Charting Your Own Course

The economic situation of today is starkly different than 50 years ago, or even 20 years ago. You cannot be making serious money today by just working for someone else. In order to make “good money” in today’s economy, you have to be directly operating a profit center of your own, without anyone else standing between the money and you.

This does not mean that you have to be running your own multi million dollar enterprise in order to make money. On the contrary, bigger does not necessarily mean better. Even while working in someone else’s business can this be achieved.

Let’s take doctors as an example. The average salary of a general practitioner doctor is around $150,000. That is nice money, but nothing exceptional. However, if the doctor opens his own practice and brings in other doctors to work under him, he can be making upwards of $400,000. Now these doctors are doing the same kind of work and seeing the same amount of patients each. Why the difference in pay? Because the doctor who has his own practice is running his own business, while the doctor who works for someone else has to be satisfied with what the “boss” is willing to pay.

Everyone has a choice in how they bring in their income. You may think it is more secure and stable to just get paid, and let someone else worry how that money should come in. But at the end of the day, no one is worrying about your family’s financial situation more than you are. Ultimately, it will come down to your ability to bring in the income needed to sustain your family.

We will explore creative ways to “be your own boss” even without operating a business in the traditional sense, in upcoming posts.

Charting Your Own Course

Filed Under: Career Advice

Tags: creative income • independent • jobs • salary