WHAT'S THE HARDEST PART OF BEING A BUSINESS OWNER?

To understand the hardest part of being a business owner, it helps to compare it with the alternative: being an employee.

As an employee, you usually follow a familiar path. You get some kind of qualification, maybe a college degree. Then, through a resume and a job interview, you convince an employer that you are capable of doing the job. After that, you show up every day, someone tells you what needs to be done, and you do it.

But what happens if you do not go to work one day?

You call in sick.

That is usually it. Someone else will cover the work, or the company will find a way to manage without you for the day.

And what happens if you are not actually sick?

In many cases, nothing. You can still call in sick, and nobody may ever know.

What if you do not really do the work you were supposed to do? Or what if you do it badly?

In a large company, it is possible that nobody even notices for a while. There is an idea often associated with Price’s Law, named after Derek J. de Solla Price, which suggests that in many groups, a relatively small number of people are responsible for a large portion of the productive work. For example, in a group of 100 people, around 10 people may produce about half of the meaningful output.

That means the remaining 90 people share the other half.

And even if poor performance is noticed, the company usually has a process for dealing with it. Maybe they retrain you. Maybe they put you on a performance improvement plan. Maybe your manager has a conversation with you.

Either way, your paycheck still arrives. Whether you are excellent, average, or barely functioning, you are usually still paid.

So in many employee roles, the personal responsibility can feel limited. Your daily actions matter, of course, but the larger system often absorbs a lot of the consequences.

Now compare that with being a business owner.

It is not enough to finish school and show up for a few interviews. That does not create a business.

Nobody else decides whether what you are building is valuable. You have to decide that. You cannot simply rely on someone else’s judgment. Nobody is going to appear and say, “This is a good idea. Do it.”

You have to make that decision yourself.

And if you do not create your own opportunity, nobody else will create it for you.

When things get difficult, nobody puts you on a performance improvement plan. Nobody gently guides you back onto the right path. Nobody is obligated to save the business for you.

That is the hardest part of business ownership.

But it is also the best part.

There is no confusion about whose responsibility it is. Should I do this or not? Should I solve this problem or leave it for someone else?

The answer is simple: if it matters, I have to deal with it.

If I postpone something, it does not disappear. I will still have to do it, just later. Every idea has to be evaluated by me. Does it make sense? Is it useful? Is it a waste of time? Nobody else will judge my ideas for me, and nobody else will bring them to life unless I make it happen.

That is extraordinary freedom.

And it comes with enormous responsibility.

Business ownership is not for everyone. But to me, it is a fantastic thing. Personally, I would not trade this kind of freedom for anything.