Running Your Own Business Advantages/Disadvantages 

I have been running my own painting and decorating business for about 20 years now. I have never regretted starting out on my own, but that is not to say that it's been plain sailing all the way.

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It was very tough in the beginning and of course the internet was not what it is today with the resources that are instantly available today at the click of a button.

I would have been so happy in those early days if I could have found some free guidance on being your own boss that can be found online at Trevor McClintock showing me the advantages and disadvantages of owning your own business, and invariably finding the answer to solve problems quickly and efficiently.

Some of the advantages of owning your own business are.

• The first one that has always struck me as very important is what you earn, you earn for yourself. So all your hard work benefits you and your family.

• Another advantage is that you can decide your hours and although you will probably work many more hours than if you were working for somebody, you can of course be more flexible with time and that's brilliant if you don't want to miss out on say one of your children's concerts or sports day at school.

• If your partner/wife works as well, which my wife does part-time, we are also able sort also out childcare between ourselves. My wife works late afternoon to early evening three days a week. This of course means I can start earlier in the morning, but be home in time for the school run in the afternoon. Working for somebody would make this impossible because that kind of flexibility in hours is usually not available.

• One of nicest sides of running my own business is building a personal relationship with my customers and I actually believe it goes beyond a customer relationship because many of the people I work for, I have done so for many years, and they almost become friends.

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Of course with running your own company there are going to be disadvantages and I am no exception to this.

• When you are starting out it is very difficult to build a clientele. In those early years it takes a lot of dedication and hard work, and also getting people to trust that you will do a good job.

• Running your own company is a 24/7 job, it never leaves you. That could be quoting for work, visiting customers which more often than not is during the evening. You also have all the paperwork to sort out on a weekly basis, and the general admin of running of a business

• When you run your own company sickness is not something you can take easily. First of all you have commitments to customers and letting them down can quite often mean losing the work. Most importantly if you are sick and you cannot work, you don't get paid .Taking out insurance for this is very expensive and cannot be warranted against how often you may use it.

• The working week is definitely not five days a week 9-5, although not many of us like to work weekends unfortunately, when you run your own business it's part of your working week which will cut into your family time.

So that is the advantages and disadvantages of working for yourself. I have to say though the advantages will always outweigh the disadvantages. I personally wouldn't want it any other way. I am the master of my own destiny and there can be a lot of satisfaction of building a company and watching it become successful, which is all down to your hard work.

Do you run your own company? I would love to hear your views.