For many people, having your own business sounds like the perfect job. You can do work that you love. You can set your own timetable, and wear jeans to work. You never have to1 a boss, and you make all decisions yourself. You can even raise your salary any time you want.
But the reality is different. "Having your own business can be 2 ," says David Paik. After working for an advertising agency for six years, he started a website design business at home. His income in the first two months was $0.3 , he got a big project creating a website for a magazine. Then he had a new problem: his timetable. "I was working twelve hours a day, seven days a week, because I didn't have employees to help me." Today, Paik Web Design is successful, but David says, "I really wasn't prepared to be a business owner. I didn't 4 the difficulty."
With no boss, it's easy to take too much time off —and get too little work done. With no workmates, you might feel bored or5 . You have to pay for your own holidays. If you make a bad business decision, you could lose all the money. For all of these reasons, more than half of all new businesses fail within one year.
Another problem is balancing work with personal life. As a business owner, you can't just stop at 5 p.m. and forget about your work until tomorrow. "Even when I'm watching TV in the evening, I'm always thinking about my 6 and projects," says David Paik.
Still, hundreds of people around the world start business every day, and most enjoy the experience. "There are lots of advantages to having your own business," says Denise Williams, the owner of a women's clothing store. "You can decide exactly how to do your work, how much money you want to make, and who will work for you."
