Who wouldn’t love to spend their time doing only what they love while only working four hours a day and answering to no one. Everyone would, but there are very few, if any, self-employed people where the myth equals reality. Companies are making endless sales pitches to sell products that promise fast money for little to now work. Although, most of know this is not possible, out grand desire to better our situation and very clever sales pitches get many to buy.From my own experience, I will analyze four of the bigger myths about being self-employed and why the myth is not at all true.
Set Your Own Hours - This is absolutely correct, you can decide which hours you want to work, but it is most likely those number of hours will be far greater than the 8 or 9 hours that you would work in a “normal” job. This is not always the case and the goal would be to get to the point that you can be more flexible with your time and work less while your business continues to operate smoothly and generate profit. The reality for most self-employed and entrepreneurs is that the number of tasks that need to be completed take much longer than a normal work day. It is estimated that self-employed people are working on average over 11 per day so when I see all of the flashy “Fire Your Boss” type sales pitches, I can only shake my head at the allusion that is being created that is far from reality. If you are going to be self-employed, it would be a mistake to expect a new found bunch of free time. You have the freedom to work when you want, but it does not free up a lot of time. Usually reduces free time.
Don’t Have To Answer To Anyone - When you sit down at your desk or decide what your schedule is going to be for the next week, there is a comforting, relaxing feeling knowing that you do not have answer to anyone and you are free to decide how you want to proceed. That is until you realize the person that you are answering to now is much more important than a boss looking over your should, it is your livelihood. Every action or non-action that you take being self-employed almost directly effects your ability to generate income and how your business operates. If you don’t complete a task or make sure your team does it correctly, it is almost certain to negatively affect your bottom line. Knowing that you must make sells everyday or operate your business with supreme efficiency is a much greater motivating force than a supervisor could ever be. When you boss upsets you, in most cases you can leave it at work and walk away. When it is your livelihood and how you support your family, that is not quite as easy to walk away from.
You Can Do What You Love – Most people walk away from their current jobs or start new businesses to either follow their passion or because they believe they can run the business better than their current boss whom they think is an idiot. As Michael Gerber explains in the “E-Myth,” what is often not accounted for is all of the other tasks that your boss is responsible for in addition to managing you and your peers. This includes, payroll, budgets, process improvements, training, vacation time, performance reviews, schedules, etc. It is often that the person that starts a business to follow their passion has not accounted for the sells that are necessary, managing finances, budget, operating expenses, etc. So while you may be self-employed to do what you love, there will be less time to do what you love as you deal with the many other aspects of operating a successful business.
Everything is Tax Deductible – I am not a tax accountant and definitely do not know all of the rules of the tax code so take this for what it worth, but the belief that everything under the sun becomes a tax deduction when you operate your own business is simply not true. Obviously, some people are willing to push this much further than others and can loosely show how a purchase relates to the business. Tax deductions are a very slippery slope and one that should be treaded lightly. The benefits over “over doing it” when it comes to tax writeoffs pale in comparison to the consequences of fees and penalties assessed by the IRS. It is worth taking the time to learn the rules about acceptable tax deductions.
Self-employment and operating your own business can be amazing and fulfilling experiences, but don’t be mislead by the endless sales pitches for products that promise easy riches and days of relaxing on sandy beaches. That is simply not the case. There are dozens and dozens of myths about being self employed that should be ignored because they are simply not reality. Are there some other myths about being self-employed that are often publicized?
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The fact that everything is tax deductible is an awesome bonus. I’m ashamed to admit that getting so many new deductions was one of the reasons that I became an entrepreneur.
I really enjoyed reading this post, it is so true. People that aren’t self employed who are within our close circles assume we can watch TV all day and sip margarita’s! Not yet, I blogged about these myth here:
http://thejaclynofalltrades.blogspot.com/2011/01/lessons-learned-reflection-on.html
To add, I have been reading a REALLY amazing book that is helping me manage my time and cash flow unlike ever before. For the record, this is my 2nd attempt at self employment, I got hired by a client full time and am now attempting to work for myself again. If anyone is sort of running on the hamster wheel or work without financial benefit, try reading “But Are You Making Any Money?” by Marley Majcher.
Can’t wait to read more of your posts Brian. The self employed have strength in numbers and community!
@Jaclyn – I wish I could sip margarita’s all day! I face the same challenge as many assume you are available to meetup, run errands, or answer your phone at all times. Simply not true, but there are many things about being self-employed that most do not understand and that’s ok. They can just marvel at your success!!
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