Are you sitting at your desk, drinking that third cup of coffee, staring blankly into space and daydreaming about being your own boss? Seems like a pretty enticing idea doesn’t it? Making your own hours, taking a vacation when you want and not when it fits into the office “schedule.” Working for the man is a joke, right? Owning your own business is the life. Or is it? Owning your own business isn’t always what you think it’s cracked up to be. There are inherent risks and obligations that you have as an owner that you just don’t quite appreciate when you clock in from 9 to 5.
Here are 20 things people don’t know about business owners:
1. Ownership is 24/7, which means the good and bad can happen at all hours of the day and night.
2. With great power comes great responsibility. As the boss, you’re responsible for everything. I mean everything.
3. If you’re just getting started in your business, you likely won’t be making a dime for a long time.
4. Your time is not your own, especially in the early days of startup. Businesses are demanding mistresses that will hoard all of your time and attention.
5. Business owners take on major financial risk. They generally pour large portions (or all) of their personal savings into their businesses or take on major debt via business loans.
6. The personal relationships of business owners tend to suffer due to that demanding mistress mentioned in No.4. Hanging out with friends? Time with the family? Significant other? Your social life takes a major back seat during the early days of your business. Many business owners figure out how to balance both but unfortunately, some just never do.
7. Business owners can never “just let the boss handle it.” They are the boss and always the ultimate final decision.
8. The potential for liability is very high. As a business owner you are responsible for everything the business does, including in many instances the activities of your employees.
9. Taxes are a real bitch. You thought Uncle Sam took a lot of money from you before? Just wait until you get slapped with the taxes as a business owner, especially if you’re doing well but not exactly hitting Donald Trump-like profit margins.
10. As a business owner, customers demand your attention every second of the day.
11. So do your employees.
12. Finding time for yourself as a business owner is next to impossible. Working out? Hobbies? Planning a vacation? All of these are likely taking a major backseat in your life for a while.
13. Sometimes it takes a lot of mistakes before you get things right in your business.
14. The shoe cobbler is usually wearing the shittiest shoes. He doesn’t have time to get himself a nice, new pair of shoes. He’s too busy working on everyone else’s shoes!
15. Business owners are constantly stressing about the future.
16. Business owners are responsible for securing their own retirement plans, insurance policies and all the other “perks” of a job you get working for someone else.
17. Employee bitching and HR issues? Business owners have to stay apprised of all of the issues going on in the businesses, including BS issues.
18. A business owner’s entire schedule is at the mercy of the business. There’s always a fire to put out, a client to meet or something to do.
19. Like their schedule, a business owners’ minds are always full of thoughts related to their businesses. Midnight awakenings with business worries or ideas are a frequent reoccurrence.
20. You’re generally the last to get paid as a business owner. After the bills and the inventory and the employees and the taxes are taking care of, there might be a little or a lot left for you to take home at the end of the day.
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