There’s something simply splendid about working for yourself!

• No nit-picking boss (just nit-picking clients!).
• No dress code (unless you include every-day-as-casual-Friday!).
• No required starting time (nobody running you off the premises, either!).
• No putting in requests for vacation and days off (what, you mean other people DON’T work round the clock, even on holidays?).

But there are some downsides, too.

Take, for instance, that last bulleted item. Go ahead, we’ll wait while you read it over again.

Working round the clock. That’s a big part of being your own boss.

If you can’t manage time, if you don’t have an innate sense of responsibility to do what’s necessary to get the job done (right and on time, too!), you might as well forget it.

Go back to being somebody’s minion.

If you consistently feel the need to socialize, or shop, or go golfing, or read a good book poolside — again, forget it.

Those things, when done in moderation, can be wonderful brain-cleansers. They can even help your business if you run into people who need your services — or if you make time for casual networking.

But most entrepreneurs will admit they work harder for themselves than they ever did for a boss or a company. Even the perk of stock options from a company isn’t the same thing as being self-employed.

With only yourself to rely on, you have to be the sales force, accounting department, collections agency, legal department, marketing department, secretary, chief cook and bottle washer, even janitor!

Admittedly, it’s not for everyone. But those of us who do it love it.

We invest so much of ourselves in our business. The business becomes our “baby,” and we have a driving need to see that baby succeed. Our reputation is on the line (and maybe a bit of our pride, too!).

Who doesn’t want to prove — to someone, somewhere — that, despite the odds, they “made it”?!