Ask any Small Business Owner “why they are in business for themselves?”, and you will get a myriad of answers. While owning a business can be hectic –and frantic at times– it can be fundamentally liberating and empowering. Recently we asked some of our customers what small business meant to them, and overwhelmingly, being in small business meant being independent. Free to do what they wanted to do in taking care of their customers, free from red tape, free to run their business the way they need to so they can accomplish their goals.
From a personal perspective of owning my own business, freedom is great; however, there are things that can lead to pitfalls –especially if they aren’t considered in the initial business plan. While as a small business, you may feel free of corporate red tape, you are never free of Federal, State and Local red tape. There are taxes to be paid: employee taxes, business taxes, sales taxes, just to mention a few. I found, that while owning a business gave me the sense of independence, I still worked more hours than the employees did. I was able to restrict the workers to 40 hours, but I continued working long after they went home (planning schedules, assigning work duties, speaking to clients, meeting with the CPA, the ***, and the banker).
Don Loper describes much of this in his article “What it Means to Be an Entrepeneur”. His 75 viewpoints are somewhat humorous (and sometimes sad), but they completely reflect his own feelings and often my own.
It takes a lot to start a small business, keep it running and making a success. It’s not all easy, and it does require hard work and determination.
Here are a few helpful sites to look at while you’re researching: