There is a misconception that by being self-employed as the owner of your own service company, you are your own boss.  Unfortunately, that isn’t quite the truth.  Sure, there’s no one to set a dress code or chide you for getting in to work five minutes late, or to tell you not to take an hour and a half for lunch…  But there are still clients to appease, and since they pay you and provide you with their business, technically each one of them is your boss in a way.

For example, as a wedding consultant you may be able to set your own office hours and decide when to plan a day off without consulting a boss, but at the same time your career success — and your business’s success — depends upon keeping your clients happy.  So if you snooze on the job and order a mantilla veil for a bride instead of a crystal veil, you may not only get “fired” by that bride — you may also earn yourself a reputation for being unreliable.

So keep this in mind whenever you are considering starting your own business.  People bandy around terms such as “be your own boss” and “work for yourself,” but the truth is, you are working for your clients, and they are your bosses.  The difference between you and a full-time employee is that you have lots of bosses, and none of them have the micro-managing control over your work habits that your boss would have if you were a full-time employee.  Many people still consider this a blessing, but it can also pose quite the challenge for someone who doesn’t like having one boss, let alone many!

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