Are you happily employed? You better skip this post then. I’m about to argue against employment.
Let’s say you have some average job and you go to work every day. The entrepreneur, your boss, will have to sell your work for more. There is no other way. He/she will have to pay you as little as possible and sell it for as much as possible.
Clearly, the entrepreneur has to pay for a lot of stuff, like rent, materials, marketing, maybe a nice secretary or a staff chief… to help you work better.
On top of all those (justified) expenses comes the profit. The top 500 companies made $2.15 trillion profit last year (source: Fortune – https://fortune.com/global500/2019/). That is two million one hundred fifty thousand millions or 2 150 000 million if you prefer digits.
“Profits are better than wages.
“Profit can make you filthy rich. Wages don’t.” – Jim Rohn
How much the entrepreneur can throw on top of your work depends on the business. It’s usually going to be sold for more than double. Anyhow, you’re not getting paid what your work is actually worth to the buyer. Your work has to cover company expenses too. How efficient are those managed? Could you do better?
Maybe you are pushing for a raise? How is it going? For most entrepreneurs, considering you can’t work more, raising your salary means less profit or having to raise prices. When it comes to raising, they rather fight employees over clients.
As an employee, you rent out your time. The time you can rent out is limited. So is the hourly rate. Thus, your earnings will always be limited.
“Hourly billing is nuts” – Jonathan Stark.
But it gets worse. Most jobs extend way beyond working hours. The daily commute, unfinished work you might take home, the exhaustion and the stress are all there AFTER work. And how is that for your life and family?
If you have higher aspirations, you might find it extremely hard to work on achieving them. You would need to invest at least some time and energy. After work! At work, your boss will try to squeeze everything out of you. Do you feel empty after work? Happy to just lay down? Good luck on your dreams. How about some depression instead?
At work, you can’t decide how your time is used. How about your free time? Need a day off or planning a vacation? You will need to ask for permission. You don’t get to decide. In fact, you don’t get to decide much or at all. Someone else sets the rules.
Surrendering to a job is letting others decide your future. Financial security is the argument used.
So, how secure is your job? And for how long? As you age, does this security increase? Does the company prefer older employees over younger ones? Is the entrepreneur making the right decisions or risking bankruptcy? Is technology, like AI, influencing your industry? Are layoffs necessary in order to keep shareholders happy? How is the market trending? And how about a financial crash? Again?
Maybe you have some ideas on how to prevent some of the above. If you read this blog, you should. Good luck getting them across.
I could go on and on adding poor health insurance, risky retirement plans, the worst colleagues and a nightmare boss into the mix. You could argue that self-employment also involves risk. Sure, it does. Risk is everywhere. Crossing the street is risky. It’s up to you to compare the risks and decide your life.
I’m here to raise awareness on your ‘good job’ and on your future. Also here to mitigate some of that risk, if you might dare the plunge.
I’m here to teach you how to become a successful entrepreneur. A better one, than the one you are working for.