Eternal dilemma: Is it better to be an employee or an entrepreneur?

In business, you can either be an entrepreneur or someone else’s employee.

Before you make an assumption about which one is better, learn about the pros and cons of each of these roles:

Work – life balance

How much do you value your free time? If you’re an employee, you typically have to work a minimum of 40 hours a week and are expected to work overtime in certain situations. But in general, you still have a work-life balance, especially if you take the time to find a company to work for that values giving their employees flexibility in their schedules. However, “work-life balance” doesn’t really exist when you’re an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs don’t get to clock out at the end of the day—their work carries over into the evening, and often late into the night. Entrepreneurs work on weekends, and even on holidays if necessary, and they don’t get paid time and a half to do so. If you value your personal life and don’t to give it up to try to get ahead in business, stick to being an employee.

Compensation

Do you want financial freedom? If you’re an employee, you earn the same amount of money every two weeks unless you work on compensation, for example, as a salesperson or wholesale distributor. Even if you get promoted to a better position within the company, your earning potential is capped once you reach the top of the corporate ladder.

If you’re an entrepreneur, you may have a bit more financial freedom if you put in the time now. In the beginning, you may have to make sacrifices and pinch pennies, but if you dedicate yourself to your work, there is no limit on what you can earn. If you want to take a gamble and see how much you can make on your own instead of cashing the same paycheck week after week, the entrepreneurial life is for you.

Stress levels

If you’re employed by a company, you know exactly what your role is, what is expected of you, and what needs to be done on a daily basis. If you have questions, you simply find a manager to discuss your concerns. But, what happens when you’re an entrepreneur? You don’t have one single role—you have many. As an entrepreneur, you wear many hats, including accountant, marketer, salesman, and customer service representative. If you have questions, you don’t have a boss to turn to you. Instead, you have to figure it out on your own. This can lead to a lot of stress that you won’t necessarily experience if you are an employee. You carry the entire company as an entrepreneur, and this can be a heavy burden for some people to bear.

As you can see, there are pros and cons to both roles, so it’s up to you to decide which is the right path. What do you think? Would you rather be an employee or an entrepreneur? Explain your choice in the comments below!

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DISCLAIMER: This article expresses my own ideas and opinions. Any information I have shared are from sources that I believe to be reliable and accurate. I did not receive any financial compensation in writing this post, nor do I own any shares in any company I’ve mentioned. I encourage any reader to do their own diligent research first before making any investment decisions.