What Does It Mean To Be A Business Owner? | Should I Become A Business Owner?

What does it mean to be a business owner and should I consider starting a business? That's the question we were asked. So it means a lot of different things to be a business owner. When I think about my journey and the reason I became a business owner was frankly to take control. I was stuck in scenarios where I had 2 jobs back to back that basically by the end wasn't— they weren't paying me any income despite loyalty and hard effort, hard work. And so for me, nothing could have been worse than that scenario. I mean, I was effectively already unemployed even though I was showing up every day to work. So I started my business because I needed income. I needed to put food on the table. We were in a very bad financial situation due to months and months of not making any income despite working. Um, so that was the reason I became a business owner, just to honor my commitments as a husband and father and support my family by putting food on the table. But then we figured stuff out. And, uh, the best thing— that's one of the things I love a lot about being a business owner today is that every day is different. There's new challenges. Uh, and, and once we figured one thing out, There's the next thing that we need to figure out, and I enjoy that. Now, that being said, I am human. There are definitely moments where I'm like, oh, could I just have a break? Could everything go perfectly for just a week, or maybe for just a day sometimes? Um, so I like that. So that's one of the things, you know, uh, what does it mean to be a business owner? You're a constant problem solver. sure. One of the things that I love, and I wish I didn't do this on some level, but every time I get in front of my team, and I'm trying to tell them how much I appreciate them, I tend to break down in tears of gratitude. I love my team. I know what they are doing for me. I know that they have choices when it comes to work, especially in today's environment. And they're here, and they're supporting Insight Tax and they're supporting our mission. And I hope— I think many of them, or most of them, or some of them love me back. Not that that's necessarily a requirement to be a business owner, but I think for me, to be a business owner means you are doing everything you can to make their lives better, and how they interpret that is up to them. So I enjoy that aspect, changing lives. And in my case, we're trying to take it a step further and I'm trying to change the entire accounting industry. Now, accounting isn't the only industry that has this scenario. There's a lot of really bad, this is how it is mindset where we need to just work overtime hours and squeeze every last juice of energy out of our people before they burn out. I'm trying to change that, um, by having a proper balance between the stress levels of work and life. And, uh, anyways, if I were considering starting a business today, I would recommend not burning your bridge. What I mean by that is if you currently have an income that is allowing you to support an element of your life or your lifestyle, or at least survivability— you're putting food on the table, you're not going to die— I would figure out how to start this business as a side hustle until you know it's a viable business. I do see a lot of owners or potential owners come in and they're like, I quit my job, I'm going all in, and I'm going to sell, I don't know, tutus. It's a big market for tutus. How big is it? Well, I mean, the 3 friends that I have, they love the tutus that I make for kids. Um, okay, I mean, maybe establish that there's a market for it first, uh, before you decide to bridge. Fun fact, I did have a client who made tutus and they made a pretty good living off of it. Um, even bought a specialized machine that made them. But don't burn your income bridge before you know that your business idea is going to work out. In my case, my bridge was already burnt. I was working In fact, it was worse than that. I was like, I was holding up the bridge that I was standing on to then get to become a business owner. So, I mean, obviously, if you're in that scenario, you have nothing to lose. I had nothing to lose. But those of you who do, be strategic about it. Look, being a business owner is not for everyone. I mean, I know this because as part of what we offer to accountants is sometimes people want to leave their job because they don't like the structure. They acknowledge and recognize, wow, the way accounting firms are treating people is terrible. I don't want to be a part of that. So they go off and do their own thing and then realize, this is a lot more work than I thought it would be. I really just want to continue to serve clients in a way that I feel is best without murdering myself. But the elements of running the business in the backend and softwares and dealing with customers, customer service and documents and regardless of the business, right? There's a big backend. It's more than they want. So like in our case, we look for accountants and invite any accountant who's interested. If you love serving clients but hate the backend part of running the actual business, let us take that headache off your plate. We'll run the backend, plug into our system, and plugging into our system, we in fact build your business for you. So you're going to end up just being able to make a ton of money. I have lots of team members, a handful of accountants who are making multiple 6 figures. And I mean, it's more than what most partners make. So it's not for everyone. And I think you need to identify, if you're considering being a business owner or starting your business, you need to identify your strengths and be honest about your weaknesses. If your weaknesses might get in the way of being a business owner, then one, you need to find a partner who's going to offset those weaknesses, or 2, maybe you figure out a quasi scenario where you're a contractor and you can support another business, but you plug into their system. So you have kind of freedom that you want without the headache of actual business ownership. There's lots of options, but I have to be honest with you, it's not for everyone. It, it is a lot of work and there's definitely different skills. Like I started off being excellent at doing taxes. and understanding the tax code and being willing to push against the IRS, assuming— taking the assumption that they're actually not correct just because they have their powerful status. You might have something similar in your industry. But then, of course, as I grew, I've had to learn a lot of different things. I definitely still wouldn't consider myself great at it, but I'm a lot better today than I was before. Of managing the team, um, making sure that they feel accountable for their job responsibilities, but it's clear what they know they need to do in order to support the business and the role that they've accepted. That's a different skill set, and just being good at making widgets or being a good technician does not automatically mean you're going to be great at managing people. And I know that's not a great way to say it because people don't— you don't manage people, but you understand what I'm saying. So in conclusion, there's many reasons why you may consider being a business owner. A lot of them are good reasons. Maybe you want more time freedom, more money freedom. You're looking to improve your life. Now, the If you're a narcissist, not a good reason to be a business owner. Um, we had a team member who was a narcissist and he just— he— lots of king complex. Um, wanted to be in control, wanted to be the authority, wanted that ego boost of everyone having to rely on him. Um, I mean, how narcissistic could a person be if, uh, if you think you're a king or you Your heirs are now named kings. Uh, it's crazy. I won't go— but the person who's asking this question, uh, let me look at it. What does it mean to be a business owner and should I start one? A narcissist doesn't ask that question. So, uh, you're lucky if you're considering this question. Might mean you're not a narcissist. Um, but you've all met those people. Don't be one of those guys. Don't, don't let the power go to your head. Don't use it to be, you know, some sort of power dominion over people. That's not what being a leader is, or being a business owner is all about. And I feel like to be a business owner, you need to learn how to become a good leader. Lots of good material out there in the world of how to do that. So anyways, that's my long rant on Should— what does it mean to be a business owner? And should you consider it? The answer is it depends, right? But look at your situation, and if it is something you're going to go forward, be strategic about it. Don't burn your current income stream until you have a plan and you know that your business idea has a market. That's the worst. Don't start a business that just a couple people said, oh yeah, no, I'd pay you. but then when it comes time, they're not going to use your services. So we have a website, insighttax.com. Go to backslash wealth, insighttax.com/wealth. We have a ton of free resources out there, especially if you're considering starting a business. Lots of tax suggestions, tax strategies, choosing the right business setup, LLC, S corp, those types of things. We want to serve you. So free resources there. And when it comes to podcast, please like, subscribe to it, tell your friends about it. We are trying to create value here. And the best value we can create is that these messages get passed on to those who need to hear it. Remember, profitability is a choice. Have the courage and wisdom to choose it.