There are two kinds of jobs. In one, you work for someone else. In the other, you work for yourself. When you work for someone else, you usually have definite hours and the wage you make for those hours. When you work for yourself, you have indefinite hours (usually considerably longer than when you work for someone else) and no definite salary to depend on. Quite often, the main advantage you gain in working for yourself is there’s nobody to lay you off or fire you.

I’ll use my job as an example. As a freelance writer, I can determine the number of hours a day I want to work. Sounds good doesn’t it. The problem is if I don’t work, I’d have to resort to finding long lost relatives to feed me. Perish the thought. I’d rather work. Of course that means I have to keep track of all those pesky expenses for tax purposes. I also have to track the work I have in progress, develop new markets, produce thousands of words quickly, meet deadlines, and run the risk that something won’t be accepted for publication thereby costing me valuable time. Sometimes I have to deal with editors that delight in hacking the death out of a perfectly written piece making me wish my byline wasn’t attached to it.

If, on the other hand, I worked for a publication, say a newspaper. I’d go out, get the story, write it up, turn it in and that would be that. No paperwork, no risk, no late night pounding on my keyboard, and the pay would be consistent. In addition, I wouldn’t have to worry about editing the copy my cats produce when they launch themselves onto my keyboard.

With any business there are horror stories that would make even the strongest queasy. For instance, you open a plumbing business. You’re excited because you have your first job with a local contractor that promises steady work. You buy a batch of shut off valves for the bathrooms of the new home; the valves are faulty and leak. Guess who is liable for any damages.

Say you decide to open a gift shop. You buy a slug of inventory, but it doesn't sell. Hmmmm. Closeout sale comes to mind. Or, you decide to open a housecleaning business. All is well until you break that $20,000 vase or accidentally dissolve the owner’s $50 a yard carpet with spilled cleaning chemicals. Get my drift?

Of course, there’s insurance to cover these eventualities, but business insurance, depending on the business, can be very expensive as can the bond you may be required to have. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t work for yourself. Just make sure you weigh the pros and cons before you do.

For me, picking my own projects and setting my own hours (though they sometimes are excruciatingly long) is well worth all the drawbacks of my business. However, the life of a self-employed person isn’t right for everyone. Each person must decide this for him or herself.

In the next group of hubs, we’re going to pretend you want to start a business. Then we’re going to take you step by step through the process.