Owning a small business is a rewarding yet challenging experience. It involves mixed emotions, from exciting to astonishing, all at once. Before starting your small business, it’s prudent that you know what you’re about to get yourself into. Depending on your decision, you won’t go wrong with this list of pros and cons of owning a small business.
Pros of Owning a Small Business
1. Lifestyle Independence
Once you own a small business, you become your own boss. You make all decisions touching on your business and create your schedules. You can comfortably attend to your family or even go on vacation whenever desired. Such lifestyle freedom is enough to outweigh the risks that come with owning a business.
2. Possibility of Financial Gains
Owning a small business offers a significant opportunity for reaping financial rewards. It removes some income restraints that are common among the employed. Just consider the taxes and the pressure that comes with some of these employments and you’ll see that your value is more valuable than that pay scale. This way, the idea of owning a small business will make a lot of sense.
3. You Have Control over Your Destiny
As a business owner, you’re involved in its operation, from sales to customer feedback. You have control over its success or failure. Depending on your hard work, you have the potentials to have incredible success. This involvement lets you as a business owner create something that’s truly your own.
4. You Feel Cool When Someone Use Your Product
It feels great to see someone part with their money to use something that you created. It’s an unbelievable validation. Most entrepreneurs will be attracted to this idea of ‘I’m the person who created…
5. You Get Personal Satisfaction and Growth
Owning a small business and seeing it grow and become successful gives the owner incredible personal satisfaction. It also provides one with an opportunity to grow and learn a particular skill set that provides for life-long personal growth and a feeling of fulfillment.
6. You Create Your Wealth
The world’s greatest business empires were created by people who started a small business from scratch. While it may be long before one starts making money and reaping the benefits of owning a business, if you hung on and keep on pushing, you may create wealth that you’ve dreamt of.
7. It’s A Big Learning Opportunity
Once you own a small business, you get involved in all aspects of its operation. This offers several opportunities to have a deep understanding of its various functions. You also meet mentors and like-minded personnel who provide a great learning opportunity that you could never experience had you not started a business venture.
8. You Can Build Equity
Owning a small business offers individuals the opportunity to build equity, which can, later on, be sold or inherited. Income from such sales can finance the next business venture. Also, you can let it be inherited by your kids thus creating their financial freedom.
Cons of Owning a Small Business
1. Financial Risk
Owning a business comes with start-up costs and monthly obligations. Losing your capital is probably the biggest risk of owning a business, and especially if you had taken a loan which means you were in debt from the first day. If one had left a secure job to start the business then it fails, this financial risk can be terrifying.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About Financial Risk
2. You Work Hard For Longer
As a business owner, you feel guilty when you’re not working on improving it. You are always thinking of how to make it better, something that’s emotionally draining. At the end of the day, you find yourself working for many more hours than any 8-5 job.
3. You May Lack Pay For A While
Some small businesses go for years without viable returns. That translates to lots of missed wages. Before starting one, try to first have enough savings to cater to your bills. This will help avoid serious consequences that could affect your relationships or even marriage.
4. Stress and Health Issues
Business owners have varied monthly incomes and potential for high debts. This can cause personal stress and even lead to stress-related health complications.
5. Failure Feels Unbelievably Bad
If your business fails by any chance, it can mess you emotionally and physically. We can underestimate the possible depression that can come with this and how hard it could be to get over it, especially in a case of financial losses.
Parting Shot…
Regardless of all these pros and cons of owning a small business, most owners don’t regret their decision to start a business. Hope this write-up helps you make an informed decision on whether or not to leap into business ownership. Pick an idea from this list of profitable ideas for your small business and who knows, you could be the next Jeff Bezos.
