Gary the monkey

Starting and running your own business is an emotional roller coaster. You will sometimes stay up all night worrying about things you have no control over. But the rewards are great if you don't give up and succeed.

Before, things were so simple. My old job consisted of translating what an analyst wanted into software. I didn't have to worry about what was should go into the next software release, what clients I would sell too, or how much to charge for the software. All I had to worry about was programming. Now I have to worry about everything. I have to worry about advertising, sending invoices, getting clients, and buying my own development tools while still doing the programming myself. Don't get me wrong, working for yourself is so much better than working for a company, but it is hard. Harder than I ever imagined. In the future, if I am successful, I will obviously have various people performing all of these functions for me. But for now, it's just me.

Another very important part of running your own business is cash flow. Cash flow is by far the most stressful aspect of working for myself I have had to deal with. Before I would get paid every two weeks no matter what. As long as I showed up and did my work I got that paycheck. Now I have to invoice and wait. One of my clients takes a month and a half to pay my invoices. Sometimes it is longer than that. Budgeting my life was easy before since I knew I was to receive a set sum of money every two weeks. Now it feels like feast of famine. When I get a very big check I have to set aside money for a month or two. Not only do I have to have a more in depth budget than I have ever had, I have to pay my own taxes. I used to do nothing, and magically my employer would take money out of my check and send it to the government. Now I have to calculate all my taxes on my own, and pay estimated taxes every quarter. Just something else I have to worry about.

When all is said and done, I am very happy that I decided to venture off on my own and start my own business. I still sometimes sit up at night worrying about my next client, of how I am going to improve my marketing, but I have faith my hard work will pay off in the end. If you do decide to venture off on your own, just remember to not give up, and if it sounds too good to be true it is.