When considering to go out on your own, the potential business opportunity that you are pursuing is a big factor in your decision.
However, from speaking to so many people who have done it, the decision is usually a personal one too.
People are curious of how they will fare while running their own business and what impact it will have on them as a person.
Here is how running a business full-time for the last 3 years has changed me.
How I have changed in 3 years of running a business?
Here are the three things which seem to changed most dramatically over the last 3 years:
Freedom to be yourself
When employed full-time, it’s apparent that either the entity who employs you or your immediate boss has significant influence over your primary income source.
When employed, this fact certainly altered my behaviour to err on the side of caution when evaluating whether or not to action things.
When you are your own boss, you’re no longer as concerned of how others may perceive your actions – instead you act on what you think will actually make a difference to your business.
For example, I’ll be launching a side-project this month called Freedom Running which would have been too risky to do had I been employed full-time.
More Excited by Life
Although I was lucky enough to find jobs which I really enjoyed, inevitably there were times when I found myself clock watching and waiting for the day to end.
When running a business, you’re naturally much more invested and interested by it. Instead of clock watching hoping for the day to end, you begin to wish you had more time in each day to accomplish everything that you want.
This mindset of trying to squeeze as much as you can into your day trickles into your personal life too.
Realised that you can be happier with less
In the early stages of running a business, when revenue was not exactly rolling in – it hit me that cutting out fancy restaurants and big nights out didn’t affect my happiness anywhere near as much as anticipated.
The baseline requirements I drew out for my lifestyle during this period was to earn enough money to:
– pay rent
– work in a coworking space
– eat
Once the business had grown enough to sustain the three points above, it meant that the journey could continue and that in itself was enough to keep me happy.
Conclusion
Some people who begin running their own business quickly realise that it’s not for them – but are happy that they tried it out.
For others who really enjoy running their own business, it has such a positive impact on your overall happiness that you can’t imagine doing things any other way.
Thank you for reading,
Gary
