What Does Self-Employed Mean to You?
I knew that I wanted to be my own boss from the time I was in middle or high school. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, though. It turned out that it was right under my nose the whole time. But I considered a number of different options before I figured that out.
For a while, I wanted to own a clothing boutique. I had a unique sense of style, but clothes I liked were not easy to find in the area where I grew up. I traveled to the nearest small city (about 45 minutes away) to buy most of my clothes, and even there I had to scour the racks to find things to suit my discriminating tastes. But I rarely left empty-handed.
You’d never know that today. Since I had Pumpkin and gained a lot of weight, I haven’t had the money to buy a lot of clothes. I still have my own style when I buy something for myself, but most of what I wear is hand-me-downs and whatever is cheap. Maybe I should have opened a boutique after all. But I don’t know if that would have made me happy.
I also considered opening up a franchise restaurant. I read extensively about it in entrepreneur magazines, and it seemed like an easy way to get started in business if you could come up with the initial investment. But unless you’re born into money or save up for many years, that’s easier said than done. Besides, once I thought about it, that didn’t really fit with my desire to be my own boss. I know I would have been the owner and gotten to hire, fire and oversee employees, but that’s not what attracted me to self-employment. And franchises come with their own rules and regulations, which franchisees must follow.
All I really wanted was to be a boss to myself. I’ve supervised others, but it’s not really my cup of tea. I can handle it just fine, but I don’t particularly like it. I just liked the idea of not having someone else looking over my shoulder all the time. I’ve had a couple of bosses that were pretty good about that, but I’d rather just be accountable to myself.
There are times when I could use some supervision, but I think I do alright considering. There’s definitely room for improvement, but I’m working on it.
So what does self-employment mean to you? Is it being The Boss, or having unlimited income potential, or is it simply being able to do your own thing with only clients to answer to? That’s an important question to ask yourself before you even consider starting a business.
