The Most Critical Career Decision

Everyone in their professional life must make many decisions regarding their career. Among these, the most critical is the question: 'Should I work for a salary, or should I start my own business?' This question, after the decision to choose a life partner, leads a person to their most important decision.

Although the typical advice from parents is usually 'work for a salary first, gain some experience, and then if you wish, you can start your own business later,' I believe that this critical decision should be made at the beginning of one's career. Even if one works in a salaried position for a short period to gain experience or accumulate capital, the individual should make their decision before the 'comfort zone' sets in. This is because transitioning in both directions in the middle of our career is very difficult.

The most significant advantage of working in a salaried position is that you know the amount of money you will receive at the beginning of each month, and if you work reasonably well, the risk of losing your job is low. However, the disadvantage is that your assets and standard of living will not change significantly over time, and more importantly, you will constantly be working under a hierarchy, reporting to a upper manager. When working in government positions, the reason the salary is slightly lower is due to the risk premium paid in exchange for the guaranteed monthly income.

Starting your own business, briefly being the boss, has the potential for high commercial returns, but it also comes with high risks and thus excitement. Individuals we call 'bosses' carry a high potential for risk, but in return, they can act much more independently.

It is not easy for those who leave their salaried jobs in the middle of their careers to start their own businesses and succeed. Contrary to appearances, starting one's own business has many difficulties. To start your own business, you need an 'outgoing' personality, in addition to a diverse set of horizontal skills in different disciplines, and you need a wide social circle. In addition, the risk-taking ability of bosses is very high. Furthermore, when someone decides to give up a fixed salary and become a boss, their cash flow may become irregular, leading to problems within their family.

For a prospective boss who hasn't been successful enough in starting their own business, transitioning to a salaried job can also bring serious problems. A boss who is accustomed to going to work at whatever time they want and making decisions about their company and implementing them immediately may find it difficult to report to a more disciplined life, perhaps to a younger manager, when they start working for a fixed salary.

Career planning for young people who are 'second-generation boss candidates', whose fathers have independently established a company and brought it to success, is extremely complex and requires separate and special efforts for each one of them. This awareness and special effort should start from their childhood, and it's not necessary for it to result in them becoming bosses.

I'm sure some of you are now saying, 'I've achieved this, this perspective is not correct,' but 'exceptions do not break the rule.' Moreover, it is very difficult to measure the success of such a transition made in the middle of one's professional life.

In short, the most critical decision young people at the beginning of their careers will make is whether to work for a salary or start their own business, and this experience should not only be something they won't regret throughout their lives but, more importantly, something they can turn into valuable experience.

Haluk üNALDI