Business Owners Stick with Company

You own your own business and a job offer comes along with more security, better benefits, and a big salary bump. Would you take it? According to the Wall Street Journal, almost 60% of business owners say they won't quit for better salaries.

The reasons? Independence and flexibility. Very true. One of my contractors is a one-person business who never considered going into business for herself. She fell into it. She thought it would be difficult to find clients, manage the books, get paid at a comparable rate to her corporate job, and feel comfortable (not wonder where or when the next client would come and whether the client would pay enough).

The article even points out that a third of business owners think finding new clients is the hardest part of owning a small business. The second challenge for small business is managing their cash flow.

Now she wouldn't dream of anything else. Freelancing gives her the ability to get her kids to their appointments, enjoy some me time playing tennis or mahjongg with other moms (some are working moms, too), and be comfortable no matter how she feels. If she doesn't feel well, she opens the laptop and settles down on a comfy bed or lush sofa. She also exercises when she feels like it instead of having only the option of doing it too early in the morning, at lunch, or at night when she's tired and busy with the kids' nighttime routine.

Of course, being in her own business can make her hours spill over into the evenings and on weekends. But she works from a home office, so she's there for her kids even while working. She'd rather work in the evenings and on weekends (it doesn't always happen to take up the whole weekend or even one day), than return to the inflexible corporate environment.

After all, doctors rarely take appointments after 4pm or before 8am, so how do you work it out to take your kids to their appointments while minimizing time away from work? For many, it means putting in overtime to make up the difference or hoping the appointment lasts no longer than a lunch break (kind of tough between picking up the kid, going to the appointment, waiting at the appointment, and heading back to work).

The article says many of the owners think the economy will get worst in the upcoming month, however only about half of the business owners think the economy will hurt their business. The other half thinks their business will get better or stay the same.