10 Really Good Reasons to Quit Your Job and Start Your Own Business  

Copyright © 2005 Michael J. Katz  

Blue Penguin Development, Inc. 

http://www.bluepenguindevelopment.com/  

It's been five years since I made the decision to leave my  

corporate job and start my own company.  No question about it,  

leaving nice coworkers, a stable paycheck and 12 years of tenure  

with one company was the scariest thing I'd ever done.  And yet  

looking back, it was the defining moment not only of my career,  

but of my personal development as well.  The fact is, I am now  

so enamored of blazing my own trail that I could never go back  

- I am hopelessly, incurably, unemployable.   

As a result, I receive a steady stream of, "Can I buy you a cup  

of coffee?" invitations - from old colleagues, new friends,  

complete strangers - anybody who is considering a change, and  

who wants to know, "Why should I start my own business?"  This  

is what I say: 

1. You'll dance to your own music. - There's a lot of noise in  

   the corporate world.  Not physical noise, but opinions,  

   rules, history and a whole lot of, "that's the way we do  

   it around here," always just an inch or two below the  

   surface.  In such a setting it's hard to find your path,  

   or as I like to say, "hear your own music." 

   Once you're on your own, you'll suddenly begin to hear  

   what's there, and the more you can hear it and have the  

   courage to follow it, the more enjoyable and yes, profitable  

   your life will be.  The fact is, there is no right way to  

   live, to act or to grow a business.   

2. You'll never have to retire. - Retiring is a strange concept  

   to the satisfied, self-employed person.  It implies that work  

   is something you want to be done with, something you wish  

   were over.  When you truly find your passion however, the  

   concept becomes meaningless.  Do painters stop painting?   

   Do musicians stop playing music?  Do comedians stop being  

   funny just because they've reached a certain age?  Not if  

   they are doing what they truly want to be doing.  Sure, you  

   may slow down or change focus as you get older, but the game  

   is never over, since the game and your life will be one. 

3. You'll put your money where your mouth is. - I never planned  

   to start my own business, and I always secretly believed that  

   I didn't have the guts to be successful on my own.  When I  

   look back now, I'm not even sure how I managed to convince  

   myself to leave the perceived safety of living within the  

   protected walls of a large corporation.  When I finally  

   jumped however, I was surprised by the number of friends,  

   former co-workers and family who remarked on my "courage."   

   Frankly, I'm not any braver now than I was before, but I  

   know with certainty that I don't need a corporation to take  

   care of me (and neither do you). 

4. You'll no longer live in two worlds. - I used to be two  

   people: "corporate Michael" and "home life Michael."   

   Corporate Michael was less friendly, less intuitive and a  

   lot less interesting.  I found it easy to switch back and  

   forth between the two Michaels, and for a long time it  

   didn't even strike me as odd that I would make decisions  

   at work based on a completely different set of criteria  

   regarding what was fair, what was smart or what was worth  

   doing.  That's over - I'm now one person no matter what I  

   do, and I have a more balanced, more humanistic approach  

   to business. 

5. You'll know your own power. - Swept up in the turmoil of  

   working as part of a corporation, there's a tendency to  

   blame others, wait for others, think that others are making  

   things happen.  Working alone you'll realize how much control  

   you actually have (and have always had). That realization  

   will give you the courage and drive to do more things than  

   you ever dreamed of when you saw yourself as an insignificant  

   part of a big machine.  You'll have nobody else to blame,  

   and even more importantly, you will see how much credit you  

   really do deserve for everything you've created. 

6. You'll be free to walk away. - When you first start out on  

   your own, you will probably be grateful for whatever business  

   comes your way.  The thought of  "walking away" from a client  

   may seem suicidal.  It isn't.  As your reputation grows,  

   people will approach you, ready to hand you their money and  

   have you begin work.  That's terrific.  However, in some  

   cases, the fit won't be there - something in your gut will  

   tell you it's a bad match.  You will learn that you can say  

   "no thank you" and walk away.  Nobody assigns projects or  

   clients or teammates to you anymore.  You and only you decide  

   who you work with and on what terms, and if it doesn't feel  

   right you need only say so. 

7. You'll make new friends. - If you've been with the same  

   company for a long time, you've probably developed several  

   close relationships.  You may be afraid that you'll be lonely  

   and isolated out here in the "cold cruel world."  Nothing  

   could be further from the truth.   Starting your own business  

   gains you immediate entrance into a collegial world of fellow  

   sole proprietors and entrepreneurs, eager to have you along  

   for the ride.  We hold meetings, we have events, we meet for  

   lunch, we talk on the phone - we share ideas, support each  

   other and hang out together.  Price of admission: a friendly  

   demeanor and a willingness to help other people find their  

   way. 

8. You'll pick the players. - Wherever you sit in a company,  

   you've got people you interact with every day.  Your boss,  

   your direct reports, the head of the legal department, the  

   desktop support guy, the receptionist.   Hopefully you like  

   and get along with most of these people, but whether you do  

   or not, you're stuck with each other.  When you run your own  

   company on the other hand, you pick who's on the team.  You  

   get to choose your attorney, your accountant, your landlord,  

   your printer, your partners, your clients - everybody in  

   your daily life is there because you decided to put them  

   there.  You get to choose. 

9. You'll have real problems, instead of imaginary ones. - In a  

   corporate setting, your happiness and success is dependent  

   upon dozens of intertwined relationships and handed-down  

   decisions, any one of which can change your world in ways  

   you may not anticipate or even understand.  With so much out  

   of your control, it's hard not to spend time "What If-ing"  

   and worrying about the future: "What's my boss really think  

   of me? What if I don't get put in charge of that new project?  

   What if they cut my budget next year?"  Fear of what might  

   happen can become worse than the situation itself - imaginary  

   problems. 

   When you're building your own business you're immersed in  

   reality.  Sure, you may have days where you worry about  

   paying the mortgage, but you'll be in the game, fighting  

   the good fight, and no longer obsessed with the possibility  

   of being blindsided by an unforeseen shift in the corporate  

   winds.   

10. You'll find your purpose. - You didn't come here to follow  

   somebody else's vision or sit on the sidelines watching the  

   clock tick away until retirement. But somehow, somewhere  

   along the way, you forgot.  Now, after so many years of  

   following the pack, you've come to see work as a place you  

   go to earn enough money to do the things you really want to  

   do.  It doesn't have to be that way.  Working on your own  

   will give you the freedom and focus to find the exhilarating,  

   balanced, self-directed career you've always dreamed of.     

One of my favorite quotes is from the book, The Artist's Way,  

and I've had it taped to the top of my computer monitor for the  

last five years:  "Leap, and the net will appear." Go ahead,  

I'll be waiting for you. 

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Michael J. Katz is Founder and Chief Penguin of Blue Penguin  

Development, Inc., (http://www.BluePenguinDevelopment.com ) a  

Boston area consulting firm that helps clients increase sales by  

showing them how to nurture their existing relationships, and  

that specializes  in the development of electronic newsletters.  

He is the author of the book, E-Newsletters That Work.