More proof that I was smarter 5 years ago

I wrote this a few years back...

When I finally made up my mind to work from home I did it for several reasons. Maybe some of these are what you are thinking and maybe some seem a bit selfish, but remember one thing. You only get to go around once. Why spend it doing some one else’s work for most of your life and then complaining about it?

I am 38 years old. I have been on all sides of the employment coin. I’ve been in federal and local government service, the private sector and Big Business. I’ve also spent time in the non-profit world. And though each of these jobs had its benefits, excellent people and some satisfaction, nothing has ever been more rewarding than starting my own freelance commercial writing business.

Once I got beyond the fear that every independent business owner must face, I mean everything from failure to ‘how to write a winning resume’; the transition was quite a bit smoother than I anticipated. Not that there haven’t been some bumps. It’s impossible to plan for everything, so several items caught me slightly off guard. Things like how much it costs for a single business to register with the local Chamber of Commerce, and how much office supplies really cost. But the reality is I am happier now than at any point during one of my ‘jobs’.

This is not to say that all ‘jobs’ are bad, not even close. I know people who will most likely spend the rest of their lives earning a wage and are damned happy to have that. What I am saying is that working for someone else is not built naturally into us. It is an outside societal thing that is built in over the course of a life in school and friends. The concepts of self-employment are big with children. Witness any child looking for a way to purchase his next pack of Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards. He will sell the Popsicles out of his own freezer to earn cash. Or try to sell toys, lemonade, or his little sister if he thinks he can get away with it.

Over the course of the years he will hear his friends and family talk about getting good grades so that he can get a job that pays his bills and allows him to live a good life. Entrepreneurship is, in best cases ignored and in worst cases, shunned. But this is a new thing. Well, relatively new since last century.

It wasn’t that long ago that 90% of the population was self employed or used barter in some way to obtain the things they wanted. The industrial revolution and the creation of the ‘factory’ changed all that. People no longer needed to be skilled craftsmen to earn a way though life. All they needed was to be able to get up in the morning and punch the clock.

The skilled craftsmen of that time worked. Sometimes from sun-up to sundown. The work was arduous, tedious and often downright dangerous. But they produced products that they were proud of. Things made ‘with love’. The opposite of that is what we have now. I’m not pointing fingers, I am as guilty of this as the next person. I have had ‘jobs’ where I clocked in and did as little as possible. What did it matter to me? I was still getting paid. But now, as a single business owner, I am working harder than ever. But I am also enjoying it more. The work that I do benefits my customers, my family and hopefully the community at large. I love what I do, and I hope that it shows in the product that I produce. But in the working world, and I have heard this from dozens of friends and co-workers over my 22 year work history, as incentives get cut and jobs are on the line, there is no desire to ‘love’ what you do. In fact, most people work only because they must support themselves and do not feel the urge to own their own business.

Children feel the pinch of this as well. Their self-employment spirit is slowly dashed until only a handful will ever really try to be more than a cog on a wheel. Most will migrate from job to job and a lucky few will find a job they can care about. Current statistics show that the average American entering the workforce will change jobs every 5 years. And almost half will change entire career directions at least twice.

It’s a bit of a vicious cycle. Larger American companies are cutting staff at an alarming rate and according to most economists this has more to do with making the company competitive than any desire to add benefits to the lucky ones who survive the axe. I remember reading an article about a company here in Atlanta that cut over 8,000 jobs. To me that is tantamount to firing an entire town. And at the same time workers are less inclined towards company loyalty because they see jobs being shipped offshore. Benefits are being scaled back or completely cut. What’s the incentive? It’s like watching two people smack each other and not being able to stop because they don’t know how.

Now, when I started this piece I said that the reasons that I chose to go into business would seem selfish to some and may be just what others are thinking. My primary motivation was to have complete control of my time. I am a night owl. I do my best writing at night. And as a result I tend to sleep a little later in the morning. Setting your own hours is not something that a large majority of workers get to do. It really doesn’t matter to your employer when you do your best work. They pay you for certain hours and that is when you are to be there.

More importantly, I wanted to be available for my children. It took me 10 years to realize that day care was raising my kids instead of me. People don’t realize that children grow at an exponential rate now a days. The smiling, peach cobbler smeared toddler of today will be a grown woman in what feels like 15 minutes, and unless you are watching you will miss the whole thing.

To those of you beginning your own business, congratulations and DON”T give up. For those of you considering making the leap, keep this in mind; Do what you love and then find someone to pay you for it. (Best single piece of advice I have ever got.) And to those of you headed out to work, remember to do what you do for yourself, your family and your community at large.