The Benefits of Entrepreneurship
Potential Small Business Owners Should Take a Look at the Positives
There are numerous benefits to owning a small business. It's important to know the benefits of small business ownership, although before starting a business it's good to know the potential drawbacks as well. Below are listed six benefits to entrepreneurship.
Opportunity to Gain Control
Owning a business provides the entrepreneurs the independence and the opportunity to achieve what is important to them. Entrepreneurs want to make their own decisions in their lives and use their business to do so. There are intrinsic rewards of knowing they are the driving forces behind their business. They make the decisions behind the direction the company travels and their work schedules.
Opportunity to Make a Difference
The amount of social entrepreneurs is on the rise. These people start their businesses because they see an opportunity to make a difference in a cause that is important to them. They seek to find innovative solutions to some of society's most pressing and most challenging problems. Entrepreneurs continue to find new ways to combine their concerns for social issues and their desire to earn a living.
Opportunity to Reach Full Potential
Many people find their work boring, unchallenging and unexciting. However, to many entrepreneurs, work is much more enjoyable. An entrepreneur's business can be the instrument for self-expression and self-actualization. Owning a business challenges the entrepreneur's skills, abilities, creativity and determination. There is no organizationally created 'glass ceiling' to determine how high a business owner can rise.
Opportunity to Reap Impressive Profits
Although not the primary motivating factor, the profits their companies can make are important in their decisions to launch businesses. Owning a business is usually the best way to achieve the accumulation of wealth. Nearly 75% of those on the Forbes list of 400 richest Americans are first-generation entrepreneurs. And self-employed individuals are four times more likely to become millionaires than those who work for someone else.
Opportunity to Contribute to Society and Be Recognized for Efforts
Most often, small business owners are among the most respected and trusted members of their communities. Owners enjoy the trust and recognition they receive from the customers they have served faithfully over the years. Playing a vital role in their local businesses and knowing that the work they do as a significant impact on how smoothly the nation's economy functions is another reward for entrepreneurs.
Opportunity to Do What is Enjoyable
Commonly, entrepreneurs don't consider their work work. Forty-six percent of entrepreneurs say that they will never fully retire from their businesses, according to a survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business. Most successful entrepreneurs choose in enter a business field that interests them and that they find enjoyable.
Sources
- "Higher Purpose." Entrepreneur, May 2003, p.32
- "What Builds a Fortune?" Money, August 2003, p. 78
- Mary Diebel, "4.6 Million Americans Are Millionaires." The Sacremento Bee, July 16, 2001
- Mathew Miller and Tatiana Serafin, "The Forbes 400." Forbes, October 9, 2006, pp. 80-90
- Sheryl Nance, "You Can Be a Millionaire." Your Company, June/July 1997, pp.26-33
- NFIB National Small Business Poll: Retirement, National Federation of Independant Small Business Owners, Volume 5, Issue No. 3, November 2, 2005, (Washington D.C.), p.3
Entrepreneurs Often Find Their Business Rewarding
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