Throughout the years, I’ve heard lots of people quote statistics about why starting a business is risky. I like to counter that by stating there are several financial advantages to having your own business, starting with building an asset for yourself.
Granted, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that running your own business is easy. I’m also not going to tell you it makes financial sense for everyone. What I am going to tell you is that if you have the grit and determination, then you can have some financial advantages.
Lots of stuff is tax deductible.
Perhaps one of the favorite financial advantages of starting a business is tax deductions. I’ve been able to have so many amazing experiences because they counted as a tax deduction. This has included travel, food, and events such as personal development conferences.
Before you go overboard, you should know that just because you can get a tax deduction doesn’t mean you need to spend money unnecessarily. Having a tax advantage for certain things definitely helps though.
You may lose a client, but you haven’t lost all your income.
One of the reasons everyone freaks out about running a business is because they are afraid of what will happen if they lose a client. Speaking as a former recruiter, you may lose a client as a business owner but that’s better than getting laid off and losing all your income.
It takes time to get here, but it’s one of the financial advantages I see as having the most merit. Even if I lose a client, I’ve got another one waiting in the wings. Or, I can still pay my bills because I’ve only lost a portion of my income.
You have far more control.
One of the biggest financial advantages of running your own business is having more control over your money.
When I was a recruiter, I began questioning the idea that a steady paycheck is safer than a business. Truth be told, I saw people get laid off all the time and they had zero control over when it would happen. If they were lucky, they may have gotten some advance notice, but often times they were blindsided.
Now imagine having a paycheck one day and it’s gone the next. Now imagine if you have to deal with a hurricane or an emergency shortly afterward. Unless you have a lot of money in the bank, you’re screwed.
With your own business, you have far more control. Do I need to make some extra money? Well, then I just pitch more and take on more work. Or, I sell more seats to my group program. No one is going to fire me unless I fire myself and I’ve built in options for making money in different ways. This brings me to my next point…
You can create multiple streams of income.
As a business owner, you can create multiple ways of making money. I make money writing, speaking and coaching. The coaching portion alone includes private coaching, group coaching, and info products.
Out of all the financial advantages listed here, this is definitely one business owners are going to want to jump on. Having your money coming from different places gives you peace of mind and is a necessity to building wealth over time.
Final Thoughts
Is running a business hard? Yes. But the financial advantages that are available to you make it worth it, at least in my opinion. That being said, you do need the grit to maintain a business so that you can enjoy the financial advantages.
[Related: Three Business Check In Questions to Ask Yourself Each Month]
