TO BE “EMPLOYED” OR “NOT TO BE EMPLOYED”, THAT IS THE QUESTION

 

By “to be employed”, what ismeant is working in an organisation owned by another person. By “not to beemployed”, what is meant is working in an entity you own yourself; your ownbusiness. I assume it is a business.

What is being looked at here is an age-old question many young and even older people ask themselves. It looks an easy question to answer: “Work in my own business, of course.” Yes, indeed, but then, what is the reason not everyone is heading to their own organisation? So, the question becomes an easy one to decide on but not an easy one to act on.

Many people have been caught in the dilemma of difficulty choosing between keeping a job in another person’s organisation and embarking on their own ventures. The reason, rather, the reasons, are generally easy to see. In this article, a comparison is made between the two.

Let us look at the different aspects of working in an organisation one does not own and working in an organisation they do own. We do it under different themes. The lists of advantages and disadvantages are not exhaustive.

Main positive considerations going for “not being employed”

We look at just three:

-          Freedom. When the organisation is not yours, you have to be ready to adhere to the expectations of the owner or owners. These often include arriving at work and leaving at the time prescribed by the owner, not yourself; working by the stated rules. Besides, you would not like to hear the nastiest words of any workplace: if this does not happen, John, you’re fired!

-           

If you need freedom, start your own organisation. Here, you could set your own rules. For example, you could arrive at the office a little later than the others, if you can still effectively supervise them. Simply remember that there is no total freedom in any organisation. If you have to meet deadlines, for example, you have to sacrifice some freedom even in your very own business. However, you do indeed have a lot more leeway in your own institution.

 

-          Profits. This is probably the biggest motivation for one not being “not being employed”. When you are “employed”, as in working in an organisation you do not own, the profits belong to the owner of the business, and they pay you a bit from those profits.

If you are “not employed” (own the organisation), the profits are all yours.  They ultimately belong to you. Not only that. You decide how to use them.

-          Wealth building. It is often faster to become financially prosperous when you run a business. Few have become rich in a relatively short time depending on the income they get working in an enterprise they do not own. This is connected strongly to the preceding point concerning profits. The profits are yours and you can invest them in a business with great net earnings potential.

Challenges  

As you can see, it can be very rewarding not “to be employed”. In this sense, what is meant, of course, is being one’s own employer. But why is everyone not owning their own business, then? This is what we look at now. Even here, though, only three factors are examined.

-          You are on your own. If you run your own business and depend entirely on that for your own survival, you are essentially on your own. Working in another person’s institution almost always guarantees you a salary at the end of the month. The employer may also be paying your health insurance, and may have accommodated you, as is the case in socialistic economies.

 

If you own the organisation, you have to work the sweat to make the money. If you work lazily, you may not have anything at the end of the month. You will be in free fall. The possibility of starving is more real.

 

Fortunately, it is not a hopeless situation. you can minimise the possibility of adverse financial moments by ensuring you choose a business that deals in a product or service with good and steady demand. By “good”, I mean that you need to be able to sell profitable amounts all the time. By “steady”, I mean there must not be parts of the year when demand is low and parts when demand is good.

 

A product like motor vehicle tyres is likely to have stable demand throughout the year. On the other hand, umbrellas generally have healthy demand only at certain times of the year.

 

-          Capital limitations. A common factor preventing people from owning their own enterprises is the difficulty of raising the finances, for example, required to start business.

 

One way to avoid the capital problem is selecting a business with relatively low initial investment requirements. A business requiring a factory is normally a big financial undertaking. On the other hand, a stationary retail shop is unlikely to place so much pressure on finances. Any amount of stationary can be stocked initially, and the quantity can increase as the business makes more money. As regards the shop, a small trading area could be rented at the start, and when the business expands, one could look for bigger space.

  

One, alternatively, can look for sponsors specialising in helping people with financial limitations who want to start businesses. Some give grants. Grants are not to be paid back. They are not loans.

 

-          Lack of business training. Basic business education can serve as a source of confidence and spur one into starting an enterprise. Insufficient business knowledge can have the effect of holding a person back. If you find yourself in this situation, it should not be a real challenge in today’s age of digitally available information on the internet. There are many resources online that provide basic business knowledge. So I guess this is hardly a problem now.

 

Conclusions

If you have been wondering whether or not to quit your present job and simply run and be sustained by your own enterprise, the brief coverage of the anticlines and synclines above could give you an idea what some of the main issues to look at are. It is indeed a simple overview, but, hopefully, it is adequate as a starting point in an often important decision-making situation.

 

WHY IS JOHN’S BUSINESS DOING BETTER THAN MINE?

 Why is John (or Mary’s) business doing better than mine?

If you are asking this question, hold it. Do not rush into bringing the curtains down on your little enterprise. There are several things you need to do when you find yourself in a situation where you ask this question. We are happy, here, to share some of the courses of action you could take.

First, you need to confirm with John or Mary that their business is actually doing better than yours. Are you friends with Mary/John? If so, how close are you? If you are friends, and close, John/Mary will likely confide in you as to how their business is really doing.  If you are not close, they may not. Still, there are other areas you can look at to help you understand your business relative to that of John/Mary.

Let us assume John or Mary’s business is, indeed, outperforming yours. One basic question you could ask is whether or not your little enterprise is in the same location as John or Mary’s. If the two businesses are neighbours physically, then you should be receiving the same number of visitors as Mary/John’s business. If not, why not? You mean you keep seeing endless streams of buyers into John/Mary’s shop or office while your own place yawns? That is naturally terrible, but hey, maybe John/Mary has products you do not have? Perhaps they have products that move faster in that particular place. Have you made a comparison?   

If the problem is the products you sell, then do introduce the kind sold by Mary of John. It is not illegal, but hopefully, you do not create an enemy. If Mary/John and yourself are on talking terms, do talk candidly with them about how your business is doing and how you have decided to also bring in the products you have seen move relatively fast in their business. They may not like it because it is increased competition for them, but being open to them about it will ease or prevent tension.  

What if John/Mary and yourself sell exactly the same products? Well, well, we have to look elsewhere, then. Perhaps the arrangement of things in your shop or office does not encourage visits. See how the layout in your business differs from the layout in John/Mary’s. Try to understand how your layout could be a discouragement. It is probably that the customers in John’s business have a better view of products or have better access to the products or office assistants. Remember, customers do not like to struggle to view or feel the products. Is that not one reason why someone decided to introduce self-service shops? (Most non-food products can be touched by customers without any real harm resulting.) Customers also do not like to struggle to be in full view of the business assistants. They want to be visible in every square inch of your business. They did not come to be invisible, or get hidden away by the beautiful mannequins or in-office billboards.

Next, have you thought about the painting of the internal and external walls? Business place colours do matter.  But then, how does one know the right colours to use? Well, there is John/Mary there. Have they used very bright colours? If yes, then try going bright. If they used light colours, do go light. Remember this, though: do not use the exact same colours John/Mary has used. That would certainly not make John or Mary smile. It would be seen as an attempt to make customers think the two shops/offices are one. You can try to make customers think the shops are not different, but you cannot try to make them think the two shops/businesses are one and the same. It could amount to an unfair practice. Copy the style, but not the deed. And only change colours when you are sure it is the colours at work.

Another consideration to make is that Mary or John’s superiority in business performance could be a result of better customer service when potential buyers call. If possible, study the way customers are treated in John/Mary’s business. Are you doing the same or better? That could be where the secret lies.

What about the pricing? Could you be charging significantly more for the same type, quality and quantity of goods or services? If so, simply drop the price to John/Mary’s level – if you can still make a decent profit. This issue of price can be tricky, though. You cannot afford to drop the price too low or there will be perception of low quality. That has happened a lot of times.

There are many other possible explanations of why John/Mary’s business is doing better than yours. Your business may be practically next to Mary/John’s, for example, but if theirs has been there longer, then of course they may have established themselves better with the clients. If that seems the reason, relax and put in your best. It is just a matter of time before your numbers pick up, too. Quite often, buyers want to start feeling at home with sellers before they can come knocking. Going further, do not forget that in this information age, John/Mary may be advertising their business and products online or on a local radio or TV station. You could the same, could you not, all things being equal? 

Finally, “little” things like packing customer purchases or simply thanking clients for their visit or phone call could be the difference between your business and that of Mary/John, in the long run.

Our concluding message is that usually, when two similar businesses are in the same locality but one is doing a lot better, the answer also does not lie far.