I am currently a stay-at-home mom and a wife of an online entrepreneur, David Risley. He really loves what he does and he is good at it. I am happy that I can be home with my baby to take care of her and the household. And I can’t complain right now, we do have enough money to support our lifestyle. Though the thought about having financial security still crosses my mind, working for yourself is not the same as having a consistent paycheck, group insurance and 401k.
Even though entrepreneurship is becoming more and more accepted by our society, most folks still can’t let go of the fact that it’s not as secure as working for someone else. Even banks are so much more likely to loan money to someone with a ’stable job’ rather than (what??) self-employed. And yea, I used to be part of the template too. I did work for a big company, making pretty decent money, had great health insurance (not like I ever used it) and my company was matching 4.5% of my pay to my 401k plan. When I went to apply for a mortgage, I had no problems at all getting a loan, even though it was a bit on a high side of what I could afford. They didn’t care whether I worked for a company with a stable reputation, if it was large or small, if it was about to go under or prospering… All they cared about for my loan approval is the last two stubs of my paycheck.
But when my husband told me what he had to go through to get his little house as a small business owner (that was before we met), the process seemed to be much more involved. O-o-oh, that’s right, he didn’t have the last two pay stubs of his paycheck. No one gives him a paycheck, he owns the company!
So I guess part of me does feel somewhat insecure about having a blogger for a husband. I do think about what it will be like when we get old and have no 401k or any other income to fall on, I think about the $2500 we have to shell out of our pocket before the health insurance kicks in if any of us gets sick. I think about the economy and how it is going to affect our small business.
Sounds depressing? It depends on how one looks at it. I trust my husband enough to think that we will never get to the point of being in a financial hole, and if we ever did end up there, I am ready to jump right in to help. Whether it’s getting a regular 9 to 5 job or helping out with the business.
It’s really not all that bad, there are definite upsides to having a self-employed hubby. He is his own boss and he sets his own schedule. Sometimes it’s nice to take a day off during the week and go to the amusement park. They are definitely less crowded on the weekdays! He is in control of his income, so if we need extra money, he can usually master it up. Since he works from home, we get to see him during his lunch break, he gets to play with the baby and have a small chat with me.
I guess one of the downsides of having a spouse as an entrepreneur is that he works a lot. Forget 9 to 5, it’s more like 8 to 10 with food breaks in between.
Enough of my opinions. Want to hear from Dave himself? Being his wife, I can get away with asking him some tough questions and getting some honest answers. So watch my 7-minute interview with him where he honestly opens up about his lifestyle as an entrepreneur and a family man.
on Nov 19th, 2008 at 9:13 am
[...] my wife’s interview of me, and in her blog post about what it’s like it being an entrepreneur’s wife, she asked me about how I plan for my “golden years”. In other words, am I planning for [...]
on Nov 20th, 2008 at 7:51 am
[...] another part of my wife’s interview of me this week had to do with how much I work. She said in her post: I guess one of the downsides of having a [...]
on Nov 20th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
The great thing about being self-employed as opposed to employed in a J_O_B is that one’s income is somewhat proportional to one’s effort, (After the enterprise is set up and running fully.) and one can claim the full reward for that effort after taxes etc.
In a J_O_B one can either give totally of one’s best efforts, time, and resources, or a part thereof providing one doesn’t get caught shirking/skiving. Regardless of effort, and providing one is not caught out and sacked if not giving fully to the cause, one can expect a set wage, no more: This set wage is probably (At least in the UK.) as little as the employer can pay for your efforts and 1) stay within the law, plus 2) stop you from going elsewhere where the wages are better. One is obliged to give 100% whilst “slaving” for the employer.
As a self-employed person the situation is somewhat different: One can give any amount of one’s time and resources to the task, and the rewards will generally be dependant upon that. The rewards are usually better and larger, there’s no halfwit with an inferiority complex looking over one’s shoulder and driving one to work harder.
The downside is that if absolute self-motivation is missing then a self-employed individual can become lethargic and/or complacent. In addition the work can at times be much harder and a great amount of self-discipline and self-motivation is required.
Another downside can be that there is never really any surity with regard to income amount: In a J_O_B one knows that one is going to get so much per hour multiplied by the number of hours one works.
Of course self-employed income varies from occupation to occupation: When I was in sales I could make £500 in an hour followed by nothing for a week for example. (It did happen like that a couple of times.) Generally though one doesn’t know one’s exact income figure until one has received it and finalised all the figures.
If one wants to get rich or anywhere near it then self-employment is the only way to do it: You’ll never get rich working for someone else; although that someone else might well get very rich from your efforts.
A J_O_B is for survivors; self-employment is for those who want more than mere survival - they want to be able to live life to the full in the rewards of their own efforts.
Why isn’t everyone self-employed then? Life is made up of winners and losers, as well as those in between. I’m not saying that everyone in a J_O_B is a loser, far from it; but there are very few real winners who don’t work for themselves, whereas there are many winners who do.
(Most losers try to avoid all forms of work completely in my experience.)
Self-employed isn’t for everyone: Some people are simply not cut out for it, and are happy working for someone else. They’re not losers and they’re not poor or broke. Take away their J_O_B, however, - The boss dies, the company liquidates, or they get caught shirking and are fired, whatever. - and most would last about a week before bankruptcy or severe dificulty.
‘Swings and roundabouts: Both choices, J_O_B and self-employed, have advantages and disadvantages. The way to decide is on what you personally feel most comfortable with.
Me? I can’t stand even the thought of slaving away to make someone else rich while I feel like I’m losing out, although on more than one occasion needs must and I have done so temporarily. You may feel totally different. Follow what you think is best for you - But think ahead…