What are the pros and cons about owning a business?

Pros:
•Windfall: You could make much more money that working for someone else.
•Autonomy: Be your own boss, and make all the decisions crucial to your own success.
•Influence: Hire other people to help – chip in to the local economy.
•Security: No one can fire you.
•Discovery: Put your own ideas into practice, and see what works and what doesn’t.
•Oversight: Control every aspect of the business.
•Experience: Learn about every aspect of a business and gain knowledge in a variety of disciplines.
•Contact: Work directly with your customers, and see what they need first-hand.
•Self-Belief: Take personal satisfaction of creating and running a successful business on your own.
•Interest: Work in a field or area that you really enjoy, or that compels you to continue working.
•Long-term: Build real retirement value – for example, by selling the business when you retire.
•Establishment: Put down roots in a community; provide a sense of belonging and stability.

Cons:
•Investment: You may have to take a large financial risk.
•Devotion: You’ll likely have to work long hours and may have fewer opportunities to take vacations.
•Minutiae: Much time could be eaten by the details of running a business, not those things you enjoy.
•Inconsistency: Your income may not be steady; there may be times when very little is coming in at all.
•Strain: You may have to undertake unpleasant tasks, like firing someone or refusing to hire a friend.
•Learning: You may need to learn new disciplines, like filing and bookkeeping, inventory control, production planning, advertising and promotion, market research and general management.

Hi,
Beginning a business venture is an exciting and potentially beneficial prospect, but also one that is filled with uncertainty and risk. Whether you are starting your own business or forming a partnership, research the pros and cons that most relate to the business. Learning the facts helps you be realistic about your business's chances of survival. According to the Small Business Administration, seven out of 10 new businesses will last at least two years, but only a quarter of those will have the longevity to last 15 or more years. There are both advantages and disadvantages to starting your own business
Advantages of owning a new business:
Lower start-up costs - Depending on the type of business you start, costs may be lower than a franchise where there is no up-front purchasing fee or supply costs

•Independence - You make all decisions and create all business systems

•Site selection - You choose where to locate your business and what marketing procedures to follow

•No baggage - There is no history to overcome when you start a new venture
Disadvantages
•High commitment - Starting your own business requires a higher commitment of time and energy

•High risk - Success depends totally on you and your business talents

•Delayed profitability - Where the market may not already be established, it may take longer to become profitable

•Limited financing - Financing for a new business is more difficult to obtain

Since opening a business is fraught with risk, you should seek to limit the risks as much as possible. For example, have enough capital to keep your business running for several months without income coming in. You may have to keep your current "day job" while beginning your company in order to be able to pay your bills. Try to continue saving. Your former employer may have had a retirement savings plan in place, perhaps one that matched your contributions. Continue adding to the plan as much as possible; while you may not have matching funds, you'll still need to stay on track for your retirement.

Having been self employed in the past and the owner of a small business there are both pros and cons to consider before you make the commitment of investing in your own business.

The one thing that was the most difficult for me was the risk that you take with your hard earned money when establishing your own business. If the business fails you have lost your investment and, especially in the beginning, the risk of not having a steady or reliable income can cause stress unless you have managed your finances very well and have a cushion of additional funds that you can fall back on. The success or failure of a small business depends more on your ability as an owner to make necessary sacrifices to be successful. Long days, long work weeks, fewer vacations and no time off to be sick is usually one of the bigger sacrifices you would need to be willing to make. If you own a business the world assumes you earn more, but if you actually do the math based on the number of hours you contribute to keep that business running you may realize that you make less then your employees. The upside is that the success or failure is yours, you own it and when you have been successful it is all you and your efforts that have facilitated that success.

Your ability to connect with and inspire your employees is another huge piece, because without the buy in of the people that work for you, you will struggle and perhaps fail. I recommend that you learn about the different personalities that people bring with them to the job and learn how to develop a rapport with each of those individual personalities to drive their performance which will in turn drive the business.

Lastly I recommend that you stay both diligent and agile. You should continually evaluate yourself and your business. Look at other similar businesses in your area and honestly assess your successes and failures and redirect your path as needed to remain successful.

Owning a business is very rewarding and demanding. The pros are, your income is up to you! You see how your hard work pays off. You set your hours, days, and vacation. Being in control of all decisions. Watching a business grow is very rewarding. The Cons, everything rests on your shoulders. Business owners work more than a 40 hour week. All problems are yours to fix and learn from. I would recommend starting off slow with a solid plan and build your network with people and services that can support you. I have owned several businesses, all successful. Always worked more than 40 hours and it never bothered me because I love what I did.

Best of luck to you.