The number one reason why people do not work for themselves is because of the fear of failure. They are afraid that their new business will not survive and then what will they do? What they do not realize is that their currently employer has the same fears and everyone who is in business or has ever started one has the same.
In a way, it’s like the ostrich hiding his head in the sand as if he doesn’t see any danger, he won’t have any problems. What most people don’t realize is that they are putting their futures into the hands of someone else, their employer. They are trusting their employer will make the right decisions keeping the company open and keeping them employed. Unfortunately, employers don’t always make those decisions and it is the employees who feel the effects.
The first goal of any business is survival, and in 2014 everything from competition to regulatory affairs to unforeseen accidents are working against a company’s survival and most employees are clueless as to how quickly they can become expendable. Let’s face it, if the boss makes a bad decision which has a negative effect on the company, a “circle the wagons” mentality quickly ensues in the board room. This is never good for employees as the first things typically looked at are expenses, and labor is quite often the most variable and therefore easily cut expense.
The cold hard fact of the matter is that an employer will only keep an employee if the value the employee brings to the company is more than they cost. In the event your value drops below what it costs to have you-then odds are your employment will be coming to an end. This is exactly the same whether you work for yourself or you work for someone else. The primary difference is that those who work for themselves get to make the decisions as opposed to putting that trust into an employer to make those decisions for them.