Advocates of employment will talk about health care, sick pay, and other such things. And they would be right to. But that is all they have. The net upside to self-employment, in my opinion, is huge.
As long as you are employed, you are not in control of your destiny. You may think that if you do well enough, you'll get a promotion, which will give you x, but there is not guarantee of that. You are, to all intents and purposes, powerless. When it comes to advancing your career, you are fully reliant upon the whims of others .
Self-employment, meanwhile, is all about you. To a far larger degree, you get out of it what you put in. I learnt the hard way that putting all of those extra hours and weekends into your job doesn't necessarily give you anything extra. Not so with self-employment. If your hourly rate is x and you do more hours, you'll earn more money. And if you invest your time sensibly into your business, you will see a return.
I'll throw away the benefits that employment brings in a heartbeat to be in control of my own destiny.
What about you?
