People try to compare being a career person to being an entrepreneur. Which do you think is better?
In the present world, we have more entrepreneurs than career people. This is due to a number of factors like scarcity of job opportunities etc..
According to investopedia, business is defined as an organization or enterprising entity engaged in commercial, industrial, or professional activities. Businesses can be for-profit entities or they can be non-profit organizations that operate to fulfill a charitable mission or further a social cause.
Also, according to Longman Dictionary, a career is a job or profession that you have been trained for, and which you do for a long period of your life
The educated and uneducated go into business unlike the professional world where it's just the educated that can occupy that space. This is one of the reasons why the number of entrepreneurs keeps rising over employment.
With a job, you get a predetermined salary because you are sure of a fixed amount monthly unlike a business where your profit isn't fixed. As a career person, you are not entitled to sharing the profit of the organization because you just receive a fixed salary. As a business owner the profit is fully yours.
Business is also enticing for risk takers. They bear the risk directly unlike career people where the risk is borne by their superiors.
Being a career person also means you are working for someone, you have a superior over you that determines your pay and other benefits. Unlike business where you are the boss. This makes the success or failure of the business fully dependent on you because you are in charge.
Having a 9-5 job means you are working towards achieving the dreams and vision of another person, whereas in business, you are working towards your own vision. There is nothing as satisfying as that.
This doesn't mean there are no benefits to having a job.
Apart from having a steady source of income like we discussed earlier, there are additional benefits like pension, insurance, bonuses, promotion etc. You are promoted based on your performance and this is the aim of every career person. As you get promoted, you receive more benefits.
Business owners work 24/7. In the professional world, there are fixed working hours provided by every company and in the remaining hours, you have the freedom to follow your other interests.
With a fixed salary and a fixed work hours, planning your life most especially your finances is easy. There is little or no uncertainty and risk involved.
People who like to be their own boss and not answerable to anyone would choose entrepreneurship. Also, as an entrepreneur you will be an employer of labour thereby giving meaning to the life of others and helping your economy.
There are also career people who have businesses by the side. Like we are always advised never to have one source of income. There are still people who will prefer to shuffle four jobs than do a job and have a business.
Both profession and business have their advantages and disadvantages. We should allow people to decide which they want to go into and not pressure them into something they do not have interest in.
There are successful people in the business space and also in the career world. Know your interest and passion and make your choice. Remember, both are not easy and they both require dedication and consistency. Choose wisely.
I often see a lot of people advocating for entrepremurship especially in Nigeria - you hear things like "be your own boss", "9-5 is wasting potentials on a company that is not yours", "grow your passion", etc.
In my opinion "do you!" , if a career path is what you want to follow then go for it and if it's a business you want, why not? Both have its pros and cons and there are variety because everybody cannot do the same thing.
Beautiful said. "Do you" that's the best advise to anyone.
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