Answer by Jane Chin, STEM Leadership Development, janechin.com, on Quora,
Aspiring and current small business owners are familiar with the grim survival rates of small business entrepreneurship. We hear time and again, how a large percentage of small businesses fail within a few years of founding.
Yet we are drawn, moths to the flame of entrepreneurship. The perks of owning a small business override downfalls, and these perks are by no means trivial. These perks probably contribute to why, in spite of statistics, we still aspire to own a small business.
Your vision comes into form.
What can be more empowering than taking our inspirations and ideas for ourselves -- for our community, society, even the world -- and create something tangible, something real? Entrepreneurship is passion solidifying into form, where visions become visible.
Owning a small business is a reminder every day that we had made our dreams come true. This gives some of us courage to further break through our comfort zones and try new things; a major side effect of small business ownership is intense personal growth.
Even if we failed in our small business ventures, we may get to ask, "What could I have done to have made it, or made my business better?" but we never have to wonder, "If only I'd tried."
Your experience as a small business owner.
When I was an employee, I had little appreciation of employers' challenges, cost of overhead, staying competitive, prioritization pains (cost cuts, etc.). Once I became an employer, I experienced these business challenges first-hand. I developed perspective on the type of short term compromises that are sometimes made to keep the business going long term. I learned to become a better decision-maker and communicator.
Small business owners, should we decide to return to the workforce, can become excellent assets to our employers. These entrepreneurs-turned-employees understand time-costs of money and bottom-lines from direct experience.
If I ever take corporate employment, I'd be a more effective and efficient employee now that I've been an employer.
Your identity as a small business owner and entrepreneur.
There is something about saying "I am an entrepreneur" that invites conversation, that doesn't quite happen when the answer is, "I am an employee" or "I am a {job title}", even if we had an obscure job title (...and I had one! At one point working as a Medical Science Liaison in the life science industry; eyes would glaze over when I threw out that job title).
When the answer is, "entrepreneur", people want to know what your business is, how you started it, how you manage to keep it running ... People may share their own hopes of starting their own business one day, or if they had a small business, swap "war stories" and business victories.
This identity as entrepreneur has expanded my professional horizons and opened doors to industries I'd not have thought about working in.
You have the flexibility to match your small business demands to major life decisions.
What if some of us wanted to travel a few months a year to all the places on our bucket list? Or scale back our business because we want to go back to school? What if we have to take care of an elderly parent who is suddenly taken ill? What if we decide to explore a new, unrelated industry? What if we decide to completely reinvent our business?
We often hear the typical "scaling up" stories of small businesses -- being acquired for a lot of money, expanding the business to keep up demands, growing the business into new territories or even landing a multi-million dollar retail account. These growth stories are perceived as true success stories and proof that a small business owner has "arrived."
What we don't hear often enough, is a conscious focusing or scaling down/scaling back of a small business as a response to major life transitions or to remain congruent with personal values. Nevertheless, this is the single most important perk that has kept me engaged in entrepreneurship for more than 10 years.
The perks of owning a small business is that dependent on our capacity to meet business goals, we have more flexibility than most employed professionals to match how we work to major life transitions or chosen life style. My small business grows with my life, and I grow with my small business.
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