Part of our continuing series on the fears that hold people back from being self-employed. What if I don’t make enough money? Here’s something to consider: if you currently work for someone else, you probably aren’t making as much money as you’re worth. Think of it this way: if you work for a salary, you are effectively selling your time at a bulk discount. To make the math easier, let’s say you make $50,000 a year at your job. (I’m always in favor of making the math easier.) A good living, right? After all, median household income in the U.S. is $53,000. So $50,000...

Part 3 in our continuing series on debunking some of the common fears that hold people back from being self-employed. I won’t have any time off. Paid time off is one of the best parts of having a job. There’s nothing better than spending a week on vacation – and getting paid for it. A lot of people think that self-employment means that you never get to take any time off. How can you ever get away from “the job” when you’re “the boss?” Giving up paid time off used to be one of the reasons why I was reluctant to be self-employed. But then I realized that I...

Part 2 in our continuing series on debunking the fears of becoming self-employed… If You’re Self-employed, Health Insurance is too Expensive. (Note: This blog post does not apply to aspiring entrepreneurs in Canada, Britain, Australia, Western Europe, or any other advanced nation that provides universal health insurance as a basic expectation of citizenship. This is a problem only in America.) I hear this one a lot. And it’s true – health insurance is tough. I’ve been through the experience of applying for a federal security clearance, and I can honestly say that applying...

There are a lot of people who might want to start their own business, but it sounds too scary. I can relate to this. I think it’s important to examine some of these fears and figure out a new way of thinking about them. For example: Being self-employed is too risky. Being self-employed (in America) makes it too hard to get health insurance. Being self-employed causes you to make less money than you would make working for a company. Let’s look at these assumptions… Self-employment is Too Risky. It’s true that if you’re self-employed, you don’t have a steady...

If being insatiably curious and eager to learn makes you a “sponge for knowledge,” then what do we call people who are always eager to comment, brainstorm, and share ideas? How about: a “squid” for knowledge. Maybe it sounds goofy, but hear me out. Squid are always spraying ink around, right? So maybe, in some small way, if you’re the kind of person who always comments on blogs, gives feedback on articles, and is a generally engaging member of an audience (wherever that audience may be), then I think we should name this behavior “being a squid for...