I’ve worked on two different business paths since I started my adult life. For the first 18 years I worked as an employee. Just like a horse with eyes partially covered to stay focused on the road, I worked on my functional responsibility and earned good salary. After a while I’ve been able to make money on the side by investing on stocks and properties. My biggest grief at work then was the stupid corporate politics and the people that used their good brains to play the corporate politics. Other than that, risk was really low, money was easy. It’s probably a similar feeling to owning a popular but generic brand of a car...it’s nothing to brag about, but it’s economical and there are many service stations along the way to cover for risks.
Over the past 3 years I’ve taken a new path, working on business as a business owner. I worked with no blindfold on, seeing everything, deciding everything, feeling every risk. When the time comes hopefully I will be reaping the hefty benefit for doing all that. There is a reason why horses are often given the partial blinds – they can’t handle the distraction and the surprises. As a business owner I feel like a horse in the middle of the city without the blinds on...It takes a lot to keep calm and focused. As an employee I was trained to improve my skills. As a business owner I have been forced by my responsibilities to deepen my wisdom. The feeling of owning a business is similar to building my own car or growing my own food...lots to brag about, but a lot of hard-work and pain to keep it running.
Now that I’ve done both I can understand the benefits and drawbacks of both sides. It is absolutely true that working as an employee can be really “soul sapping”. Being partially blindfolded and told to move forward can be intellectually insulting. Also, when you have to deal with so many other horses that are also partially blindfolded, you tend to bump into each other and kick each other. Having said that, I’ve been a highly paid workhorse. My monthly salary in my last job was bigger than the average monthly net profit of my current company. And the monthly profit is still to be distributed with my business partners.
On the other hand life as a business owner has its benefits. I’ve never felt so empowered. I’ve given employment to 20 people; many of them are married and with a growing family. In addition to that there are all the business partners, big and small, who also benefit from my business. Even customers treat me with respect, knowing that I am an owner, not an employee. It is a feeling that I’ll never have in a corporate world. It is a powerfully energizing feeling, despite the stress that comes with it.
So will I ever come back to the corporate world? Will a horse that has seen everything want to be partially blind folded again? It is possible, but it is probably not easy.
In fact, whatever my next step is, it is unlikely that I want to be a horse again…not a business horse anyway. I'm sure there are other things that I can do.
Over the past 3 years I’ve taken a new path, working on business as a business owner. I worked with no blindfold on, seeing everything, deciding everything, feeling every risk. When the time comes hopefully I will be reaping the hefty benefit for doing all that. There is a reason why horses are often given the partial blinds – they can’t handle the distraction and the surprises. As a business owner I feel like a horse in the middle of the city without the blinds on...It takes a lot to keep calm and focused. As an employee I was trained to improve my skills. As a business owner I have been forced by my responsibilities to deepen my wisdom. The feeling of owning a business is similar to building my own car or growing my own food...lots to brag about, but a lot of hard-work and pain to keep it running.
Now that I’ve done both I can understand the benefits and drawbacks of both sides. It is absolutely true that working as an employee can be really “soul sapping”. Being partially blindfolded and told to move forward can be intellectually insulting. Also, when you have to deal with so many other horses that are also partially blindfolded, you tend to bump into each other and kick each other. Having said that, I’ve been a highly paid workhorse. My monthly salary in my last job was bigger than the average monthly net profit of my current company. And the monthly profit is still to be distributed with my business partners.
On the other hand life as a business owner has its benefits. I’ve never felt so empowered. I’ve given employment to 20 people; many of them are married and with a growing family. In addition to that there are all the business partners, big and small, who also benefit from my business. Even customers treat me with respect, knowing that I am an owner, not an employee. It is a feeling that I’ll never have in a corporate world. It is a powerfully energizing feeling, despite the stress that comes with it.
So will I ever come back to the corporate world? Will a horse that has seen everything want to be partially blind folded again? It is possible, but it is probably not easy.
In fact, whatever my next step is, it is unlikely that I want to be a horse again…not a business horse anyway. I'm sure there are other things that I can do.
