What is involved in having one's own business

While an employee works for his or her employer and is paid for it, a self employed business person or trader does not deliver his or her work to any employer, but offers it on the "market" and receives money for selling it. The market here is to be understood in a broader sense of the word than just a marketplace or a shop. The "market" is any environment where business takes place, where buyers and sellers meet, and where any products or services are traded. The buyer or customer need not always be an individual, it can also be an organisation or even the state. The business person or trader brings his or her products to such market. And these of course need not be the outcome of his or her work alone, but also of his or her employees, or possibly business partners.

While an employee has less freedom and more security, a self-employed business person or trader has more freedom and less security. A self-employed person has space for his or her imagination and planning, and, as well as making money, he or she alone makes decisions about his or her work. On the other hand, he or she loses the security of a regular wage , and in addition, often has to put a considerable amount of money into something, without being sure how it will turn out.

Before starting up a business you usually need to invest a certain amount of money . Depending on the size of these initial business "start up" costs, several areas of business activity can be distinguished:

Activities requiring practically nothing more than intelligence, appropriate knowledge and good communication skills - e.g. the work of a broker or dealer, or advisory activities not immediately requiring an office, etc.,
Activities requiring some tools, a certain quantity of materials and not very expensive equipment, possibly a smaller workshop (but most of the work is carried out on the customers' premises) - e.g. plumber, tinsmith, bricklayer, roofer, decorator, tailor, etc., and also those who process data, accountants and other small businesses who need basically just a computer,
Activities which require setting up or renting a shop or office with appropriate equipment - e.g. baker, confectioner, butcher, car mechanic, joiner, barber, beautician, shoe repairer, lawyer, etc.,
Activities requiring more expensive facilities and premises - industrial production, service station, department store, hotel, etc.,
Activities requiring initial capital to buy goods, which are then sold again - all kinds of trade.

It is open to anyone to consider starting up a private business provided they are willing to accept a degree of insecurity, and uncertain chances of success. Someone who works for themselves is not responsible to any supervision but their own. The quality of work is not judged by a supervisor, but the customer for whom it is done. Only if it is a work of quality will there be enough customers interested, and if the business person is able to organise the work effectively and sell its outcomes profitably, he or she can be successful. Aself employed business person can never rest on their laurels . The success achieved yesterday is no guarantee of success today, and the competition takes no rest.