Counting the Pros and Cons of Running Your Own eCommerce Business
by Maddy Osman
Owning your own small business is an enormous, rewarding challenge that leaves some entrepreneurs swimming in big pools on their days off and others crushed from the weight of the work.
If you want life to be easy, work for someone else. But if you want to blaze your own path, then don’t hesitate to roll the dice and start your own small business.
By understanding the pros and cons of owning your own business, especially if you’re making a run at it in the eCommerce space, you can better prepare yourself and your team.
Identifying the cons will help you fortify yourself emotionally when it comes time to face those realities, as well as mitigating them. And, by identifying the pros, you can best strategize how to get the most out of the unique opportunities presented by running your own small business.
Pros of Running Your Own Small Business
When you’re thinking about starting your own business, there are really two approaches — you can examine the cons first or the pros.
So why not be optimistic and start by taking a look at all the fantastic reasons for digging in deep and creating something meaningful?
Business Be Quick, Business Be Nimbleness
When you’re running a public company — or working for someone else — the decision-making process is often slower and more out of your hands than when you own a small business.
Those in charge of public companies have to navigate getting the approval of shareholders, board members, and committees. It can be a painfully slow process that puts your company behind the ball.
You don’t have that when you’re running your own small business.
Instead, you’ve got a clear vision and on-the-ground experts to help you execute your plan.
Such a flat business model — which is standard for most startups — will allow you to react more quickly to changing market conditions, bypassing bureaucratic barriers. By being so agile, you will be better situated to take advantage of marketplace opportunities.
In the same vein, it’s possible to restructure your management hierarchy and teams to adapt to the changing needs of individuals and the company — all without having to beg for approval from anyone else.
Staying in Control
The control that comes with owning and operating your own small business is what draws many entrepreneurs to the opportunity — especially those looking for a place in the eCommerce market. You might not have a clear vision for changing the world through developing a new product, but you may be very clear about not wanting to take orders from anyone.
The total control you get when you own a business means that you are in charge of the purse strings, as well as strategic direction and operations.
By remaining entirely in control, you have the rare opportunity of fully exploring hunches you might have about the markets, as well as which partnerships you create, clients you serve, and strategies you implement — from production to marketing and everything in between.
With so many responsibilities on your shoulders, it is essential to surround yourself with experts in your field who you can trust. There will be moments that you need to know that even though you have the control, you can hand off projects and assignments without needing to micromanage them.
Opportunities for Lifestyle Independence
Yes, as a business owner, you have the chance to create your own schedule and enjoy a flexible lifestyle. That’s the dream — and it’s often touted as the main reason to start your own business.
Of course, the reality is much different. On average, it takes about 6 to 7 years for a new business to become profitable. And the runup to that is not a walk in the park.
It will take lots of long hours during which you might be independent of bosses and boards, but your company still depends on you showing up and doing what needs to be done.
That said, running your own business grants a certain amount of flexibility in your schedule that you might not otherwise have.
This is especially the case if you’re running an eCommerce business. If your employees work remotely — and you work remotely — there is a lot more room for you to incorporate positive, productive flexibility in your business model.
Benefits of All Those Benjamins
The financial benefits that come with owning your own small business can be huge. As your company grows and expands, the amount of money you can personally make increases significantly faster than if you were an employee getting an annual raise (assuming you get a raise at all). The hard work you put in as a small business owner can lead to huge financial payoffs.
Pursuing Your Passion
Another major benefit of owning a small business is that it allows you to pursue your passion. It might be an uphill battle, but the work you put in when chasing your dreams rarely feels like work.
In some ways, it just feels like what you were born to do. Ideally, you’ll be launching a business that allows you to pursue what matters most to you.
There is also the positive aspect of getting to hire — and surround yourself — with a team of people who share your passion, creating the kind of synergy necessary to get the job done.
If you’re running an eCommerce business, there is the additional benefit of possibly being able to work from wherever you want, opening doors to pursuing passions outside of work. After all, it’s hard to live the surfing life if you’re stuck at a brick-and-mortar establishment in Indiana.
Cons of Running Your Own Small Business
As you probably assumed, there are also plenty of downsides to running your own business. You might be drawn to the opportunity because of the pros, but the reality is that 9 out of ten businesses fail within the first five years — which means you should approach your startup with a healthy dose of caution.
Figuring Out the Financial Risks
The financial risks of owning a small business are one of the primary reasons would-be entrepreneurs pull up short of launching a product or service.
When you decided to strike out on your own, you are abandoning that steady paycheck that comes from clocking in at 9 am and leaving at 5 pm. In fact, you’ll quickly realize that you’re donating excessive amounts of your personal time to help put your business in the black.
On top of that, you will also be sacrificing personal capital. That capital could be making you money in the stock market and other investments. So tying it up in your own business puts a lot of additional pressure on the need to succeed.
Of course, the costs of founding and operating your business will vary drastically with what kind of business you’re getting off the ground. The relatively low cost of entering the eCommerce market is one of the reasons the business model is so popular for freshman entrepreneurs.
Nonetheless, there is a very real risk of losing money — as well as all your time and energy — when you decide to start your own small business.
Hurting Because of Stress and Health Issues
There are very few things as stressful in America as the day-in and day-out reality of starting and running your own business. The constant stress and worry about the millions of details that you need to manage can be overwhelming.
According to Elon Musk, Founder of SpaceX and Tesla, the reality of his life as a rockstar entrepreneur is that it is full of “great highs, terrible lows and unrelenting stress”.
This stress is often compounded by the fact that it’s hard to know if you’re doing things right. Basically, everything you do is going to be your best, educated guess. And, sometimes, you might make the right choice, but the results just don’t work out that time around, which can be devastating to your confidence.
As the owner of a business, you’ll be faced with a myriad of daunting tasks, often knowing that your dream — your business — is at risk if you perform poorly. Though you might not be able to fully escape this stress, you should take steps to mitigate it.
Moving Mountains Without a Massive Budget
Often employees wonder why the powers that be don’t just buy certain software programs or run a certain marketing campaign (or any number of things) to make things happen. Of course, they have the benefit of dreaming of possibilities that aren’t limited by the realities of the company’s financial situation.
As the business owner, you don’t have that luxury. When working for big corporations, it’s not unusual for a marketing manager to have an annual budget in the millions — a small, privately owned business is rarely going to be in that situation.
Instead, you’re going to be forced on figuring out how to put it all together and keep it running on a much leaner budget.
It’s possible. It’s just not easy.
Final Thoughts: Counting the Pros and Cons of Running Your Own eCommerce Business
Though the cons of running your own small business can be daunting, the payoffs can be worth it. More importantly than just weighing the pros and cons is learning to mitigate the difficulties of running your own business, while maximizing the benefits.
Though eCommerce isn’t for every entrepreneur, the reality is that it is often the lowest risk business model for first-time entrepreneurs ready to get their feet wet by owning their own business.
