Why Should You Start a Business?
Global marketplaces, virtual work, and rapidly emerging technologies like generative AI are already upon us. Wouldn't you rather invest in yourself than wonder if you'll be able to keep your job?
20 years ago, the iPhone didn’t exist. People were tied to computers that were mostly tied to desks either because of heavy hardware or short battery life. Now, people cannot imagine living life without the constant connected nature of their smartphones and other gadgets. Students have traded textbooks for electronic tablets, internationally based virtual assistants are helping even the smallest business owners replace fresh graduates, robots are replacing low-wage manual work, and companies are already hungry to replace expensive employees with generative AI.
The traditional career paths of previous generations is long gone. Companies don’t want to invest in employee training because employees likely won’t be around long enough for them to see a return on their investment and because offshoring or outsourcing jobs is getting easier and cheaper every day.
Our current job market is one where there are no guarantees. Many people found this out the hard way during COVID where internships and job offers vanished overnight. Many more were laid-off during COVID and as the economy continues to grapple with the possibility of another downturn, more lay-offs are expected. Change is happening at break-neck speed, competition is intense, and the skills needed to stay employable are increasing exponentially. With the need to constantly adapt, react quickly, and wear many hats even as an employee, wouldn’t you rather build a skill set to always ensure you always have a way to earn an income?
When you create your own business, you’ll create an asset that can bring you financial freedom, receive awesome tax benefits, and develop skills that will provide true job security. Additionally, you can manage your own schedule, scratch that creative itch, and all while working towards something you love!
Build an Asset
If you create your business to function without you, congratulations, you have a business and not a job. You can sell, walk away, take a vacation, or otherwise ignore your asset that will still generate income for you. This is one of the biggest lessons that Timothy Ferriss tries to convey in The 4-Hour Work Week. When you work to set up your business to run independent of you, it becomes an asset outside of the salary it pays you. Be the next great business person to create value from nothing by building a business and increase your net worth.
Lower your Tax Burden
Taxes are a fact of our life. We have to pay taxes if we earn income. But the wealthy take advantage of these tax breaks to earn income in ways that offer lower tax rates (typically investment income) or offset income (typically using real estate activities) and still achieve the outcome that they want. One of the biggest secrets about taxes that I’ve learned is that how you structure your life can make a huge difference in what tax breaks you can legally take advantage of. Keep more of your hard earned money for yourself - legally!
Develop Skills for Life
As an entrepreneur and business owner, you will have to wear many hats. This is where a lot of small business owners falter. They think that their only job is to keep the business going. As an entrepreneur, you know better than that. Your job is to build a business that works to serve you. As the CEO, you have the dream and the vision. As the accountant and bookkeeper, you have a plan for the money coming in, going out, and a documentation system to keep it all moving. As the marketing and salesperson, you will develop a great brand strategy, sales pitch, and infrastructure to support the customer. As the operations manager, you get your products or services to the customer quickly, with great quality, and with the best customer service. When you run your own business, you learn to function in all these roles and more.
Create Flexibility of Time and Location
With the infinite number of businesses you can run, you determine when, where, and how you work. Of course, setting up your own business will take many hours of dedication and effort, but once you have the systems in place to run without you, you can be free to work how you like. When you decide when and how to work, you can use that time to create something new - like jump starting your next venture to build more wealth or free up your time even further.
Feel Better When Your Creative Juices are Flowing
Getting creative can increase your productivity by keeping you engaged longer and allowing you to imagine more efficient solutions to your problems. When you’re engaged with the work you’re doing, you can more easily find meaning in the work you do and more easily drop into a state of flow, the benefits of which are numerous.
Ignite your Passion
What are you interested in? I started my business to help others recognize the value of building their own assets, invest in themselves, and find joy in their lives. You too can work on whatever you’re passionate about! That’s the beauty of creating your own business. If there is a need for your products or services and you have knowledge and passion about it - chances are, you can build a successful business around it.
Instead of collecting a paycheck until you’re deemed redundant, you could work to build a business where you feel motivated, passionate, challenged, and fulfilled while you simultaneously create an asset that you could eventually sell to achieve financial freedom, and more importantly, collect the skill set needed to ensure you are always able to earn an income. Doesn’t that seem like a better and less risky use of your time and energy?
If you’re fired up and want immediate dedicated support, check out my services here.
“Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.”