by Jason Sorrell

Created on: January 22, 2009   Last Updated: September 11, 2010

Regardless of who you work for, you are self-employed. You could be a fry-cook at a local fast-food chain or an art merchandising internet mogul. Even if you wear a name tag and your check comes from some corporate office, the most important name on that check is your own. You work for You Inc...or at least the most successful individuals do, no matter what their vocation may be. The difference between themselves and others is the choice to be actively engaged in the promotion of You Inc; the choice to be responsible for themselves and to prepare themselves for opportunities as they arise.

Consider the basic business model: a business produces goods or services in order to earn income. This income is used to pay for the cost of doing business which is hopefully less than the income earned. Business expenses include overhead; costs like rent, utilities, fuel costs, materials, machinery, and PAY-ROLL. Successful business find the best and most efficient ways to utilize all their resources, from the pens in the offices to the employees on the floor, so that they can increase the margin between income and cost resulting in a higher profit.

Now consider the average household: the average household produces services (the employees who work for the businesses) and occasionally goods. They also seek to earn an income. They also have expenses...household expenses. They have rent, utilities, fuel costs, costs for materials, personal and equipment maintenance...everything a business has. The mistake that most employees make is that they fail to factor in PAY-ROLL when they budget their income. This is the key difference between the average business and the average household. Pay-roll is a given in a business, but is ignored in a household.

Think about it. The owner and CEO of a business, large or small, reap the benefits of profits earned by their business...as they should. It is their business after all; they started that baby from the ground up, and can tell you stories about working out of their garage while hustling all over town trying to win over clients. They deserve to enjoy their profits, but do you know what isn't included in that profit? Their own pay! Even the business owner pays themselves, at the cost of the business, and separate from profits. It may seem intuitive, but it surprises many that the CEO at the top of a mega-corporation has a set wage that his household has to live within...profits are secondary.

The doldrums of working a regular job, at the

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>