I make well above this country’s average salary, though it doesn’t go very far in LA. The cost of living here means I still live a middle class existence. My car is nice, but not luxurious. I own my house, but it is tiny and in a questionable neighborhood. I don’t long for more stuff, our needs are modest. But I wish I could save more for the future and escape this rat race.
I work for a large firm, where I am just another name and employee number. Overall they are quite generous in terms of benefits and perks. I have gotten acceptable though not spectacular raises over the years, it’s the typical life working in corporate America. But in my line of work it is possible to start your own company and be your own boss. Several of my peers have done just that over the years, and they easily make 2-3 times my salary for the same work. Without them as a point of reference, I feel adequately compensated. But when I see people who are no smarter and no better than me making a whole lot more, I start to feel underpaid. There isn’t much possibility to advance staying an employee as I am. I would have to strike out on my own.
But I feel greedy when I think about starting my own company, I would be doing it for the money. Doing it to make as much money as I can, as fast as I can (and making it legally at that). Call me the reluctant capitalist, it doesn’t seem fair that I could make so much. Most of us are working hard to get ahead, I don’t feel more valuable than the next guy. Am I a fool for questioning the opportunity before me, or wise to question my own motives?
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8 comments:
As a small business owner, I just don't get this post at all.
Aren't you already sort of your own company selling to your client (the company). Why would it be any different to just sell your skills yourself?
There are a whole, whole lot of reasons not to go out on your own. Heck, I could list off dozens off the top of my head, but I wouldn't think "fairness."
I think the question is would money be the only reason to go out on your own? I often find myself daydreaming of what will be next in my career. I don't work in a field that pays really well ... so while an increase in pay would come with my next step, I spend my time thinking about having more responsibility.
I don't think there's anything wrong with maximizing your income by striking out on your own. After all, you feel like you're being underpaid in comparison to the independents who are no smarter than you. By that light, I don't think that you're passing any judgments simply, or being greedy, because you chose not to remain a nameless corporate employee. As much as the money, the change of environment is fairly significant.
I think the more relevant question would be whether or not you want to deal with running a small business.
The real downsides of owning your own business, from my perspective:
(1) You are never off. Sure, you can take a vacation, but every hour you are away from your business is an hour that you can be losing business to your competitors. Or, if you have employees, it's an hour that they are screwing something up because they are not adequately supervised. And you are intimately concerned with the day-to-day earnings of your business because they directly impact your earnings.
(2) You have to self-motivate. All the time. You have no boss to give you feedback and no co-workers to hang with. Relationships with employees will not be the same motivator, because you cannot be buddies with employees without their job performance degenerating.
(3) You are responsible for all your taxes, health insurance, etc. Take a look at the federal tax bracket for self-employed people earning what your peers do. Check out the rates for the insurance you will be able to get as a small businessperson. Are your peers making 3x your salary or taking home 3x your salary? There is a difference.
It is a lot of work to own your own business; you have to do the work to keep the business going as well as the work you normally do for your employer now. Make sure that you will bring home enough extra money at the end of the day to make the extra work worthwhile.
I think you should always have dreams and ambitions. I guess personally I'd be too afraid of the risk, but if you think you can do it, I would!
I would be too scared to strike it out on my own. I hate working for "da man" but I like the fact that I don't have to worry about health insurance, retirement accounts, self-employment taxes, etc. etc. that I would have to if I was my own business owner. And I also hear that when you own your own business, you're pretty much working 24-7. But if money motivates you enough to take these challenges on, then go for it!
Seems kind of off to me, to deliberately choose to earn less for the same work out of a sense of "fairness." If you were beautiful, would you walk around in a sack because dressing nicely was unfair to unattractive people? If you were an Olypmic-speed runner, would you choose not to race because it was unfair to people who couldn't run?
Earning less yourself doesn't change the fact that we are all different, and that everyone doesn't have the same earning potential. In fact, I would argue that if you want to make things better for people who don't have the same potential as you, it would make more sense to fulfill that potential and earn more. That way, you could fund scholarships or give to charities, which would make a difference in the lives of people who aren't in the same position as you. Sitting on your hands doesn't change things.
There are plenty of reasons to opt out of self-employment if it's not for you. But fairness doesn't really strike me as one of them.
Hmmmm... was this posted on April Fools day? I don't get it at all...
Why should your company benefit from your hard work when you can be the one benefiting from it? Does it seem fairer to have your employer or its shareholder reaping the rewards of your hard work? Why should anyone feel guilty about profiting from their honest day of work?
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