Can You Make Money with a Small Business?

Can you earn money running your own business? Yes. According to the IRS, 89% of the individuals who make over $50,000 per year are the owners of a small business.

Small business ownership is not limited to any group of people and there is no apprenticeship or degree or diploma that must be earned before one is accorded the privilege of small business ownership.

If not having a college or high school diploma doesn't bother you, as the owner, who else has a say? People of all ages start what become successful small businesses. Cornelius Vanderbilt was 14 when he started his first shipping company, a ferry service from Staten Island. Others do alright even though they start at ages in the 50s and 60s. Gender and race have never closed the door to small business ownership, although not all businesses in all locations have always been available to all people.

Although there are no barriers to becoming a small business owner, and although there are millions of successful small business owners, it is not certain that you will be one of that number. Most entrepreneurs strikeout four times before they connect.

Running a small business isn't entirely about money. There is also job satisfaction, which is what two thirds of small business owners say they are in for. More than three-quarters of small business owners say they would do it again.

Why Do People Start a Small Business?

Ninety percent of all small businesses were started for one of four reasons:

Convenience

Many people start their own business because, for one reason or another, they don't want to look for a job. They correctly believe that it is easier to start a business than it is to find a job. However, running a business may prove not only harder than working for someone else, but also much more expensive.

Freedom

Closely allied with convenience is freedom. Some people become tired of working for someone else the moment they are let go. Others become tired of working for someone else when they become convinced that not only can they do it better, but that they can make a living by doing it for themselves. In the Internet age, another reason for going into business for yourself is that you can live wherever you want and work according to their own schedule.

Unfortunately, freedom comes with a price. Yes, you have gotten rid of the stress of answering to someone who can fire you and from the stress of climbing the corporate ladder, but it is generally replaced by the stress of meeting a payroll and the stress of working for customers who can stop buying from you. Every silver lining has its cloud.

Competitive urge

Some people harbor a deep-seated, all-consuming desire to prove that they can do it better than anyone else. Things like meeting pay-rolls and fighting for orders, which give others ulcers, rev these people up. They are never happier than when fencing with a competitor, or figuring out where next month's payroll is coming from.

Personal recognition

"It's nice to be the king." Or to be the owner of a successful business. Running a successful business carries a certain measure local recognition, and, depending on how successful you are, the opportunity to make a significant economic contribution to the community through a payroll and good works. Some people take pride in the knowledge that their efforts are providing a living for the people who work for them.

Stewart-Gordon Associates, Inc.
P.O. Box 781992
Dallas TX 75378-1992
voice (972) 620-2489
fax (972) 406-0213
e-mail Tom Stewart-Gordon