The Advantages of Being a Sole Proprietor of a Small Business | Oxford Hills Business

The advantages of being a sole proprietor of a small business can be limited or extensive; depending on your character and personal outlook on life. Nothing is ever perfect but everything is what you make it. Some people work better with others while other people find working alone more enjoyable and profitable. There’s no question about whether it is more financially rewarding or not because it has to be ~ you don’t have to share the profits with anyone. Whatever you are able to make in profit stays in your own pocket so it has to be more profitable to be a sole proprietor.

Having said that, there is no one else to share the losses with either so if you make a mistake, you pay for it alone. There are pluses and minuses on both sides of the balance sheet but here we will examine some of the immediate benefits of being a sole proprietor of your own small business.

Number one would have to be in the profits. As a small business owner in a profitable and well-researched business venture, you have the opportunity to earn far more in profits than you would ever be able to in wages working for someone else for wages alone. This is one of the biggest driving forces for most small business owners.

Number two would have to be the concept of freedom. Before starting a small business, some proprietors have the idea that they will be freer than what they are when working for someone else. This is probably one of the biggest misconceptions people have of owning their own business. The reality is that you are tied to your business in one degree or another for many more hours than what you would ever be when working for someone else. After all, here in Australia we have laws to protect workers from working excessive amount of hours but they don’t extend to small business proprietors!

Depending on your industry of course, the chances are very high that you will be spending many hours each weekend catching up on paperwork and doing all those other ‘little’ things that you don’t get time for during the working week. These extras have to be done and the only time you can do them is when there is less call on your time to do other things.

Number three, regardless of having said the above, as a small business owner you do have the opportunity to leverage the use of staff and even if they may become a number one problem for you, if you can get the right staff many of your problems will be overcome. The problem though lies in getting the right staff. Staffing has become one of the biggest problems for many small business owners today.

However, if you are prepared to pay them their worth, you will end up with happy staff, happy customers and you will become a very happy and prosperous small business owner.

via oxfordhillsbusiness.com