Starting an online business changed my life for the better. I’ve technically been a business operator since 2009, when I started Financial Samurai. Financial Samurai really didn’t make any money for the first two years, but I stuck with it. In this post, I want to share the best reasons to start an online business, especially during a pandemic.
I dilly dallied for a couple years before starting Financial Samurai because I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to commit to a long term plan. I remember hearing that it takes 10 years to become an expert in anything, and I didn’t want to start something if I wasn’t going to follow through. When the financial crisis hit I figured it was now or never.
Now that I’m 12+ years in, there’s not a day that goes by where I’m not thankful for having this site. I understand that a lot of you will say that you don’t have a good business idea or don’t have a clue as to how to start. The reality is I had no business idea either.
The key is to just launch and then figure things out as you go. You can afford to do so nowadays because the cost to launch and maintain is so cheap. Good luck trying to figure things out when you have to pay $5,000+ a month in rent to run a retail store or restaurant!
Let’s look at the top 10 best reasons to start an online business.
Best Reasons To Start An Online Business
1) No Boss, Thank Goodness
The older you get, the less likely you will tolerate someone telling you what to do. By the time you’re in your 30s, you’re already a master at your job. You’ll also have a lot more money. Thus, you won’t accept instructions as easily because you don’t need the money as much.
Further, you’ll also have the requisite work experience to get another job for likely more money and more appreciation if a change of scenery seems advantageous. Even if your boss is awesome, being your own boss is 10X better.
Related: How To Deal With A Micromanager Without Killing Yourself First
2) Master Of Your Time
Sunday evening is always a great time because you’re reminded there’s no need to set an alarm clock. You get up when your body naturally wants you to get up. As a result, you’re happier, healthier, and way less stressed than being forced to wake up by a certain hour because you have to be on a call or in the office by a certain hour.
You can take a three hour break in the middle of the day to watch a baseball game if want. Afternoon siestas are no problem either. By the time your kids get home from school, you’re refreshed and can spend as much time with them as they’d like before they go to bed. Then you can work in the evenings if you wish.
3) Much More Efficient Work
I always knew that working for a large corporation wasn’t very efficient because there were too many meetings about meetings. To get something done requires so much bureaucracy. Many people I know simply spend hours surfing the web at work (thank you!) because they’ve either already finished with their work or are waiting for their managers to catch up. It’s no surprise that startups with no resources constantly innovate much quicker.
After doing some freelance work for several startups (I live in SF after all), I’ve now experienced countless examples of business development deals that have taken 3+ months to finalize, which would have only taken me one hour if I was on the other side of the table.
I’ve also done some freelance writing for some major media publications. In one article, it took my only a couple hours to write and edit. But the editor was such a knucklehead that she asked for three revisions!
Three hours of entrepreneurial time is like 12 hours of corporate day job time.
4) No Commuting
Commuting is one of the biggest wastes of time and money. Not only are you more stressed by the time you get to work, you might also get in an accident on your way there as well!
Further, your exposure to many more people if you take public transportation increases your chance of getting sick. Commuting was always in my top 3 reasons why I disliked my job.
5) Expense Deductions
Although it’s nicer to have a corporate card that pays for everything, it’s still nice to have expense write-offs so you can have more freedom to spend however you wish.
For example, instead of having to spend a weekend in a conference room at your company’s corporate offices where they serve you free rubber chicken sandwiches, you can write-off a semi-annual team building trip to Hawaii.
Besides expense deductions, running an online business costs a fraction of what it costs to run a bricks and mortars business, which is much more scalability. When you can start your own website for just $2.95/month and run it from anywhere in the world, nothing beats that.
6) All The Income And All The Equity
As an employee, you earn a salary, and maybe get a tiny amount of equity (the vast majority of employees get no equity). As a business owner, you not only earn what your business makes, you also hold a massive portion of the equity that can be sold for multiple times revenue, operating profits, or earnings in the future.
The only way to next level wealth is to own equity in a business. As an employee, you are making someone else rich. As an owner, you are directly making yourself rich. Operational leverage is huge with an online business. Please study this chart carefully:
7) More Correlation With Effort And Reward
Most people simply want a fair shake. But working for someone else requires playing politics. People promote and pay people they like and trust. This is why there are always questionable performers who rise to the top.
The larger the corporation you work for, the more politics you must play. If you are the business owner, you don’t have to play any politics. You decide what’s best for the business. There’s nothing better than getting rewarded for hard work.
If you hate office politics, you will love having your own online business.
8) Potentially Lower Tax Rates
Expense deductions will lower your effective tax rate. You just don’t want to take on superfluous expenses because that would be counterproductive.
Business owners can deduct things like car payments, mobile phone cost, internet usage, travel, meals, and more.
Below is a simple example of how a business owner can drastically reduce his or her taxable income.
Related: How To Pay Little Or No Taxes For The Rest Of Your Life
9) Higher Pre-Tax Retirement Contributions
Business owners can save up to $57,000 in their Solo 401k for 2020, provided they have an operating profit of at least ~$192,000. Business owners who elect to go the SEP-IRA route can also contribute $57,000 a year pre-tax, provided you pay yourself ~$220,000+ in income.
As an employee, you can only contribute up to $19,500 max in your 401k or $6,000 in your IRA (if your income is low enough) for 2020. Yes, the maximum contribution limits tend to go up about $500 every couple years. But the employee portion of the 401(k) contribution limit is much smaller than what the business owner can contribute.
If you are a freelancer and business owner, you can theoretically contribute over $100,000 to your tax-advantageous retirement accounts.
10) Location Independence
Being able to run your business anywhere in the world is truly liberating. You can geo-arbitrage by moving to a cheaper country if you wish. If you don’t want to go that far, you can always relocate to the heartland, where housing is often one third the price of coastal city real estate.
Vacations are no longer limited to just two or three weeks. There’s nothing more fun than seeing the world while making money once travel opens up again.
BONUS! 11) Hard To Shut Down
As we’ve learned from fighting the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses were forced to shutdown on government orders. Millions of businesses have been devastated and are unlikely to return when the economy opens up.
If you have an online business, most of the time, no human interaction is required. All you’ve got to do is communicate over the internet with freelancers if you need help. Therefore, with an online business, you can continue to operate and pivot during a global pandemic.
If your business is more defensible, that means your business is also more valuable. If you ever go to sell your online business, you may be able to get a bigger premium. From a business buyer’s perspective, wouldn’t you be willing to pay more for a business you know that’s able to operate regardless of whether there is a natural disaster or a global pandemic? I know I would.
BONUS! 12) A Career Safety Net For Your Children
It didn’t hit me until I started watching my alma mater’s online convocation that many college graduates in 2020 are screwed because the economy is paralyzed. It makes me angry and sad that millions of college graduates, who have spent 4-5 years of their lives and lots of their parent’s money, are shut out from gainful employment due to the lockdowns.
If you own an online business, not only are you able to teach your children about marketing, PR, business development, finances, sales, supply chain management, and more while growing up, you can also hire them into your family online business when they graduate from high school or college. In other words, owning an online business is the best form of career insurance.
As a parent to two young children now, there’s nothing more in this world that I want than to raise happy kids who find purpose and meaning. If you graduate from high school or college during a recession, you might not be able to get a job or a job that you want. Not finding gainful employment can cause depression, a delay in family formation, and a whole host of other issues.
Working at a family online business might not be the ideal job for your adult child, but at least it provides the temporary ability to work until a more suitable job comes along.
Career insurance for your children is now my favorite best reasons to start an online business today. It is one of the reasons why online business valuations should increase.
Business Ownership Provides Options
With all these great reasons, hopefully everybody will now start their own online business, even if it’s just a side hustle while you have a day job. You just never know what the future holds if you take action.
Two years after starting Financial Samurai, I realized I could leave a well-paying banking job. Heck, even one site I hardly ever update is generating a passive ~$500/month for the past five years.
As a business owner, you will feel more proud of what you produce because before you, there was nothing. Every time you see your product in the store or in the news, you will beam with pride. It’s rewarding to see an FS article hit the front page of Yahoo. And it’s surreal to see hundreds of thousands search results when you type “Financial Samurai” into Google.
But the reality is that 97% of you won’t take action. This is an irrefutable truth supported by millions of data points. It’s much easier to do nothing, even if you aren’t satisfied with your lifestyle. However, if you truly soak in all the best reasons to start an online business, you should be motivated enough to start.
Suggestions For Starting A Business
Start your own website. Every business needs their own website. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial showing you how. Not a day goes by where I’m not thankful for starting Financial Samurai in 2009. I ever would have imagined being able to engineer my layoff from a well-paying job in 2012 to just write and be absolutely free.
You just never know what might happen if you try. Back when I started, I had to hire someone for $1,500 to launch FS. Now you can launch in under 30 minutes for less than $3/month with Bluehost.
Starting their own online business is the #1 thing I will teach my children when they come of age. To live a life of freedom and creativity is wonderful!
What’s the other site you hardly ever update?
It’s a blogging related site for bloggers. I update it about once a quarter. I’ve had it since December 2009 and I’ve left it up as a recording of history and as a way to make passive income as well.
Thanks, Sam for the great insights. I am a bit late to the game but I am getting started on my FIRE journey and I think your blog has given me a wealth of information.
I really enjoyed this post, Sam! Thanks for sharing! It hit home on a lot of the reasons why I am aiming for financial independence. Your point about efficiency definitely stood out! Meetings about meetings absolutely demoralize me. I just can’t seem to understand why I need an in person update to read out the e-mail update that I already read in my inbox. The amount of time wasted is absurd. It seems like no one wants to actually work. I also aspire to become a master of my time. Life is so incredible when you can be flexible with your schedule and time. The commute is another mentality killer for me as well. I wake up energetic and wanting to work on my own stuff. The moment I begin the commute, I’m absolutely drained. Anxious too. I literally get frustrated at the time wasted getting ready for the commute and the commute itself.
In regards to your questions, one of the main reasons I want to work for myself is just doing the work I enjoy most. I have so many ideas I want to write about and so many great blogs to read. I simply just want to have the time to spend on that work instead of the work I have to do.
I’m looking forward to part 2! Have a great day!
Part II is here! How To Stop Worrying About Your Child’s Future
As I was browsing the web and this web site during my office hours, I couldn’t help but smile ironically at point no. 3 of how entrepreneurs are definitely more efficient. Another point which I have been a firm believer in is point 7 about how corporate world is really not high on correlation between effort and reward. Very cool post. If anyone is still on the fence between a well-cushioned job and going solo, this one is sure to tip them over to the right side :)
Great article, Sam. These benefits resonate big time.
I think the biggest downside causing lack of action for most people is the idea that we would sink tons of time and energy into something, and ultimately it wouldn’t pan out into anything fruitful. Any thoughts on how to assess this and/or how to manage it as one is developing?
Love the site,
DeForest
Hi DeForest,
It cost me $19/year to register FS and $10 or less a month for server costs the first year. In other words, I think a vast, vast majority of people can afford $139/year to run a site. It is so fun to meet other folks online as well.
Now, server costs are less than $3/month, and you can register your domain for $15/year or so. So really, the cost to start and maintain has gone away.
The hardest part is to just start. Once you start, you can play around w/ different ideas without feeling the pressure to cover your costs.
Sam
Fair enough, though I’m not saying that the out-of-pocket expenses are large. I’m saying that the **time and energy** it takes to create something good is substantial — it’s hard to create a business or generate good content. Not expensive, but time consuming. I think many people (myself included, in certain endeavors) lose momentum when we don’t see early traction. We start to question ourselves — “Am I spending my time and energy into a black hole? I have other more important things I could be doing, if this isn’t going to work.” Because we’re *unsure* whether something will work, we don’t see it through.
I would be interested in your take on how to evaluate that uncertainty — how do we pick things that have a good chance of working, so that we’ll actually see them through before giving up? I don’t have statistics, but I’m guessing that many people start blogs but give up after a few months. For that group, “getting started” isn’t the hardest part, it’s having the persistence and confidence that you aren’t wasting your time.
Hope that makes sense.
DeForest
OK cool. I’m glad we’re on the same page now regarding expenses.
Now for the time. Take the amount of time you spend consuming data and information. Add up the time you spend watching TV, serve in the Internet, looking at your mobile phone, etc. Now cut that time in half and spend that time producing instead for at least one year. That is the formula to success.
How much time do you spend consuming each day or each week? And have you try to start an online business before or any business? What is your background? Thanks
Thanks for the response!
For background, I run two independent businesses — an economic consulting firm (www.insighteconomics.com) and an online seminar business (www.integrityseminar.org) — both of which are reasonably successful. I also have four children and a spouse that works, so we’re not exactly full of extra time at home. I would estimate that my typical workday includes 8 hours sleep, 2 hours exercise / personal maintenance, 6-8 hours producing, 6 hours childcare / family time, and maybe 1-2 hours left for “consuming” — mostly books and web reading, very little TV time (most weeks none). Weekends are mostly spent doing family activities. Admittedly, my family constraints put a limit on my work time, but I am decently effective within those constraints.
I’m thinking about where to devote additional business energy (i.e., new products and services, creative pursuits, etc.). I feel like ideas are plenty, but narrowing down to the 1-2 core new pursuits to devote real energy towards is challenging. Uncertainty over which ones will work and connect with an audience is the biggest issue. It is not lacking the ability to make time for any *one* idea, but choosing one and running with it necessarily crowds out pursuit of other ideas.
For example, starting a blog seems like a great idea, but it could also be a big waste of time if it never creates anything fruitful. Wouldn’t that time have been better spent building the consulting business?
I’m not saying either path is right or wrong, but I would be interested in your take for **how to assess which kinds of online businesses and ideas are worth pursuing and which are not**.
Thanks again – you da man!
DeForest
I think you’re good to go with two online businesses!
I assumed from your questions that you didn’t have any.
Well done.
Number 10) hit me real hard. I can only afford to rent in the city I am in. I won’t be buying any time soon. Housing prices are sky high! I could move down south and buy a massive house for a tiny shack in my area.
But hopefully I can get my new blog up and running and start generating some side income to help out with day-to-day expenses.
Agree 100%!! It can be harder in many ways than a traditional office job especially in the beginning but all the benefits are so worth it. I don’t miss my old office job one bit.
A big congrats to you for getting to where you are today and for continuing to publish regularly. Being creative, producing and staying consistent with a blog takes skills, energy and a level of commitment that most people don’t have.
What do you do or not do about health insurance? Any tips?
You can get a health broker or go directly on an exchange. The fact is, if you aren’t making a subsidized income level (~$40,000 or less as an individual), you will likely have to pay $500 – $750/month for healthcare per person.
Hi Financial Samurai,
After this article I am starting my blog: MrFrugality.com, so I am now in the elite group of 3% that will start creating blogging/financial/lifestyle or what ever will bubbles up in my head empire. The world of bloggers can now keep me accountable. I will no longer sit on the sidelines but I will do it, just like that.
Besides my life is pretty damm cool to share with the world and my positive energy will propogate everywhere.
Actual blog birth date: October 27, 2017.
Thanks Financial Samurai – Keep pounding this to peoples heads (like mine) becauase you are “Changing the world one blog post at a time”. No BS.
Great work being a part of the 3% Who at least try to make a change! And if nothing progresses, then at least you learn something, and will never regret having never tried.
Hi Sam, makes sense. We’re in slightly different situations. We also work with a lot of independent contractors and that’s why our team seems so small (5 full time).
We moved from the SF east bay to Metro Detroit. The school district we’re in is one of the best in the state, everything is super close by, it’s extremely diverse (something I wanted to make sure we didn’t lose), and we have a 3,100 sq. ft. house plus a 1,200 sq. ft. basement on a 0.40 acre lot for $462k. We’re putting about $75k of work into the place to create our dream home. This isn’t something we could do where we were in the east bay for under $2MM.
Oh wow! Detroit! Nice move. I’ve become soft and I cannot leave the SF Bay area or Hawaii because of the winter weather.
But, I do believe it is becoming more and more of a no-brainer to move and geo arbitrage due to the cost here. They are getting ridiculous and it is getting so crowded.
Perhaps if your investors are all super wealthy, and maybe easier to relax a little more? Knowing they have a lot of different investments would help ease my mind.
The question is: how big of an exit do you want, and how long will it take to get there?
For me, since I am 40 years old, I no longer want to wait for a big exit. I want to live my life to the full list now because I might not be around in 10 years. It’s a sad reality is that I must face and so much other people.
I believe that learning these online business skills is essential. I’d rather learn and master the skills before it becomes a necessity. Your post about starting a blog earlier this year inspired me to do exactly that. Thanks, FS!
Good article, as usual Sam. I have to disagree with you, however, on politics at big vs small corporations. Small companies can have worse politics since the impact of nepotism can have a much larger effect. When you take into account that larger companies typically have more standard processes and follow best practices more often, it leaves less room for one or two bad apples to ruin the whole company. It’s the same reason why there is so much more corruption at local levels of government per capita. When the prosecutor is long time golf buddies with the judge or the cop, is there any surprise when misdeeds go unpunished? Same applies to a company when the internal auditors are also buddies with the parties they are investigating.
Is there waste and corruption at big companies? Sure, but the standardization and relentless focus on the numbers can prove a check on at least SOME of the nepotism.
Hey Sam, any international trip plans?
Would be great to meetup and take you and the Mrs out to dinner if you are ever in HK or Taipei as thanks for all the great content.
Really good way to frame out the benefits of being an owner in the chart (let it be from owning an actual company to being a passive owner through stocks).
Why do you feel a lot of people hold back? Awareness or just nerves?
I just started a of blog, and following yours for several years had a huge part in jumping in, so thanks!
Why don’t people start when it’s so easy and cheap to do?
* Inertia. It’s easy to do the same thing over and over again. It’s hard to try something new.
* Lack of confidence. Will buy my product? Who will believe me?
* Laziness. It’s easier to consume information then produce information and add value.
* Anger/Inability to follow instructions. I just read a comment saying this article is a waste of time as he wants to know how to make money from a business. Yet, the how to articles are linked in this article.
But it is exactly the reason why 97% of people don’t do anything, which is why the 3% of people who do can get way ahead!
All really great points! Thanks for sharing – totally agree, and a lot of it comes down to focus and determination. Thanks!
Sam you’ve inspired me but not enough to overcome my fear of the unknown; payment methods (aka Paypal), currency conversion and last but definitely not least, our local revenue service.
No worries. There’s always the next life.
I just realized that post leaving my day job, average income is up 100%, while work hours are down about 65% (20 hours versus 55 hours), but stress is down 90%! Didn’t really think about these ratios until now.
I will say, I have an online business that I am ramping but leaving a 400-500k a year job is tough.
I have the utmost respect for people who start a business because it takes guts to face the unknown, especially the steep learning curve at the beginning.
(I also hold people who also build their houses from scratch in high esteem)
I also meant to add that some of us just don’t have the mental/physical fortitude to face the unknown. I’ve seen what financial/life stress has done to my mother. Admittedly I seem to handle it better mentally but I’ve seen changes in my physical health and not for the better.
Sam –
Thanks for another article, as well as your email and tip yesterday.
All 10 of the reasons you mentioned are meaningful. What resonated with me the most though:
“The key is to just launch and then figure things out as you go.”
I’m about 3.5 months into my site, and you’re right – it takes some time and it’s important to stay motivated. I think I spent about 3 hours yesterday googling articles, viewing other sites, and finally figured out how to correctly utilize a featured image on posts (among other things).
I have a working draft for a future post called “[x] Things That Made Me Feel Stupid While Making This Blog.” X is currently up to 14 items. I expect it to grow indefinitely.
BD Mike
Biggest roadblock I have is finding a “product” or idea to market that others will really find unique. I’ve worked in the senior corporate ranks of an industrial company for so many years that I’m not sure most of my experiences / ideas would be of interest to the mainstream masses…unlike being from a consumer, retail or financial background. Hard to turn on the entrepreneurial juices after having marched for so long in bureaucratic ranks.
Hi Sam,
Great post! I really enjoy your writing and it is encouraging to know that running your own business can be so rewarding.
When you started Financial Samurai, did you do so as a sole proprietorship or some other legal entity? I am curious to hear the route you took and how much time and money it took to establish the legal entity if you did so.
Was it time consuming or expensive to create legal disclaimers or terms of use policies for the site?
I am curious as I am considering venturing out myself, but these are subjects I want to be more educated on when running a blog.
I look forward to your upcoming posts.
Kenny
I established FS as a S-Corp in 2012 after I left my job. Before then, it was just a sole proprietorship where all income went to charity or to my wife actually since I didn’t want to have any conflict with my day job, even though it was unrelated.
I think I did spend about $1,000 in legal fees one the site started gaining traction. The legal disclaimers have been customized.
The problem I see is that too many people OVER THINK things and therefore never start. When you start, nobody will know your business. When you start to gain traction, you’ll logically do what’s necessary to protect and grow your business.
For the most part, this article is good and inspiring, but I do very much enjoy your article entitled the Darkside of Early Retirement.
A few things I will point out: (1) one’s commute doesn’t have to be bad (some people work and live in the city — 15-minute subway ride or 10-minute walk from a downtown apt/condo). I actually look forward to my commute. I listen to music, enjoy fresh air and read while on a very short subway ride. Of course not everyone is so lucky to have an easy commute, but that is something that can easily be factored in and changed.
(2) Work does not have to be a terrible place. Some jobs are extremely exciting (NFL) and some provide a wonderful break from the home. I admire the architecture and beautiful designs (glass staircases and waterfalls) of buildings. It is also nice to interact with other working professionals where you can network, share stories/knowledge, joke around, eat lunch with, etc. If a company is big enough, you can easily call IT/housekeeping/security/mail center. They are all just an extension away.
(3) Structure and following directions are not always bad things. It is rather boring to not necessarily have anything to do, and if people are not condescending, what is wrong with taking instruction?
It was not an easy road, but I am currently living the life I want. I was in a very small office and moved to another state to a much bigger and very beautiful company. I do enjoy going to work and interacting with people. I am looking into a passive income stream because I think, why not?! It will help in the future and though I do not currently have kids, I certainly hope to and would love to stay home and be with them as my mother was for me.
However, work does not have to be all that bad. If anything, it is a great place to start. I personally am all for formal education (especially private!) and working. After all, we can’t ALL be bloggers. Who is going to deliver our Amazon packages, stock our grocery stores and fix our teeth?
Ah, but Amazon is an online business! Don’t forget. Just so happens to be the most successful one on the planet.
Grants on finding your comfort zone. How long have you been at your new job?
I did not forget that Amazon is online; I said who will *deliver* our packages. (Humans are needed to physically deliver packages, and even to wrap the fragile items with extra cushioning so they don’t break, etc.)
Been at the job and in the (new) city 5 years now. It has not been easy but I’ve come a long way. Still contemplating what do on the side.
Ah, but who wants to deliver the packages when they can start a company and hire people to deliver the packages for them?
My point is to change the mindset people have about work, life and making money.
5 years is a great time. After 10 years of doing the same thing, I got tired of it all. Hope you can last longer than me!
I do get your point Sam, which is why I am here (on this site). I think you are missing my point — you just said yourself, “start a company and hire people to deliver the packages.” My point is, everyone (not necessarily me) cannot simply work from the computer because if they did, who are they going to hire to deliver the packages? Get it? Someone else is going to have to accept the jobs, everyone can’t be an owner.
Anyways, I am trying to plan now for the future. I do like the job, but I want to be home with my kids when I have them. Trying to figure things out.
But soon the Amazon drones will be delivering the packages ;)
I don’t think everyone is cut out for being an owner, partiallly why the bus ownership rate is low. Some people thrive on the structure you mention and others prefer their own. Will be interesting if there comes a time when the supply of entrepreneurs exceeds those needed to deliver packages, post automation disruption of course.
Sam,
Thank you for the motivation. I am looking forward to part 2. I started a blog this year but I was so busy this summer that i was not consistent. I have to get back to it but I am doing so many good things with great people.
Sam, I run my own business but don’t at the same time. We’ve raised ~$600k in angel investment but nothing within the last couple years. We’ll do about $700k in revenue this year but easily double that next year, a third or so of it net profit.
The result is that I’m in a limbo of a lifestyle business (like you describe) and have a corporation where I ultimately answer to investors (although I own more than 50%). I moved to the heartland 6 months ago (love it) after taking action to make the company fully remote. So I get some of the benefits you describe above.
But I still feel guilty taking time off in the middle of the day for a siesta (although I still do it) or taking my toddler to swim class. We’re only 5 full-time employees and I feel like I need to be around when they are.
Do you have this issue? It’s not clear how large the FSA team is. I’m trying to figure out how to be less present without my employees resenting me.
I don‘t have this issue because I don’t have any investors. If I had investors, I think I wouldn‘t feel as free for sure. I made the decision several years ago not to try to expand to greater heights, but to bootstrap everything myself and be comfortable with their earnings that resulted.
I don’t have this issue because I don’t have any investors. If I had investors, I think I wouldn’t feel as free for sure. I made the decision several years ago not to try to expand to greater heights, but to bootstrap everything myself and be comfortable with their earnings that resulted.
Also, I really don’t want to manage employees. That was one of the biggest bummer is back in corporate America. Everybody has an ego to deal with, and everybody wants to get farther and farther. I love working with independent contractors instead.
That’s great you love the Heartland! What city did you move from and to?
Ahhh I love this post! I read your article about starting a blog as a business multiple times and never got tired of it.
Meetings about meetings are such a huge time sink. No one I know at work says they love meetings. Everyone things it’s when they can’t get anything done. Some people, however, don’t have much to do and just go to meetings to show that they’re actually involved in some kind of activities @_@
I just started my blog 7 months ago and don’t want to get ahead of myself. But I do dream about a day when I can be my own boss and run my blog as a business hehe.
Give it a consistent 3 years, and I’m sure you’ll seem some traction!
Oh man did I hate meetings. But now we have great mobile devices that can really kill time under the table :)
Hahaha yes those mobile devices can help us improve our productivity during meetings :D I usually bring my laptop and start to check email and other stuff when the meeting gets boring *yawn*
I plan to stick with my blog long-term. I actually just got burned out the other day. But I took a break, and everything seems more breathable now :D
I think you got it covered. I love being self employed. It’s so much more fulfilling although I make less money.
It really helps with self esteem if you’re a retiree. Nobody wants to feel like they are not contributing to society. If you have an online business, you’re doing something rather than just relaxing.
You make a great point about maintaining/building self esteem. People’s identities are tied up in their work. If you leave your job, you often lose your identity.
But you can simply change to the CEO of your own company. What’s better than that?
Sam, what about liability as a blogger? I’m a physician and have been seriously considering starting a blog about my specialty, but I’m concerned about liability from people misinterpreting the blog as medical advice, etc. Any thoughts?
Thank you!
Hi Scott,
It depends on what you write about. If you’re giving medical advice, and you probably need medical insurance. If you’re telling a story about your experience as a doctor, I’m not sure you need to worry about someone suing you.
Have your disclaimers. Carefully research what you write. And try not to defame anybody or piss people off. Gawker went down because they tried to ruin people’s lives. If your goal is to help other people, your chances of getting sued should decline. Instead, you might have people do the opposite and pay for your services or send you thank you e-mails and gifts.
And as always, consult a lawyer in these issues who can give you guidance.
Sam
Excellent article, Sam. I was wondering if you had tracked the time investment when you first started and how that changed as your business grew. In other words, were you going without sleep the first year, and how did you not let that affect your day job
Good question, and I have the answer. I basically started in 2009 to write a personal journal about the financial devastation. Writing was my way to deal with financial catastrophe. Some people drank and smoked, I just wrote and try to find an outlet away from my job in finance. A lot of people were getting laid off then, including many of my friends and fellow coworkers. It was very depressing time.
I spent about three or four hours a day before and after work writing and connecting with people online. This time was also spent Reading other sites, commenting on other sites, learning as much as I could about the online world, and spending some time on social media. As a result, I didn’t feel like work at all. I was learning something new and it was completely exciting to me. I couldn’t wait to see what was going on in the non-financial world.
Before I started Financial Samurai, I went to business school for three years and that took up about 20 hours a week of my time as well. So by the time I started my side, I was used to working 70 to 80 hours a week total.
Now, I’m back to working long hours because I’m a full-time dad as well. But, I’m older and have less energy now, so I need to pace myself! If you find something you love to do, it just doesn’t feel like work. And that is the best.
Thanks, Sam. That’s about as much time as I have during the day. I thought you had spent all night working on your business, but it is good to hear it can be done without killing yourself.
Your website is a must read for this CPA and tax guy! Keep up the good work educating people about finance. It is desperately needed.
Those are all great reasons to start an online business. In addition to my day job, I have a moonlighting gig. As a sole proprietor, I can contribute a good sum into my self-directed 401k. Tax deductions are great too! I deduct my home office and semiannual “business retreats” as well. After a year of going back and forth, I decided to launch my blog. More of a hobby blog for now, but sharing my experience in investing from high net worth perspective and raising two boys.
It takes a lot of hard work and there’s a lot of struggle, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I started my business in June after reading your blog and it’s been extremely rewarding.
Location independent and the lack of commuting is just about my 2 favorite things about working online. Plus they tend to be cheaper in start up costs than if you were going the traditional route. Some downsides is that income is never guaranteed (but that in turn should make one a better saver.)
Great post. I started my own online business (food blog) last year after reading articles on this site for many months. It has been so rewarding! It hasn’t gotten to the point where I make much money, but the opportunity is there. Plus I have a W-2 job I don’t hate to keep me going in the meantime.
While it takes work and dedication, anyone can start an online business. And how awesome will it be to someday have no boss!
I love this post, and it makes me want to kick things into high gear now that I’ve got time to focus on non-wedding, non-house things.
The commute – which I’ve been doing for only three weeks in our new house – is killer and really a huge drawback. Gotta make that change. :)
Sam – What an inspiring post!
I can think of another couple good reasons that you alluded to, but could be explicitly called out:
1) You can easily start an online business part-time.
2) You can eventually start additional online businesses and create multiple streams of income. It’s highly unlikely your income would drop to $0 all at once like it would for a full-time job.
When I started my company back in 2008 I heard all the reasons why it couldn’t be done, thankfully I ignored those comments. I took on a lot of debt to start (scary and motivating), and continued to work my W2 job as I worked hard to build my company (very little rest/sleep and social life was nil). I set reachable goals along the way and was eventually able to phase out my W2 job. But it takes more…
Build that business —> Success! —> Build wealth —> FI
I think this is where a lot of people slip up. When times are good, they spend as if the good times will last forever instead of focusing on building wealth. That was hard, naturally you want to increase your SOL and when you make good money (even if it’s one tax year, you’re told you’re rich which isn’t necessarily true because you didn’t have enough time to build wealth. Become tax efficient or you’ll pay a lot of money in taxes when you could use it to grow your company most.
I hear people say, I want to start my own business because I want to be rich (goal). They forget that they must fill a need, do it better than others, serving their customers well and as a result, a successful business. Back to build the successful business, then build wealth
In the end, as scary and as hard as it was, it’s the best thing I did.
1. Ignore the naysayers,
2. Serve your customers well and you’ll increase your chances of success,
3. Don’t quit your job (phase out)
4. Set achievement markers,
5. Use profit (seed money) to invest for future income.
6. Stealth wealth
These are two reason reasons as well, Mr. Freaky Frugal!
I started my blog on the side while still doing a full-time job. I don’t know if I’ll ever quit my job, but it’s a great feeling to have something of my own, especially if it earns me an income and doesn’t put me in the red one day.
Branching out into different businesses is definitely a great idea. I’ve seen so many Youtubers starting out as vlogger but ending up with multiple related business and products. And yes, I am secretly hoping to be a Youtuber one day as well hehe.
I’m still a w2 employee but this year my wife became self employed. The first of two big things are the flexibility of the solo401k which allowed us to tax defer more of her income then when she was a 2. The second was options. We did more fun trips and time off then ever before. (While im w2 I can work from home on whim and have significant vacation time which combined with her situation mean quite bit of freedom)
I completely agree with all of these points in relation to starting a business. I started my own consulting company after spending 15 years in corporate America. While I still consult with large corporations, having control over what I accept is wonderful. Avoiding office politics and jockeying for positions is liberating.
The best part, I am only putting in 20 hours a week, earning a similar amount and spending much more time with our little kids.