Have you got what it takes to run your own company?

Jeremy just wrote a great post about why people fail in business but I can’t help but feel he missed the biggest reason of them all: managing cash flow. We’ve all heard the rule of thumb: pay late, pull income in as quickly as possible… If only it was that easy…

Since dropping of client work a few months ago to peruse in-house projects I’m in deep shit experiencing cash flow problems - I’m currently living on next to nothing, selling anything I own that is valuable (from a rolex watch to computers to cameras) and selling my resources for money I would have wiped my nose on 6 months ago. I have no problems doing this, these are sacrifices I’m willing to make to build a successful business.

As Jeremy said in his post, an employee wakes up at 8am, makes themselves a coffee, has a very sociable lunch, goes home at 5 or 6pm and knows exactly what pay cheque they’ll be getting at the end of the month. Now that’s a pretty easy life and I don’t blame people who choose to live that lifestyle…

Let’s look at the other side of the coin. If you are the owner of your own business you have to be prepared for a very different lifestyle. There are no set hours, no set pay and no sociable lunches (well, not for me anyway).

On top of that you have a real negative side effect that not many people can handle… Stress. The stress an owner has when they are responsible for making the right decisions every day, responsible for making sure the staff receives their pay checks on time among hundreds of other components of running a business is tough.

Put it this way, I’m 25 and I have grey hair. I’m not joking, I really do have grey hair.  When girls see this they laugh and I personally hate it. When I’m under a lot of stress I get spots… yes, running your own company can even change your appearance!

What I’m trying to say is that running your own business is not easy… you have to be prepared and willing to sacrifice a lot (like I mentioned at the start… I recently sold my rolex that my Dad bought me for my 18^th birthday)…

Should you start your own company?

I’d say that if your already thinking about it, then do it as long as you know you can get a job if it doesn’t work out. Personally even though I’m going through a bit of a bad patch right now, I wouldn’t give it up for the world. I see this as a challenge. Managing my own business with staff is right for me, is it right for you?