I wrote this same post two years ago and it felt about time to revisit the subject, see what’s changed, and be candid about self-employment. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
Sure owning my own business is amazing and I don’t want to do anything else with my life, but it’s also a whole lot of hard work and stress. Lots of stress. And it’s not for everyone. Some days I’m not even sure if it’s for me. Every day we take risk after risk.
When I first talked about the hardest part about owning my own business, it was letting go of complete control. Now, two years later, I don’t find that to be the case anymore. We’re at a point in our business where we’re looking to expand and grow. I’m eager to welcome other ideas and change into the company. I know I couldn’t have said that two years ago when I could barely let Alex help me.
The hardest part now is prioritizing. There are so many things we’re trying to do in so many different directions that it feels like we’re working on everything at once but accomplishing nothing. Alex and I like to joke that I’m expanding outward while he’s expanding upward. We want to share our business with more people and that means we need help. That’s where things get even more complicated.
In order for Alex and I to work on our projects and go in new directions, we need other people. That’s strange for us to admit since it’s been a two person team for so long. But we physically cannot grow any larger without other people to help with the workload.
The thing about small businesses is you need people who want to help grow the company just as much as you do. It’s easy to find someone to just do the work and go home at the end of the day, but that’s not what a start-up needs. It requires new ideas, effort, and innovative thinking. I feel like I’m pitching a new brand of iPhone or something, but it’s true. I’m at the point where I’m willing to give up “complete control” in order to welcome new ideas and people to help take risks with us. Now it’s just a question of who.
It’s crazy to think that two years ago I couldn’t fathom losing control of my little brain child. We’ve come so far already with just a few years under our belts. So here’s to day after day of interesting challenges on the path of making this dream into a lifelong reality. I’m happy that you’re here with me and that I can openly share the journey.
