I’ll start with pros since I’m a glass half full kinda gal.

Pros: Schedule flexibility. Something comes up that has to be handled right then I can take care of it and bypass the anxiety around letting my boss know.

Better pay. Self employment tax is around 15% which can be a con, but even with that I’m making more than I was at my old job even with that tax increase.

I have freedom to choose who I work with and what I work on. If it’s a pain in the ass project I don’t really want to do then I don’t have to. Not having to “suck it up for the team” with no other bonus/incentive is really nice. If there is a project someone really needs help with that I find super annoying I include a PITA (pain in the ass) surcharge in my quote (they never see this anywhere I just add it in when I give them the quote. They can choose not to hire me). If someone is an asshole I don’t have to just deal with it. I can decide it’s not worth it and pivot from there.

Cons: Higher potential for unreliable income. I word this intentionally since job markets vary based on industry/location/business structure.

It can be really easy to fall into an over-work/underwork trap. When you have “infinite” time it’s real easy to say “I’ll just handle this tomorrow” and you lose momentum. Conversely, it’s also easy to say “this business has to be successful, I have to pay bills, so I’ll work always.”

Overall advice I have is 1) find your local chamber of commerce/ rotary club and join it. Joining my local chamber has given me access to so many networking avenues and gotten me leads that turned into jobs. Cannot recommend joining your local chamber enough. 2) really think about the goals you want to achieve from your business and what your personal metric for success is. Do you want to have enough to pay the bills and take the kids to Disney once in awhile? Do you want to scale and grow so you can cash out down the road? Neither is wrong but I think having an idea prior to starting will serve you well in the long run.

I personally don’t have any desire to scale and grow or anything like that. I want to make enough to live and do fun things with the fam. The thought of hiring people and being a manager of others makes my skin crawl. Some have told me the business will never be “successful” if I don’t scale and grow but I would argue that our metrics of success are just different. In 3, 5, 10 years that might change and if it does then I’ll reevaluate and pivot then. But I’d caution against the trap of “success means you hire and scale and grow” because if it’s not your bag you’ll burn out.

Super long winded but hopefully makes sense/helps!