The Benefits of Owning Your Own Business

The benefits of owning your own business are important considerations when thinking of starting a business.

If you have been running a your own business for a while, it may be worth taking stock. Remind yourself of the many potential benefits. Think again about your reasons for running your own business. Check that you are actually realising the benefits that you once hoped for.

It’s not always an easy route and there can be challenging times. Being clear about your key reasons for doing so will help to give you the motivation, determination – and maybe even inspiration – to keep going.

If you’re the sort of person who wants to chart their own course and who enjoys the freedom of being independent, then owning your own business can be very attractive.

As an independent business owner, you are not answerable to anyone. Of course you have to deliver a satisfactory product or service to customers, but you can choose what you do and how to do it. You can shape a working life that suits you.

Being independent, you can choose to follow your instincts and interests, without having to ask permission.

Your destiny is in your hands – for good or ill!

One of the key benefits of owning your own business is that you become an independent business owner.

This means you can take back control – from your boss, from organisational bureaucracy and from colleagues. You can stop compromising your values, dreams, hopes and aspirations.

You can take control and create something for yourself, your family and for others who are like-minded.

Creating your own business give you choice. The choice to work when you want, where you want and how you want. If you like working alone or you prefer working with a team, then you can create a business that reflects that and suits you.

For example you can reduce or eliminate your commute, choose to work with people you like, choose to try something new and to follow your instincts.

Variety gives you the ability to be creative. To have new fresh ideas and turn them into reality.

If you are building your own business then you might as well build it around something that you enjoy and find fulfilling. Do something you believe in, you’re interested in and want to do.

Believing in your work, in your products and services, means that it is easier to stay motivated for the long term. If your sole focus is profit then that can become stale. If you are motivated by what you do, then you are able to keep going on the bad days and the challenging days. You will know that despite the short-term challenges it is worthwhile.

One of the key benefits of owning your own business is that you can build a business around your strengths and your interests.

Being an independent business owner is very different from being an employee.

To succeed, you will need to learn more about yourself, recognise what you are good at and enjoy. You also need to recognise what skills and expertise the business needs to thrive. Then find a way to meet those needs if you can’t do it yourself.

There will be many skills and attitudes that you need to develop to take your business from start-up to maturity. Recognising the need for personal growth and development is key for success as well as being a benefit in itself.

Learning to take responsibility, to be more resilient, to be creative, to inspire a team, to problem-solve, to think long-term, to balance the short-term and long-term, the detail and the big picture. All these skills, competencies and qualities that you learn as an independent business owner will stand you in good stead whatever the future holds.

One of the financial benefits of owning your own business is that you can get rewarded for the value you create for your customers through the products and services you provide.

As an employee you got paid for the time you gave – you got paid a salary because you were “worth your salt”. You may also have got a bonus or commission as a token of recognition of the value you created.

As a business owner you can reap the rewards for all the value you create (if you’ve got your pricing right!) You also suffer the consequences if you don’t create any value!

It’s up to you to choose what value you create for your customers and how to do it. It’s also up to you to work out how to do it efficiently. If you can do it well and scale up then you can solve a problem for many people. You can then get rewarded proportionately.

Look at the maths – you can become a millionaire by solving a a £1 million problem for 1 person. Or solving a £1,000 problem for 1,000 people, or a £10 problem for 100,000 people. In fact any other permutation you choose! It depends on your product or service and how you choose to configure it.

Business owners have to create things from nothing. For many, the satisfaction of building something from nothing or turning a cherished idea into a real-world business brings a satisfaction of its own. Turning dreams into reality allows you to sit back and say “I made this!”

When buying a franchise, a lot of the work is done for you. Yet even this situation still requires you to build something, establish a presence and make something work.

There is a satisfaction in seeing something take shape that came from you. For some it may be painting a picture or throwing a pot, creating a garden or building a dream home – for others it’s building a business.

One of the benefits of being a long term business builder is that you can end up with an asset. A sustainable business which produces a reliable profit year after year.

If you’ve built your business around you then you may still be heavily involved as an owner-manager. Or maybe you’ve designed your business to work in the long term without your day to day input. Then you are more of an owner, taking on the role of investor.

One of the quandaries that many business owners face as they get older is what to do with their business. Many assume that they need to sell it when they retire. The process of getting a business ready for exit has one clear aim. That of making the business function well without the hands-on involvement of the individual founder.  When you got your business ready for exit, there is also an additional option. It is of course, to keep the business and act as an owner, taking the profits, rather than just salary.

If you have done this well, your pension could be your business, at least in part. In effect by building your business you are also helping to build your pension asset. Whether you sell it or not is up to you.

So there we are – an array of benefits of owning your own business, from financial to practical. From how you feel about your work and life to freedom of choice. However they don’t all appear as if by magic. You need to intentionally design, create and build your business to give you the benefits you want.

If you are already a business owner, you are probably aware of all these potential benefits – and more besides. This could be a useful checklist to remind yourself why you’re in business and to get some perspective.

If you’re already a business owner and you’re not getting all these benefits, then what do you need to do differently?

How could you build a business that

• Enables you to be independent
• Gives you choice, variety and creativity
• Provides you with fulfilling and enjoyable work
• Supports you personal growth and development
• Rewards you for the value you create
• Gives you the satisfaction of building something that lasts
• Becomes an asset that gives you an annual income

If you’re not yet getting all the benefits of being an independent business owner, then maybe now is the right time to talk to a business coach. Book a quick chat or a free business review. This an informal one-to-one consultation to give you some clarity on the way forward. Request yours today!