• Posted by: Logan Kugler
• On: 11/19/2007 16:30:33
• In: Information Technology

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1. No More 9 to 5 - For many, the daily morning ritual consists off rising at 7 am only to spend 30 minutes in traffic before arriving at the office around 9 am. When you work for yourself, there is no daily morning ritual. Each day, you wake up whenever you choose, get dressed whenever you choose and eat whenever you choose. And if you feel like working in your pajamas one day, the choice is up to you.

2. You Decide What Your Salary Is - When you are your own boss, you decide how much you're going to make in any given week or year. If you want to make $150,000 your first year, you need just organize your hourly or per project rate aside your projected output to correspond with your salary target. And if one week you need an extra $1,000, for example, getting it is as simple as securing an extra project. The basic principle is outflow equals inflow, so the more you market yourself, the more business you'll get.

3. Do What You Love - Passion is difficult to fake. You are either doing what you love or you are not; there is no in-between and life is too short to be doing a job that you truly don't enjoy. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. Working for yourself allows you to do whatever it is that you love, whether it's being a freelance IT consultant or web designer. If you love what you do, it will show and enthusiasm is contagious.

4. A Journey of Knowledge - Maybe you lack the knowledge to be your own boss? So what? When you go it alone, you make all the decisions, solve all the problems, and bear all the responsibility. So even if you get everything wrong for the first couple of years, you'll still probably learn a lot more and gain a great deal of more experience than had you stayed at your current job inside a large corporation.

5. No Office Politics or Hierarchy - Large organization tends to be hierarchical. People are often classified according to their rank or seniority rather than by the quality of their ideas or their drive. What's more, office politics, when misused (which is common), can cause people to be hugely unproductive because they become suppressed by the unnecessary procedures that are a result of office politics. Working for yourself lets you divorce these types of irrational practices all together.

6. More Time to Spend With Family - Being your own boss means that you work on your terms and control how much time you spend on what and whether or not to work certain days or weeks. As a result, you decide when to take time off to spend with friends or family or go on vacation. There is no one telling you when you can take time off and when you have to work, which is why those who work for themselves often live the happiest lives.

7. No Pointless Meetings - Corporate workers are often required to attend time-wasting meetings, like quarterly sales reviews or monthly team meetings, that are scheduled to happen whether or not the employee is needed. Working for yourself you'll still need to attend meetings, but they'll be with clients and will have actual purposes and objectives, like closing a deal or landing a new contract and there's nothing boring about that.

8. Job Security - Living at the effect of someone else is never fun. When you work for a company, your job is at the mercy of "the guys upstairs." If they decide to oust you, there's nothing you can do about it. When you're your own boss however, your pink slip often comes in as a trickle rather than a sudden force. As such, you'll be able to see it coming and can take action to stop it.

Interested in Becoming a Consultant?

Thinking about a job as a consultant? "When you become a consultant, you're saying goodbye to the predictability, normalness, routine and safety of a regular job," explains Andrea Countu, marketing consultant and founder of ConsultantJournal.com. "You're venturing out on your own, into unknown territory. For me, becoming a consultant is the best decision I've ever made, and in the long run it could be for you, too," says Countu. "As a consultant, you call the shots (well, except when your client does). You are in charge of scheduling your time. You can refuse projects, dump clients, and focus on work that interests you. And you set your rates. Moreover, you can become a consultant without spending much money. Often, all it takes to become a consultant, at least on paper, is a computer, business cards, a telephone and an Internet connection. Of course, to truly become a consultant you'll need clients, expertise, experience and other important pieces of the puzzle," says Countu. Here are some great books to help you get started that talk about everything consulting, including marketing, incorporation, even health insurance:

- Start Your Own Consulting Business (by Entrepreneur Press, Entrepreneur Press; $14.95)

- Million Dollar Consulting: The Professional's Guide to Growing a Practice (by Alan Weiss, McGraw-Hill; $18.95)

- Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants (by Jay Conrad Levinson, Wiley; $19.95)