Seven Benefits of Being Your Own Boss

Becoming your own boss has never been easier. Many skilled professionals are giving up the traditional work environment to pursue their dream of setting their schedules and answering no one besides themselves. If you have varied business skills, you, too, can be your own boss.

Be Your Own Boss

Check out this list of seven benefits that you can experience by being your own boss.

1. You’re the boss. Let’s start with the most apparent benefit, and that is that you call the shots. We’ve all read that people don’t leave companies and that they leave bosses, which is absolutely true. It can be hard to take direction from others, especially when managers don’t lead by example or practice what they preach. As your organization’s boss, you get to lead by example and determine the behaviors that you want to see in your employees.

2. You get to set your own schedule. We’re all pressed for time these days, and the traditional 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. grind doesn’t work the way it used to. We need flexibility in our lives, and sometimes, the best work gets done outside of those traditional office hours. Whether it be an intense passion for a morning golf game or a children’s school program that we don’t want to miss, when we set our own schedule, we decide our priorities.

3. You get to learn and grow. Being your own boss is a constant learning curve, and many thrive on this challenge. Learning new skills keeps us sharp and ensures we don’t grow complacent. When you get to be your own boss, you get to learn invaluable lessons in skills such as customer psychology, accounting and finance, professional correspondence, business management, marketing and advertising, and so much more. This gained knowledge will not only help you grow your business successfully but can be passed down to your employees.

4. You stay motivated. As previously mentioned, many business owners find their work stimulating and motivating, especially when they get to learn and grow. Showing up at work each day and receiving a paycheck at the end of the week can become dull. But when you are your own boss, each day can be different and keep you on your toes.

5. You decide if your business succeeds or fails. If you put your efforts into the right type of business, it is up to you to succeed. When you do it right, you gain employment protection. As long as your company runs profitably, you as the owner and director will have a job. When employed by someone else, you give up that control, and even the best of workers can find themselves without a job with little to no warning.

6. You get to network with other like-minded business professionals. Though learning and growing comes with the territory of being your own boss and managing your own business, those new skills don’t come overnight. In many cases, you will need to network with other professionals that have complementary skills to your own. This means you will need to network. That networking can lead to highly satisfying professional relationships that can help you flourish and prosper.

7. You get to retire a bit earlier than the rest. If you put your mind to it and grow a successful and profitable business, you may find that you can retire far earlier than the traditional 62 or 65. Many independent business professionals adopt a word hard mentality in the early years to ensure their business is as successful as possible. This approach makes it easy to invest in the future and ensure that retirement can come early if desired.