The 10 worst things about having your own business

When people learn that you’re a business owner, they often imagine that since you run the show, you probably get to pick your clients, hours and terms. This couldn’t be further from the truth. As a business owner, you’re always hustling. Sure, the rewards – freedom, success and autonomy – can be enormous. But when you’re grinding through 16 hour days, you probably sometimes wonder why you did it. While Bluevine.com regularly celebrates the joys of being a big kahuna, today we’re sending out a “we feel you man, or mam” to everyone pulling on their own bootstraps.

Here are the 10 worst things about having your own business:

1. You are always on the hunt for business: If you don’t bring in new business, no one else will.
2. You are always on the clock: “Time off” is for people that work for others. You work for yourself, so work and life are one in the same.
3. Taxes: The only thing worst than having to pay taxes is being self-employed and having to pay taxes. Uncle Sam really knows how to stick it to you.
4. You’re a reluctant “Jack of all trades”: In addition to being the owner and CEO, you are also tech support, cleaning, sales, marketing, HR, administration and everything in between.
5. You can’t call in sick: Someone has to do the work, and in all likelihood, that’s you.
6. And if you’re sick, you don’t get paid: This is true if you work alone, but even if you have employees, you don’t get “paid” sick days
7. Laws, regulations, paperwork, oh my: You’re responsible for keeping track of all sorts of laws and regulations that relate to your business, be it employment law, environmental law or “fill in the blank” law. And if you don’t comply, you are ultimately liable.
8. You have no one to complain to about your boss: That’s you.
9. Getting paid: Chasing customers for money owed is no fun at all. You are always getting paid two weeks later than when you need the money.
10. Feast or famine: Your cash-flow is unpredictable and will never be steady or secure. Sometimes you’re swimming in dough and work, and other times you’re just trying to make do.

At Bluevine, we’ve heard it all and we want to help. So while we can’t get Uncle Sam off your back, we can help you free-up and even out your cash-flow so that you can continue to invest in and grow your business. We’ll give you funding on invoices within days. Bluevine customers run the gamut, but their common thread is that their customers are other businesses that take weeks, or even months to pay on their invoices.

Submitting your invoices for advance takes minutes and can get you funded within 24 hours. Our process is entirely online and nonintrusive, and lets you get back to the important stuff. So you can invest that capital back into your business…or maybe give yourself a nice bonus for being such a great boss.