The Self-Employed Trap
Hello Project HOPE friends, I hope this week has been a great one for you. I know it's an important week for many people who practice a religion.
A friend quit his job a couple of years ago with the hope of starting his own business. He wanted more freedom, to manage his time, and not have to answer to anyone. He started his own electrical services business with the tools he had and a good client base. But recently, in a conversation, he told me something that was obvious: "Now I work twice as much as I used to, and I earn the same... or sometimes less."
And that's what happens to many. The dream of starting a business sometimes becomes a trap. Because when you go from being an employee to self-employed, you're not necessarily creating a business as such, but simply changing the type of responsibility. There's no longer a boss, but there are suppliers, clients, taxes, accounts to pay, equipment to maintain, nonexistent schedules, and emergencies that arise at any hour.
The self-employed person becomes the one who makes the quotes, provides the service, answers the phone, collects payments, solves problems, does the shopping, and even cleans the premises. If they don't work, there's no money coming in. If they get sick or want to take a few days off, the business comes to a standstill. And that creates an emotional and physical burden that was often unforeseen.
This doesn't mean that entrepreneurship is wrong. On the contrary, it can be a path to growth and freedom. But it's important to be clear: if you don't build a system that works beyond self-employment, if you don't learn to delegate or automate certain processes, it's easy to end up a slave to that dream that was once sold as freedom.
In the end, the key is to understand that being self-employed isn't the final destination. It's merely a stage. The idea is to move toward a model where the business doesn't depend exclusively on the time and effort of a single person. Because if not, that dream of "being your own boss" ends up turning into a 12-hour day, without rest and with no clear direction. I hope you don't fall into a self-imposed trap like this. Best regards, I'll say goodbye.
