At the beginning of this month one of my goals was to make a blog post every 2 days on this blog…well my last one was THREE days ago, so I need to make up (Carnaval in Austin definitely got in the way)!
I have 12 minutes to write/edit/publish this post before the security guard at the library kicks me out, so here goes:
I just read a post by Dave (brought my attention by Adam’s Twitter stream) about his transition from having a job to owning a business. I always like it when people take that leap, even if it doesn’t work out, I’m sure they will learn a massive amount.
It made me reflect on my own experience with this. I’ve never had a job except one in college where I did NOTHING but work on my own businesses then promptly quit when they made me do work.
After college I never got a job…I didn’t (still don’t) even have a resume. I simply continued running my businesses I had already started. It’s really the only way of working I’ve ever known, and I must say…I like it. Judging by the way most people talk about their jobs, it seems I’ve made the correct choice.
One thing I really like about owning a business, aside from all the fun stuff like being able to label your own role or change what you do by starting a new business….all your success depends entirely on you.
In ten years if I’m homeless and living on the side of the road, you can point directly at the person whose fault that was. I like that responsibility because it puts you in charge of your destiny a little more than working for someone else. In a sense, they control your future. If they go out of business, you do too.
I know people who worked for Dell at the right time in history who made millions on stock options, and people who worked the same jobs a few years later who weren’t quite as fortunate. That irks me. It’s kind of a lottery you play. You COULD get successful, but your involvement doesn’t dictate it.
Ok, the guard is giving me the stink-eye, time to jet!