Work a 9-to-5 job but want to live life on your own terms instead? Here are a few reasons why it isn’t just a crazy dream.
Do you look forward to getting the weekend started every Friday afternoon? Do you treasure the excitement and pleasure that the weekend brings, only for it all to be dampened when reality hits home that Monday is just another boring and stressful day at the office? Working a 9-to-5 job will not bring you financial freedom nor will it allow you to live life on your own terms. But becoming a business owner will. Even for all of you folks who love your job, I have compiled a list of the top three reasons why you should quit and become a full-time business-owner.
Here are the three major reasons that compel most people to own a business.
Work for No One But Yourself
“If you don’t build your dream, someone will hire you to help build theirs.” – Tony Gaskins
I used to be a laborer on construction sites. From sunup until sundown, I’d be sweeping floors, loading dumpsters and clearing construction areas of any debris. I would get abused and bullied by the other laborers. I knew this was no life for me. I’d never truly be happy while caged into these 80-hour workweeks. I had goals and dreams to fulfill. I had a burning desire for more—and sweeping someone else’s floors wasn’t going to get me there.
Every morning I would see my boss stroll in dressed in fitted Italian suits and leave in his luxury car. I decided that I was tired of spending my time helping someone else reach his goals and dreams.
I’d always been intrigued by the freedom and possibilities that becoming a business owner and entrepreneur had to offer. And so, I began dedicating all of my free time to teaching myself every aspect of business, finance, entrepreneurship, real estate and passive income. Within a short amount of time, I started my first real estate company called “From Sweeping Floors to Owning Doors LLC.”
Do What You Want, When You Want
Owning your own business can offer true freedom: freedom to choose your own hours and freedom to reach your goals. Retirement goals and future financial security are all in your control. When you run a business, an HR department 500 miles away can’t dictate them.
Owning your own business offers a freedom of unlimited potential to create a lifestyle that is completely up to you and based on your own effort. Like most things, the market has its ups and downs, but people will always have certain needs. As long as you can go to the market and meet those needs, you will find success. Think along the lines of the two most important things to humanity: food and shelter.
There Is No Limit to How Much You Can Grow With Investing
Working a 9-to-5 job limits you to how much money you can make. Even if you work every day for 365 days a year, your set role will limit you to a set hourly rate, which will be very difficult to exceed.
I’m a full-time real estate investor, which allows me to live life on my terms. For example, I can buy, fix and flip one house per year, or 100 houses per year. I can wholesale five houses per month, making a $5,000 profit on each, or 20 houses per month. These results will ultimately come down to my hard work and sacrifice. Truly, there is no limit to my or your success. So go out there and make it happen.
Too often, the risk of letting go and the fear of failure hinder great things. Realistically, only a small percentage of people are able to get past their fear and pursue their dreams on their own. Opportunities in my real estate business have provided my family and me with so many great opportunities. The best part is that the dreams I live each day are a direct result of my work—and no one person or company can ever take them from me.
The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.
Image credit: CC by Leesean
