20 benefits of owning a business according to business owners

Who else to ask about the benefits of owning your own business if not the owners themselves. They’ve been through it all – the good, the bad, the ugly – and they can sincerely tell if the sacrifices they made for their businesses paid off at the end.

Impact on someone else’s success

Running a business is heart-racing. Everything begins and ends with you. What systems you create, relationships you cultivate, every choice you make. All of it lives and breaths in you.

And that’s exhilarating. The late nights, trials and errors, amazing learning experiences all of that culminates in helping your client be their best.

They’ll never know completely, and they don’t need to. The journey is your own and their triumph is yours too. When they win you win.

It’s amazing to see their transformation and what a difference you made in that transformation. All the results you helped create and how much better their business is now because of your work.

The highs and lows create a business all your own and you can make it into whatever you like.

It’s not for everyone, but that’s pretty cool too.

Tracie Patterson, Quiz Creator & Conversion Copywriter at Indie Copy

Seeing your vision become reality

Vasil George, Biodi com

Freedom to choose your clients

The best perk of being a business owner is only working with clients I believe in and enjoy. Each of my clients is more than just a business connection, they become friends, and their brands are ones I am passionate about. 

In a previous life, when I worked for other companies, I didn’t have the luxury and privilege of choosing who I spent my time on every day. Now, I get to handpick exactly who I dedicate my days giving a voice to. I respect my clients, and they respect me. It creates an amazing environment and even on the days I am working all day and night for them, I am excited because I am passionate about them and for them.

Diana Bassett, President of DBPR

I love being my own boss because, instead of getting fired, I can fire clients. I handle public relations, marketing, and leadership consulting. If I am not getting buy-in and cooperation from clients, if they do not deliver on the things that I need to move projects forward, I can cut bait. Working for a company does not allow me that freedom. I have to work with whoever they place in front of me. The freedom of choice is the best part of being a business owner.

Tonya McKenzie, Founder of Sand & Shores

Being spontaneous and active

If I were an employee, I’d have to get permission in advance for any time off from my boss. I’d have to limit my adventures to the brief holiday season or 14 days of vacation time. I’ve always wanted the freedom to be adventurous which is exactly why I decided to start a business.

Tyler Read, CEO of Personal Trainer Pioneer

Being present in your children’s lives

Being a great dad is extremely important to me, and being my own boss makes that possible.

Chris Cade, Founder of The Miracles Store

Sharing your core values

Michael Alexis, CEO of The Great Guac Off

Investing in passion projects

My number one benefit of owning a business is being able to invest profits into passion projects, without the fear that I am risking my livelihood. Being my own boss has afforded me the luxury of finding new and exciting ideas to expand my profile. Currently, I am developing more passive income businesses that can run alongside my SEO agency.

Tom Clark, Founder & Director of SEO at Convert Digital Ltd 

Effecting change at macro and micro level

To me, though, they don’t capture the responsibility that is inherent with leadership—which, frankly, is much more rewarding (short and long term) than any type of personal achievement or accomplishment (not to mention at the core of ANY business ownership reality, successful or otherwise).

I think the greatest perk of being a business owner is having the ability to effect change! It could be at the macro-level (disrupting an industry) or the micro (doing something to demonstrate appreciation for staff or clients), but it’s a unique privilege that comes with the opportunity of being in the lonely seat at the top of the org chart. Sometimes it’s impossible to miss, other times it’s hard to see or takes a while to manifest. I’ve had many opportunities to experience the latter, and have spent a meaningful part of my career thinking about the former. In whatever format it comes, it’s real, and the impact it has on the lives of others, I believe, can literally change the world.

Daniel Koffler, Founder/President of New Frontiers

Pushing beyond the limits

Running my own business is like professional sports to me – a routine I’m missing out on after my sports career has come to an end. Being in business fills me with the amount of daily adrenaline I need, puts me into a routine that requires me to push myself beyond limits of everyday thinking, ideas, challenges and execution.

Adam Bukauskas, Co-Founder of Upmove

Ability to travel the world for business

Being my own boss offers a lot of lifestyle flexibility such as being able to travel the world to meet suppliers and explore new business opportunities. Being able to look back and see how we’ve grown a multi-regional brand, it is truly a rewarding thing! It also offers me control in decision-making which is crucial given we’ve nurtured this brand like our baby from day one.

Kate Rubin, Owner of Rubin Extensions

Neverending learning opportunities

One thing which I enjoy the most being the owner of Credox is that when you are the boss, there are a ton of things which you learn. For instance, when you are running a company you are the accountant, hiring manager, marketer, supply and demand maintainer, outsourcer, and technical support to name a few. You are responsible for everything that happens in the company at a large level.

Resultantly, my skillset and expertise have exploded as I have learned how to wear all the different boss hats.

Hanna Karl, Senior Editor at Credox

Having control over your life

In the past 4 years, I have been laid off 3 times despite excellent performance – for reasons beyond my control (M&A, funding cut, pandemic mass layoffs). I have worked 100 hour weeks for these companies like Uber and Rocket Internet just to find myself out of a job over and over again. 

Having started my own business has given me much more control and stability in my life. Even if one income stream or client falls away I still have the others. I can make pivots to adjust to market changes, and I get to reap what I sow. 

Julia Lemberskiy, Co-founder & Managing Director at JJ Studio

Unlimited growth and creative opportunities

I love being my own boss because it affords unlimited growth and creative opportunities. I am always open to the new in my legal and professional development. The ability to try different ideas, and use my knowledge and expertise in unusual ways is why I love being my own boss. Including the ability to fail, and learn from it without outside judgment.

One perk of running my own business, that I enjoy the most is: using my experience to create new business lines. I can change, add, or eliminate what I want, when I want.

Laura French, Founder of French Law Group

Tax write-offs

One perk – Tax Write-Offs, particularly mileage! I travel all over the state for my business. I also have to do supply runs, banking, and deliveries in-between my sales sites. I use a mileage tracker called Mile-IQ that allows me to catalog every single drive I make. These annually add up to SEVERAL thousands in mileage. Just my mileage write-offs account for quadruple what my write-offs were on my yearly taxes as an employee. This translates IMMEDIATELY to additional capital for my products, marketing and inventory.

Jay Jermo, Owner of Hey Honey

Saving for retirement

The one thing I love about running my own business is saving more for retirement and paying a lot less tax! By making large contributions to my SEP-IRA – much larger than a traditional 401(k) – and taking the usual business owner tax deductions I’ve managed to get my effective tax rate down into the single digits. I’d rather pay myself than Uncle Sam! #PayLessTax

Liz Steblay, Founder & President of ProKo Agency

Freedom to work as you please

A significant benefit of running your own business is it gives you the flexibility to run it however you want. When I left working at a large corporation to start my own business, I never thought I’d experience a parallel to one of the greatest movies of all time, The Shawshank Redemption. 

As fans of the movie surely recall, the characters contemplate being “institutionalized” regarding how it takes time to adapt to a new reality after leaving a place they’ve been at for such a long period of time. 

In my case, after a nearly 20-year corporate career, my default instinct was that I was not allowed to freely talk to the media, not allowed to freely market my services however I wanted, not allowed to publicly express my opinions on the industry, etc. After leaving to start my own business, I was then free to do all of that. It did though take a little time to overcome my prior “institutionalized” mindset!

Brad Wales, Founder of Transition To RIA

Growing your network

For me, even just a starter of being my own boss, the most enjoyable thing is the opportunity to connect with the smartest people around the world. I love communication, new people, and contacts. Also, when you don’t need to ask anybody what to do, you can free your mind and be open to new challenges and opportunities.

Lukas Tilkevicius, CEO at Artifix

Bringing ideas to life

Tom Crowe, Owner of Tom Crowe Digital

Building equity

In my opinion, the best part about being a small business owner is the opportunity you get to build equity over time. For example, in a regular job you put in the effort and get a paycheck out of it at the end of the day and maybe move up the ladder for more pay overtime. While a small business owner you actually are building wealth as you grow over time since you actually own an asset that pays your salary and spits off additional cash flow from profits. Over time, compounding growth will make your asset worth so much more than any additional pay you would get from working a typical corporate job.

Bill Samuel, Founder of Blue Ladder Development

The ability to self-pace

In my opinion, the best part about being a small business owner is the opportunity you get to build equity over time. For example, in a regular job you put in the effort and get a paycheck out of it at the end of the day and maybe move up the ladder for more pay overtime. While a small business owner you actually are building wealth as you grow over time since you actually own an asset that pays your salary and spits off additional cash flow from profits. Over time, compounding growth will make your asset worth so much more than any additional pay you would get from working a typical corporate job.

Mike Decker, Founder of The Advisor Suite

Conclusion

It’s safe to draw a conclusion that the benefits of owning a business mainly revolve around the freedom to do what you want, both professionally and privately. However, that doesn’t mean that there are no responsibilities duties or even disadvantages of being your own boss.

19 myths of entrepreneurship that paint the wrong picture

Since it became impossible for the mere observer to tell myths of entrepreneurship from facts we took it upon ourselves to debunk the worst entrepreneurship myths and misconceptions and strip off all the lies that have built up during the years.

#1 Myth: Entrepreneurs are narcissistic people with no connection to the real world

Building your own business or creating a product or service requires hard work, long hours and sacrifice – but it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to sacrifice your life or relationships to be successful.

Many entrepreneurs have families at home who are counting on them. For some, this might even mean a spouse is taking on additional work while their partner builds the business. The majority of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs decide to take on major lifestyle changes, not because of their own self-interest or ambition, but because they believe their idea can change the world for the better. It’s a noble cause that is often misunderstood as narcissism.

David Wright, Executive Director of Practice Development at M&O Marketing

#2 Myth: You will live a care-free, autonomous lifestyle

Simply not true. Oftentimes, entrepreneurs leave behind a 40-hour workweek, only to find themselves putting in 80-hour work weeks for the first few years. As for the autonomy, entrepreneurs are very much still held accountable, even more so as they continue to build a team.

DeeAnn Sims-Knight, Founder of Dark Horse PR

#3 Myth: Successful entrepreneurs all start young

Kelly Bertog, Founder of YOURS Non-Alcoholic Drinks

#4 Myth: Only extroverts can succeed in entrepreneurship

For example, introverted entrepreneurs don’t mind working alone during those long hours in the early stages of their business. They are more likely to enjoy working and making decisions independently. Introverts are also more likely to prefer one-on-one meetings and listen carefully to the suggestions of others. They are also likely to be successful as entrepreneurs because they tend to be low key and deliberate in their decisions.

Kathryn Schwab, Head of Content at Bobbie

#5 Myth: You no longer have a boss

Laura Gariepy, Owner Before You Go Freelance

#6 Myth: You need a lot of money to start a business

I started with $1K to my name working from a cell phone and laptop of a dining room table and now run a $5M/yr business with 7 employees disrupting an industry. Anything is possible with enough determination and grit to solve the problems you’re presented with and make it happen.

Kyle Sharick, CEO of TracksNTeeth, Inc

While it’s true that you will need some sort of capital to fund the early stages of your business, growing it initially doesn’t always have to revolve around chunks of cash.

Entrepreneurs typically finance startups from their own pockets. And because not all entrepreneurs come from a wealthy background, capital isn’t always as accessible.

Take my startup story for example. We founded EarlyBird, a financial gifting platform, in 2019. We weren’t fully funded when we had just started. To make up for it, our small team developed strategic partnerships with investors who helped raise our capital, and marketers who increased awareness and online authority of our brand.

Different business operations like growth hacking and raising funds through investments are some of the tactics that worked for us. Our driven team members also played an important role to achieve our success.

Caleb Frankel, Co-founder and COO at EarlyBird

#7 Myth: You should hustle day and night

Why hustle and grind your way to success, and risk sacrificing your health and relationships along the way?

If you work smarter and better, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor in good mental and physical health together with the people you love. That, to me, is the very definition of success.

Thomas Sorheim, Founder of Leisurehiking.com

#8 Myth: You should heed all of the advice you’re given

There is no shortage of advice coming at you when you are starting a business. While some of it may be exceptional for the most part, I’ve always found it too general to be useful. It more often than not comes from someone well-meaning but usually comes from someone who really doesn’t understand your concept and idea. So, use your time wisely and only seek counsel from those you believe will move your business forward. Although this seems obvious, it is amazing how others can influence your thinking.

Geneva Long, founder​ and CEO of Bowlus

#9 Myth: You need to be an expert before starting

People learn best by taking action and making mistakes. Begin with trial and error then assess, adjust, and keep moving forward. Do not allow yourself to put off your entrepreneurial journey because you’re not yet an expert. If you wait until you are “ready” you will never start. People who are successful are not worried about the failures as they understand that failure breeds success.

Jake Irving, Owner of Willamette Life Insurance

#10 Myth: You need a completely new idea to be successful

Bringing a novel idea to market is hard, time-consuming, and has the highest chance of failure because it’s likely that it’s too early for it. When you improve on an existing idea, there’s an established market and you can quickly become profitable and expand the business.

Daniel Ndukwu, Co-Founder of UsefulPDF

#11 Myth: Entrepreneurs are only motivated by money

One entrepreneurship myth is that all entrepreneurs are only motivated by money. Businesses aren’t built overnight. Being an entrepreneur takes dedication and not everyone can do it. Those who can aren’t solely motivated by money. 

Many entrepreneurs, like myself, are motivated by the need for personal freedom and the ability to spend time doing the things we love to do. My favorite thing to do is to spend time with my family. Through starting a business I am able to do that.

Laura Rike, Founder of LauraRike.com

#12 Myth: Entrepreneurs must innovate or create new ways of doing things

Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison are great examples. Tesla created bright innovations, but never found a paying customer. On the other hand, Edison created many useful innovations for the world and held over a thousand patents. He also found a way to commercialize his inventions. Someone can be an innovator and an entrepreneur, like Edison was, but not always.

Vivian Chan, Leadership & Team-building Expert at Sette

#13 Myth: You need to do everything yourself

Of course, you will be the sole decision-maker for the most important things, but you can also have others do smaller tasks to move things along. There are ways to outsource or hire freelancers to help you with the less-risky responsibilities so you can focus on building your brand. 

By doing this, you’ll end up still retaining creative control but have more time to focus on the bigger picture and growing your business. Letting others help you along the way is extremely crucial because it saves you a lot of time, energy, and, most importantly, sanity.

Chris Lieu, Founder & Editor at The Distillery Groove

#14 Myth: You can outsource everything and automate

One of the most significant myths about entrepreneurship I often hear is that you can just outsource everything and automate your whole business. Basically, just come up with an idea, hire experts, automate everything, and then just sit back and relax and watch the money rain.

As an entrepreneur, you need to manage and package everything that happens in your business. Definitely not going into the details, but always keep a finger on the pulse. The entrepreneur is the person with the vision, and it’s his/her job to transfer this vision to the rest of the team – to the extent that they see it just as clearly.

Johannes Larsson,CEO and Founder of Financer.com

#15 Myth: Being VC-funded gets you to the goal faster than bootstrapping

Erdin Beshimov, Founder of MIT Bootcamps

#16 Myth: Hard work equals success

If you keep working hard and hustling all day long focusing on the wrong things, success won’t come, because being busy and being productive are entirely different things. What it will get you is sleepless nights, overwhelm, burnout or worse! 

So what can you do? Get clear on what you want, prioritise properly, learn to say no, stop multitasking and most of all, prioritise a good night sleep.

Susanne Grant, Business Coach & Consultant at Grant Method

#17 Myth: Entrepreneurship is about venture capital and hip office space

Entrepreneurship is not a pipe dream, nor is it a get-rich-quick plan. A dedicated local service provider can build a huge business and secure a very comfortable life. Tech startups can be profitable, but take much more luck and money than your local junk removal truck requires!

Anders Helgeson, Co-Founder of Time Now Hauling & Junk Removal

#18 Myth: Entrepreneurship is incredibly risky

On the other hand, employees have almost no ability to control their destiny. Oftentimes, if the company is failing or the entire industry goes south, then employees can be let go through no fault of their own and their only recourse is to find another job (which can take months).

Omer Reiner, President of FL Cash Home Buyers

#19 Myth: Successful entrepreneurs never experience failure

Each of my failed ventures taught me invaluable lessons about market fit, cash flow management, and team building that I couldn’t have learned any other way. The entrepreneurs who ultimately succeed aren’t the ones who magically avoid failure; they’re simply the ones who use failure as data, refuse to let it define them, and keep moving forward when others would quit. Resilience, not perfection, is the true superpower of successful business owners.

Marcus Chen, CEO of GrowthPath Ventures