Sam Schreim has been his own boss for nearly 20 years.

Throughout his career, he opened his own consulting firm, launched several start-ups and advised high-income clients as an independent consultant.

But if the 54-year-old entrepreneur can go back in time, it is possible that he will never take the step of becoming an entrepreneur Alone.

“If I had a crystal ball, I would never do that jump,” says Schreim, who lives in Boston.

“I regret it all the time. I look back, and now I would have consistently made seven figures as a management consultant if I had continued to work with big companies.”

Leaving a job to be your own boss has become very popular choice.

In 2022, for example, application to open a new business in the United States they soared to their highest level since 2004, with more than 5 million new companies registered.

But as he pointed out The US Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in Marchwhich has left many small businesses without access to their accounts, becoming a founder comes with great risks and responsibilities, and makes some people regret leaving their jobs as employees of the company.

Schreim learned this the hard way in the Great Recession of 2008.

Then he was forced pay wages with your savings into a team of 15 people. He spent sleepless nights and huge debts.

Start-ups he launched had recently failed, and even now, as an entrepreneur who combined independent consulting with book writing and data-driven product development, he often looks back with regret for not continuing his work. in Beirut, Lebanon.

“My friends envy me,” he said.

“But they don’t know what i’m going through. Every entrepreneur takes risks, and the world needs them, but it’s not an easy lifestyle.”

It’s not uncommon for the reality of running your own business to clash with expectations, says UK employment adviser Ayesha Murray.

unrealistic

“As business owners, we want to be successful, but often we had unrealistic expectations from the start both in terms of sales figures, income or time that must be devoted,” he pointed out.

“If you had a successful career before starting your own business, you might think that whatever you try after will work too.”

This belief is coupled with the risk of comparing the harsh realities of your own experience as an entrepreneur with the seemingly affluent experiences we see on social media.

That’s the case for Catherine Warrilow, who founded her own PR agency in 2006 after being disillusioned with traditional workplace hierarchy.

From the outside it looks like it’s moving in the right direction.

The agency became a successful business, with seven employees and a major client.

“But I never turned it off,” said Warrilow, 43.

“I feel likefuzzy and anxious all the time. I’ve never felt anything good enough.”

Stress always makes him a “total control freak.” micromanagement of your team.

It wasn’t what he had imagined.

“My biggest misconception was believing that being my own boss would give me freedom, that you could come and go whenever you wanted and set your own hours,” he says.

The reality is that life has to adapt to work, and the client expects him to be always available.

So in 2015, after one of her prospective clients offered her a job, the mother of two decided to leave the company.

“The day I decided not to continue working alone it was probably one of the best days of my professional life“, say.

relieved to go

“I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”

Now the managing director of travel company daysout.com, says that enjoy a lot of freedom which I hope goes hand in hand with the entrepreneurial spirit.

Can manage your time better and finish early a few days to meet friends for coffee.

As for Schreim, he would remain his own boss for now.

Even though he tried to work full time for a big company in 2017, he just failed to make the transition.

“Suddenly, I find myself resenting having a boss above mehave to report for work and have to deal with administrative tasks,” he said.

However, he claims that these elements probably never would have bothered him had he never been his own boss before.

Of course, there are many success storiesand many people will never look back.

Still, Schreim is careful to encourage others to follow his lead: “Anyone looking to make the leap into entrepreneurship needs to be aware of the ups and downs.”

* If you want to read the original BBC Worklife article, click here.

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