Starting Your Own Business: Pros and Cons

Starting a business is not without its risks, as any entrepreneur, successful or no, will tell you. But for those with the dedication, work ethic, and passion for their business to overcome the obstacles and persevere, it can be an incredibly rewarding and self-actualizing experience.

Let's take a look at the pros and cons of starting a business so that you're aware of some of the factors involved, and so that you can make the best choice for your unique situation, goals, and priorities.

Starting a business isn't just a career change, it's an entirely new way of life. Here are a few ways being a small business owner can change your life for the better.

You can control your own destiny.

Being your own boss means that you can make your business dreams and fantasies a reality—if you'd like to roll out a new line of product that you really feel will be successful, you can, and no one is going to stop you. Or, if you sense the winds of change in your industry, you can switch gears quickly and position yourself ahead of the competition.

You'll have a degree of job security.

If you're in charge, as long as you're in business, you're employed. When there's no one above you in the chain of command (or when you're the only link in that chain!), there's no one with the ability to abruptly fire you.

You have the opportunity to delegate responsibility efficiently and effectively.

If you're hiring employees, you're not only the boss of yourself—you're the boss of someone else! Like any boss, you can choose to use your power for good or for evil, but the good ones determine their employees' strengths and weaknesses and distribute responsibilities in ways that allow each to succeed and be fulfilled.

When business is booming, so is your bank account.

Employees typically work for a set salary. Annual bonuses notwithstanding, salary is not likely to vary much, and while hard work is sometimes rewarded with a raise, compensation isn't as intrinsically tied to the business. However, when you're the sole owner of a business, there's no management or shareholders to collect on your hard work. And, as an extra bonus, this direct motivation to succeed directly impacts the success of your business!

Of course, starting a business, whether home-based or not, is a process involving many obstacles and roadblocks. Here are a few of the negative aspects of starting a business, which are worth your while to spend some time considering before making the leap for yourself.

There's no one to take over a difficult situation.

Every employee has reached a point with a customer or client where the problem cannot be resolved, and the issue needs to be given to management, whether that be a financial decision that must be made, a complaint that needs solving, or a myriad other things. But when you're the boss, you're the end of the line. That difficult customer issue is yours to resolve and no one else's. Have fun!

You have to make the tough calls.

If your nephew isn't coming to work on time and isn't paying attention while he's there, guess whose responsibility it is to do the firing? A business is only as good as its employees with the lowest enthusiasm for it, and many a family has had its share of hurt or uncomfortable feelings because a business owner had to fire a family member who wasn't pulling his or her weight in order to give their business a chance to succeed.

There's an element of risk involved in starting a business.

If the business fails, everything you've invested—time, money, the future of your family—could be gone.

Say goodbye to vacations.

Your 40-hour-week three-weeks-paid-vacation days are over, my friend. Many entrepreneurs find it difficult to get away even briefly over the holidays, not to mention on a personal or family vacation, regardless of their technological ability to connect from anywhere. If something goes wrong or a problem needs addressing, being a small business owner means you might be the only one to make that decision.

If so, please share the love below!