“Being Your Own Boss” is not “Having No Boss”
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It seems that the idea of “being your own boss”, or starting up one’s own business is gaining more traction today. Some people fantasize on the thought of relaxing underneath the shades of a palm tree in a white-sand beach while money keeps on pouring in. Some daydream of the day they would not have to answer to a micro-managing boss whose life’s purpose is to make a subordinate’s job miserable.
If your passion to pursue entrepreneurship or be your own boss is as similar as those listed above, then by all means, I believe you should find a deeper purpose. Because being one’s own boss is not the same as having no boss at all.
The reason why it’s not “having no boss” and “being your own boss” is as explicit as that – entrepreneurship requires more self-discipline, more self-mastery, and more self-management or “self-bossing”. Perhaps a better term is “self-leading”, or the ability to lead one’s self.
When one becomes an entrepreneur, there’s no more fixed monthly salary that one can cling on to or use in planning credit.
When one becomes an entrepreneur, it may not be an 8 to 5 job, but rather, an 8 to 8 job (and I mean 8am to 8am!).
If you are part of a corporate job, imagine this – all the benefits you receive from the company, you should be the one to prepare for yourself. No one will withhold your income tax, no one will forcibly save money for a “retirement” fund. You will now be the one to establish the structure of the organization and make sure the organization does not violate any laws. You are your own boss – you should be the one in charge of doing this for yourself now.
With great power of freedom comes a great burden of responsibility.
Please rethink first the true meaning of “being your own boss”. When an individual is capable of digesting the repercussions of being one’s own boss (vs the wrong notion of having no boss), is only when he is ready to reap the true rewards of entrepreneurship.
Thank you for putting that out. There are also a number of annoying middle managers I think when one pursues the entrep track. The market and the government are some examples.
Hi jio! Can you elaborate on the middle managers? 🙂
I personally hate having a boss (in a traditional corporate structure) because they could limit a subordinate’s learning. An entrepreneur on the other hand has the freedom to choose what he desires to learn. Also, I hate the idea that a younger subordinate has to follow a boss in spite of irrational and egoistic decisions just because the boss has already received a loyalty award from HR.
On the other hand, I believe it’s always a case-to-case basis. Having a boss like Jonathan Yabut would be awesome!
Thanks for your insights james! Perhaps there are really people like you who is a better fit for the entrep track.
I’d just like to raise that there might be some people who are not as wise as you when it comes to entrepreneurship. Some choosr to be irresponsible of the freedom bestowed upon them and poof, welcome to avoidable failures.