I would like to share with everyone the ups and downs of being self-employed. 

Starting your own business isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. First you have to be 100% sure that is is something that you want to tackle in life. There is a lot of stress that comes with being self-employed but then again there is quite a bit of stress with being employed by someone else.

There are some advantages as well as disadvantages to having your own business. Let's first talk about the disadvantages,. Being self-employed means that you have to pretty much put your all (100%) into what you are doing. You have to cover every end of the business as far as the paper work, employees (if you choose to have any), accounting, pleasing customers more so than if you were working for someone (because it is not only the company that  you would be working for reputation but it is now your reputation).

Now the advantages of self-employment. Just think of being able to pick your own hours, all the money that you bring in goes solely to you (minus IRS) but you get 100% of your pay. You get the pleasure of knowing that you are someone "IN CHARGE", you don't have to work under anyone else but yourself. 

The only one to answer to is ' YOU'.

How does one start their own business? Well let me tell you how I went about getting mine started. But first let me tell you what my business was. I am a pet groomer and therefore I opened my own pet grooming shop right out of my home. Coming up with the name was a bit tricky but I finally was able to come up with one, (that wasn't really that hard). 

I first started out with flyers that my children and myself distributed onto car windshields in department store parking lots and on bulletin boards at department stores and grocery stores in the town that we lived in. Then as my business grew it became word of mouth which brought more customers. Once I had enough customers I soon published my business in the Yellow Pages of our local phone book. I had also distributed pens, bumper-stickers and balloons at our yearly 4th of July Parade (at which I participated in to gain more recognition).

It is scary to start your own business and believe me I wanted to give up right at first because the money just wasn't coming in fast enough but I was determined to make it work and after 2 yrs I had built up a clientele of over 300. If I hadn't moved I would still have my business. My husband and I are planning to re-open my grooming business as well as he wants to start his own tropical plant store. 

If you are thinking of starting your own business and are scared or not sure then one or two things that you have to keep in mind, 1) the only way that you will find out if it is for you is to take the plunge and don't expect things to shoot off right away. 2) if I can do it you can too. I am only a high school graduate and had no other schooling in my life. You have to have total confidence in yourself and what you want to do.

Finally, I would like to advice all of you who are considering your own business that you just have to believe that you can do it. Good Luck!

About the Author:

Ms. Blue opened her own pet grooming business in December 1992 in Seward, Nebraska after gaining 11 years on-the-job-training grooming dogs. She first started grooming her own poodle and later on built her own pet grooming business.