paycheck and the structure of a defined 40 hour work week. I just don't have that mindset to be able to persevere during unsteady times. As I get nearer to retiring, I don't regret my work history and have been pretty happy with what I've done both financially and professionally.
My work life is over. I retired in 2010.
If I had it to do over I would not work for anyone but myself. I was successful enough as a salesman - I was top salesman at 3M in 1987 - but working for other people and different companies was NOTHING compared to the satisfaction I get from being self employed.
I established myself as a manufacturer's rep and represented about 8 different manufacturers. I worked with my wife and we worked hard. When the Chinese ate up our fabric industry I only needed to work another 5 years, and the closest thing I could arrange to being self employed was driving an 18 wheeler. So I did that for five years, 750,000 miles and made $300,000.
I got absolutely nothing out of working for the 3 corporations on my resume. Looking back, I would have been happier mowing yards or rebuilding bathrooms than I was wearing a suit and flying all over hell's half acre.
Maybe these comments will help someone out there looking. I have been fortunate and accumulated enough real estate to keep myself busy and keep the books balanced. Should have concentrated on that all along....
OP, you got nothing out of working your jobs? Didn't you get wages and benefits? That's what you signed up for.
Maybe these comments will help someone out there looking. I have been fortunate and accumulated enough real estate to keep myself busy and keep the books balanced. Should have concentrated on that all along....
Not that you should dis those jobs, they did provide you with enough cash to buy real estate. It's very likely you would have been happier, but really in all hindsight, you fed the family, kept it housed and provided other ways
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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While I enjoyed working for my self as a business owner for 16 years, it was long hours, paying for my own medical insurance, hard to get away for a vacation, and eventually the 2008 recession came and my customers began to drop like flies. Since then I have been working as a manager for an employer of 2,000 with paid medical, dental and vision, lots of paid holidays, sick leave and vacation, matching 401K and a pension. The pay is more than I ever made from the business, working only 40 hours a week. I can't say that I was always happier while self employed, there were pros and cons.
Not quite the same scenario, but this is why I'm doing consulting work at the moment. I work directly for an agency, but get assignments to work with different clients.
I'm amid a career change, so getting to work with a variety of businesses and industries will be valuable. But I also get bored easily doing the same work day-in and day-out, and don't like playing the waiting game to move up on anyone else's terms but my own. With the consulting gig, I get to work on a variety of different projects that will keep me engaged and keep me learning and building new skills. Whenever I worked a typical FTE in-house job, those people never cared if I showed an interest in another area of the business or wished to advance. If keeping me in the role that I was currently in was of most benefit to them, then that's where I'd remain. Consideration of my career goals was always moot, and it often left me feeling burnt. Now I'm being paid to care only about the project at hand. Once I'm done with the project, I wash my hands of the organization and move on to something new.
One day eventually I'll seek out the security and stability of a more routine, in-house job. But if you're a more energized person who has what it takes to run a business or do consulting work, and enjoys the regular shuffling around of responsibilities, then there is certainly nothing wrong with that.
As someone who closed their business due to life and death health issues at 42 years old I completely disagree. When I closed my business I had nothing - no insurance, no vacation, no FMLA, no sick time, no paycheck. What did working 6-7 days a week get me? Multiple ER bills for thousands of dollars. Nope. I plan on working for someone else the rest of my life. I'm happy to have a steady paycheck, insurance, sick time, vacation, FMLA, holidays, 40ish hours not 80+. I'm good.
I was self-employed for 90% of my work life. It was hard work, low-paying for many years and perfect for me.
No way would I ever encourage anyone to be self-employed, it's a calling.
I and my partner were very successful but it took years.
Statistics show that most self-employed people are not successful which is not surprising, so many things to know and be good at besides the thing you are actually trying to do.
If I had it to do over I would not work for anyone but myself.
You can't do that.
As an employee, you work for 1 boss.
As an entrepreneur, you work for multiple bosses - each client/customer is your boss.
The only people who work for themselves are the independently wealthy.
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