by Jonte Rhodes

Created on: July 26, 2010

Self employment is something that many people aspire to, but that comparatively few get to experience. Often people are daunted by the potential problems with running their own businesses, although if done correctly, there can be many advantages in working for yourself.

Probably the biggest benefit of working for yourself is the fact that you will directly reap the rewards of your own success. When working for someone else, no matter what you might achieve you usually aren't remunerated in relation to performance. There are some companies that provide incentives of this nature, bu they tend to be the minority. So while you might be a business genius making a company millions of dollars, you will often still be paid the same as someone who is terrible at the job.

Aside from the financial benefits of working for yourself, another big advantage is the flexibility that it allows you to have. While for many people going out on their own means they end up putting in more hours, they can also make their own schedule to some extent, and aren't limited by having to work regular office hours. This can be more convenient for people with young families or other commitments and interests.

Self employment can also mean you are often able to work from home rather than having to go into the office all the time. This not only saves time and stress by cutting out a daily commute, but can save you money as well, particularly if you would otherwise be facing a long journey into work every morning.

Particularly in businesses with many layers of management, getting ideas implemented quickly can often be a problem. Similarly receiving recognition for an idea is also often difficult for someone lower down the managerial ladder. Decisions are often slow to be made, and bureaucracy tends to stop down any major changes from being made quickly. When working for yourself, the implementation of new ideas and making changes to the business is only limited by the amount of capitol or time you have, and so in many ways smaller businesses are much more adaptable than larger ones.

As well as the hours that can be worked, the kinds of work you do as the owner of your own business will also have more variety. Working for yourself, you will often have to handle aspects form all areas of the business rather than being limited to a particular department or section, which can make for a much more interesting work day than having to repeat the same kinds of monotonous tasks all the time.

Perhaps the most

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