What makes a small business owner happy?
by Fred on 06/10/06 at 11:03 am
13 comments
62% of people with a personal income of less than R11,000 per month agree with the statement ‘So far I have got the important things I want in life.‘ For higher income earners the percentage is 73%. (from Eighty20’s ‘Fact-a-day’)
Considering the perceived lack of secure income, I wonder ‘Why are we really running our own businesses?’ Is it because of money, or something else?
A few weekends ago, I watched rugby at an old school friend’s house and he told me that he was really happy in his life. My friend is an employee of a medium sized publishing company in South Africa, and he earns around twice what I do in my capacity as owner of a small 5yr old business. He has been working there for around the same time as my company has been going, and he has no yearning to do anything else. He has a great marriage, 2 children (the second was born this morning – congrats, bud!), a nice house, swimming pool, 2 cars and, in his words: ‘More money each month than I need.’ He is a pretty happy guy.
The weird thing is, when he told me all of this, I couldn’t help thinking: ‘I’m so glad I’m not him. I’m so glad I’m running my own business.’
But now, let’s look at the facts:
- Every month I work overtime to reach targets and deliver on schedule.
- Most months, I’m not assured of where the money is going to come from over next 3 months.
- I work 4 times as hard as my friend (a guess, but I reckon pretty accurate).
- I still have no long-term security – if I die or get injured, the business goes down.
So, why on earth am I so happy? I look at the other guys in the studio (all crazy entrepreneurs) and everyone looks pretty content. So, what is it about running your own business, despite all the crap that comes with it, so fulfilling?
Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. He runs a web marketing company called World Wide Creative and loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. View more articles by Fred.
Andrew
Oct 6th, 2006
I reckon small business owners can tolerate low and unsteady income because there is always the hope that around the future things are going to get better, our salary could double, we could sell the business for millions – and we will take most of the credit.
Hope is a funny kind of motivator.
If I worked for a big organisation I would know that my salary in a year’s time would be fairly secure, but it’s guaranteed to not be more than 5% higher than it is now and I wouldn’t have any control over that process. I think I would feel like a bit of my manhood had been taken away (no offense intended to female entrepreneurs).
Karin
Oct 6th, 2006
hear hear Andrew.
I left a well-paid job (and moved to another country) to be my own boss (well, have to share the ‘boss-feeling’ with my partner), doing things my (sorry, our) way. Is that worth missing a secure large monthly pay-check?
Yes, because now every (even little) success is our success (and no-one else can claim our success to be his/her doing as does happen so often when you’re employed – managers running anyway with your ideas, results and success).
And perhaps in one or two years time we get the same secure larger monthly pay-check, but the struggle of the road to that particular success is worth more than any corporate pay-check has been in the past.
And yes, I’m a happy bunny
Jon
Oct 6th, 2006
Nice post Fred, not sure what the actual answer is as to why these entrepreneurs are still so happy.
As someone who is selling his partnership stake in a business to possibly become an employee at another company I though I could shed some light on the other side of the coin.
To be honest I think there is a sense of self-righteousness about starting your own business. It gets great response around the braai place, sparking many interesting discussions. Which most include the fact that people think you are so brave for ‘going out on your own’.
Part of that self-righteous business owner savvy I think is what makes us tick. The fact that we can claim that we are slave to no man etc. However in reality I think that business owners are slave to a lot more than what employees are.
That’s just my opinion and I’m young now, it might change. But I’m leaving my partnership in a start up business and in fact I’m relieved. This could be for any number of reasons, but all I can say is that I’m happier now.
Fred
Oct 6th, 2006
You’re definitely right Jonno, but the question is: ‘How come we (as small business owners), slaves as we are to our businesses, self-righteous as heck, making sacrifices that in hind-sight look like the works of crazy people, are so happy?’
Maybe I’m wrong, but I reckon most of the business owners I’ve met over the past couple of years have that ‘look’ in their eyes – that tell me that there is something special about what they are doing.
I think Andrew is right about the hope thing, and Karin is right about taking ownership on success – but I reckon there’s something more…?
Karin
Oct 6th, 2006
Something more…
Creativity? Being able to unleash all the creativity you have into it?
(Not exactly the best word, but can’t find a better one at the moment)
Shane
Oct 6th, 2006
Not everyone who goes out there on their own is an entrepreneur. That has to be said, just because you have your own business doesn’t mean you are an entrepreneur. For the true entrepreneur, I think that the thing that makes them ‘happy’ is having the freedom to craft, to make something out of nothing; and the pure pleasure and challenge of this is the berryjuice that keeps them smiling!
Also, there are loads of sad small business owners out there, who probably couldn’t actually get employed because of their sorry ass attitude.
Karin
Oct 6th, 2006
Shane, I agree with you on this: starting a business just so to become your own boss (i.e. why does your boss get so much more paid for the things you do for him – sales-price – than he is paying you) is IMHO the wrong attitude. The business owner doesn’t create a business, he just creates a job for his own. (Working in your business, versus working ON your business).
But this is much better described in The E-myth: Entrepreneur, Manager and Technician.
steve
Oct 6th, 2006
Very interesting thoughts, being an employee just yearning to create my own buisness, i would have to say the motivator is probably “freedom”. Karin used the word creativity, andrew recons hope, but at the end of the day i think the reward comes from knowing, if you want to take the day off you can. If you want to spend the company’s profit on a new pimped up workstation, or fancy coffee machine you can, if you want to tell your customer to get off the bus, you can… not that you would ever actually do any of those things because you are a slave to your business;)
Andrew
Oct 6th, 2006
I hear you Steve. I don’t have to ask anyone for leave, and that is a great feeling. I’ve only taken a handful of days in the last few years, but somehow that doesn’t matter!
Karin
Oct 6th, 2006
Days off? What was that again, please remind me
Jon
Oct 9th, 2006
Right here is where my point is made. The happiness of an entrepreneur is found in intangible things. The idea of freedom, the idea of hope, the idea of creating something out of nothing, the idea of creativity… However when you take a step back and look at the reality…how much of it is just an idea?
Shane
Oct 9th, 2006
Yes, for the disillusioned its an idea, for the wise, it’s a reality.
Karin
Oct 9th, 2006
Can I add part of the wonderful foreword my friend and mentor wrote for my debut novel? Think says it all (or most of it anyway)
“…….And is it not the journey, the search for that elusive goal, that provides us with the adrenalin and energy to keep us driving forward. And why? Sometimes it is the need to develop an immediate income, underpinned perhaps by the suggestion of a capital contribution to our retirement on the disposal of business.
But more often it is the challenge, the fun and delight of achievement, that keeps us going, ‘fun’ being the essential word because, without the fun, how else could we survive those long hours in our respective businesses…….” (Richard C)