Employment or Start Up

Employment or Start Up, which one would you choose? I was asked this question this morning. Here are my thoughts.

First let’s talk about a small business.

People dream of being their own boss. Having a lie in, because they are their own boss. Not having to answer to anyone. Making all the key decisions, no more exasperation at the decisions your old boss used to make. Ahhh, the freedom. Weekends to spend with my family, hiking in the mountains, walking along golden sandy beaches. Luxury holidays twice a year to Barbados, or the Greek Islands. What a life, what a future.

And now, wake up! Starting a small business is a long-term project. This means, dedication, both physical and mental. Time is of the essence when you start a small business, and every hour that you put in to your business counts. The emotional toll, is something you will rarely experience when being employed.

Let’s go through emotion

How does that work? It affects everybody in different ways, but the end result can lead to the failure of your business if you cannot manage your inner self. Running a business causes exhaustion, periods of great worry, doubts about whether to carry on, concern that you are not doing things right, second guessing your own decision making, loss of sleep, a poor diet, even lack of exercise (unless you started a “physical business”).

What can I do about it? Being your own boss, means you have to manage yourself. There are some simple techniques to help you keep yourself on the right track.

Here are a few

1. Why – Know your why. To start a business, because you can’t think of anything else to do, or because you want to get rich, well think again. Your WHY is the one truth upon which you will construct your small business. Simon Sineck explains this very well in the Golden Circle.
2. Planning – Maybe this should be number one! Planning is fundamental. I am not specifically referring to a business plan, although if you can do one, it certainly helps. But even the most basic planning will help you work better, organise your thoughts and prioritise. There are at least two planning levels. One refers to your long-term objectives, the other to the short-term objectives that will eventually lead you to your long-term objectives. Breaking down long term objectives in to short term objectives helps us see things in a more manageable way. Ideally, they should be SMART.
3. Have a meeting with yourself. Yes, literally sit down and talk to yourself. Confirm you are clear on your plans for the week. Discuss if you are hitting objectives. Make sure the plan is clear between your two selves. Do this at least once a week.
4. You might need someone to bounce off. This could be a coach, or a mentor. Remember they are two different things. It can help greatly, as it helps you feel a little bit less lonely on your journey.
5. Journaling / Diary / Note taking – In whichever format you do this, it is worth 10/15 minutes a day to “get things off your chest”. You can share your anger, frustrations, worries in your journal. The key is to do the exercise, keep it short, let it come from the heart and don’t overthink or analyse it. Just write. Leave it, then go back in an hour or two, and analyse what you wrote. How do you feel? Are you still angry? Can you now calmly look at what you wrote and objectively consider actions to reduce these issues?
6. Journaling – part 2. One thing that can happen is when we are journaling, the most obvious feeling that comes out is FEAR. We are afraid that our decisions will destroy the business. We are afraid of losing our home. Afraid of not delivering to customers. We are afraid that in several weeks we will be sleeping under a bridge and going hungry and so on. Every few weeks or a couple of months, it is a good idea to go back to what you wrote, and ask yourself if your fears have been realised. It is almost a certainty, that they haven’t.
7. Transparency – One of the big issues facing the small businessperson is that they don’t keep their nearest and dearest informed. I am not referring to going home and blaming the world for all your problems, but more a case of sharing the highs and lows, the decisions you have to make. People aren’t stupid, but keep them in the dark, and they may be wondering about your intelligence! Our life partner, children, friends can be amazing sources of inspiration, or sometimes an off the cuff they make gives you a brilliant idea. But the absolute most important thing here is NOT to give them nasty surprises. There is nothing worse than going home and completely out of the blue saying that you are shutting down the company, it owes hundreds of thousands. Being open about how things are going, helps those who are affected by your business prepare for the worst to happen. This also goes for employees when you start hiring them.

These seven methods have been around for a long time, I certainly didn’t invent them. They might not all work for you, but just being able to for two or three of them can help you considerably.

And what about running the business.

Most small business people make one big error when starting a small business. They want to do everything and I mean literally everything. Rare is the entrepreneur who knows how to do EVERYTHING. A good example – you are an accountant, lots of experience, and have decided to start your own company. Great! Many accountants aside of their professional skill, tend to be very adept at working with management software, for example SAGE. They are also very good at giving out business advice. Accountants though rarely make good salespeople or marketeers. Accountants may know how to use complex CRM software, but they don’t have the IT skills to fix it when it fails.

Your point being?

Ask yourself if you need support to run your business? Are you willing to learn to trust and make other people accountable for your success? In most cases the answer is yes, although it might justifiably be no. Assuming it is yes, this means that there will be necessary investment in support services. In the early days you may do this by hiring people on an hourly basis, through a freelancing platform, which is fine. It helps keep costs under control. With time though, you may need to expand and take on full time employees. If it comes to that, think of it as a sign of success, you are expanding. Congratulations.

There is a downside.

Some small business owners, genuinely believe that nobody can do it better than them. Remember the accountant. Is he/she really the best person to do online marketing for the business? Very unlikely, but it is a very typical thought pattern in small business people. Remember what we said about the emotional side of the business? Trying to do everything yourself, could be very unhealthy. Changing your mentality is very difficult, and it can be done, usually it’s the first step that is the hardest.

Top Team! If, as I hope, your small business is successful, you will eventually be surrounded by a team of people who will contribute to that success, and join you on your journey to success. Enjoy it, share the success and celebrate the victories. But you are team, and that might mean sharing the pain too. Accountability across the business when managed correctly can give a strong sense of belonging.

It may seem a long article, but I have very briefly touched on just a few of the aspects of running a small business. As you can see there is a lot to take in. I am not trying to put you off, simply helping you see the reality.

There are also upsides

I myself have had three businesses, I am now on my fourth, Overall, they have been successful, although there have been failures and lots of pain. The victories though, they are the best! And worth all the pain that had to be suffered to get there. I have also worked in two multinationals, and found it to be tremendously enriching and very much eye opening.

Working for a company

So, now let’s talk about being employed. There are some important things to note, when you are employed. It is not your money; therefore, the financial risk is not yours. However, your role as an employee can influence the level of risk, so there is some pressure, and sometimes that pressure is no less than that the small business person feels. After all, you will most often have a boss in your ear demanding that you meet deadlines, take decisions, carry out actions. And as is often the case, your boss has a boss too.

Being employed (varies by country and by company) but does normally bring a series of benefits – pensions contribution, unemployment benefit, holidays, paid sick leave, maternity/paternity leave, a steady monthly income, bonuses for performance and more. A small business person may not see or realise these benefits in the first few years of their business.

Being an employee usually brings stability. Of course, a company can go bust, and many do. Generally, though, a steady income in a steady business suits many people because they need to guarantee that they can keep paying their mortgage, kids education, healthcare costs.

As an employee there is also the people factor. You will most likely be part of a team or a workforce. This has its good points and not so good. If the atmosphere is positive, relationships are respectful and there is a strong camaraderie, ideally with a blameless mindset. This can be very satisfying. On the other hand, aggressive, unfriendly, toxic workplaces can be hell, and seriously damage your mental health.

Being an employee though can be and is often the first step to opening your own small business. Being an employee is often the perfect training ground for honing your skills, building your social skills, and garnering a useful network of contacts. One reason ehy most people who start in business are over 40 is because they have been working in a company for the previous decade or two.

Which is best? – Employment or Start Up

There isn’t a “best” option when it comes to deciding on employment or start up. Each individual situation is very different. For example, a single woman in her early 40’s with no debt and an already paid off mortgage, may have less to lose and impede her going in to business if that is what she desires (and has a good idea/plan). On the other hand, if you are in your mid 30’s raising three children, paying off cars, school & mortgages, it may not be the wisest choice, at least not yet. Get advice, speak to trusted family/friends. Seek out coaching if you believe that will help. Even talk to your financial advisor.

Before taking any decision whatsoever, think about covering all the bases, be fully informed, understand the impact to you, your family and anyone else around you if you decide to go in to business. Most of our fear comes from not knowing, yet by carefully analysing your idea you can get a clear picture on the implications of staying employed or going it alone.