Top 5 reasons to be
your own boss                         

1. Set your own priorities. What matters to you? People? Planet? Profit? Where you work is one way of communicating your values to the world. If you’re passionate about the environment, education, social cohesion, the arts, or anything else for that matter, running your own business lets you work for something you care about. Setting up a social enterprise means you can really make a difference to a cause you believe in, and pay your bills at the same time.

2. Choose who you work with. New graduates Vicky Corcoran and Craig Hailes couldn’t find a company where the two of them could work together. They had studied very different subjects (Criminology and Sport Science), and struggled to find employers who valued both degrees. Still, the couple were determined to enter the world of work side by side, and realised there was another option: setting up a company of their own. They now run two businesses together, turn a tidy profit, and say nothing would make them consider working for anyone else.

3. Reap the rewards. That business idea you might have already has unlimited earning potential. As well as the financial rewards, a successful entrepreneur is likely to get more personal satisfaction from their work, because what you put in is what you get back. It may take a lot of work, but being your own boss is the only way you can be sure of being paid exactly what you’re worth.

4. Make money for everyone. Worried about the job market? Concerned by the credit crunch? Whether a business calls itself a social enterprise or not, all entrepreneurs support their community by creating new job opportunities and wealth. Create a made-to-measure job of your own, and provide jobs for others at the same time. Make your fortune, and strengthen the economy. With so many positive benefits related to setting up a business, it really would be rude not to.

5. Freedom. By setting up your own business, you’re not taking a job but creating one. More than anything else, this gives you freedom. Don’t like the corporate culture? Don’t want to wear a suit? Want to approve your own holidays and proposals, and make up your own job title? Being your own boss gives you more control, responsibility and choices than you’ll ever have working for someone else.

For more top tips and advice visit www.makeyourmark.org.uk