

Why do some people seem to like working in companies? - away

I've always wanted to be free...to work as an entrepreneur...yet I always seem to meet people who want to work as employees for corporations.  I would say the majority of people in society are like this.
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datapusher
Funny. After 12 years of working for myself, I'm back to working for someone
else. I wasn't good at operating a company that was much more then myself an 1
or - in the good times - 2 other people. I felt trapped by the job, as if
taking a vacation would leave everything in shambles.

Working for someone else I don't have to:

    
    
      * Deal directly with complaints
      * Chase after money when people are late in paying
      * Be an accountant
      * Be a salesman
    

Working for someone else I do get to:

    
    
      * Leave my work at work.
      * Keep mostly to a 35-45 hour week
      * Collect my paycheck every two weeks
      * Go on vacation knowing everything will be fine while I'm gone
      * Focus on what I'm good at, and what I enjoy
      * Work flexible hours
      * Lead a generally less stressful life.
    

So ... the real question is -- why do some people want the stress and
uncertainty of being self employed?

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Andrenid
These are pretty much the exact same reasons for me.

Ran my own business for 5 years, and went back to working for a big
corporation for the easier hours, reliable/consistent pay, and only having to
do what I do well, without all the extra side-tasks distracting/annoying me.

I'd consider running another business one day, but i'm in no rush... I see
this as a cruisy period where I can save up money, enjoy a social life, pay
off a house, etc.

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_delirium
One answer I've gotten from a mathematician was more or less: I like solving
mathematics problems, and working in a company means I get a never-ending
stream of mathematics problems to solve, where the question "why are these
problems worth answering?" is someone else's job to solve. There's something
liberating (for at least some kinds of jobs) about being able to just solve
problems "for their own sake", because it's someone else's responsibility to
invent and justify the problems, and you can treat them as magically justified
problems that fall from heaven. This probably works better for people who like
focusing on specific aspects of problems (e.g. treating something as a pure
mathematics or engineering problem), and less well for people who like more
integrated/cross-cutting problem solving (which working for yourself both
allows and demands).

I personally find the bureaucracy/procedures a bit stifling, though. The
paycheck is nice, but meetings and standard software and performance reviews
and whatever is a drag, even in relatively freedom-loving academia.

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jeffool
For some people, work is solely a way to pay bills; those who work to live,
not live to work.

I also think it's reasonable that while some people do like to be their own
boss, others may prefer to be soldiers in an army (those on the front lines,
doing the base work), as opposed to the ruler. Others want to be generals
(management).

Maybe they're not comfortable in the responsibility, or just feel their
abilities best align in a different work structures than those you may prefer.

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orangecat
Marketing, accounting, and business development have less than zero appeal for
me. Like someone said in a recent thread, I employ my employer to take care of
that stuff.

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brudgers
Some people find employment attractive because they have run their own
business. Some people find large corporations attractive because they have
worked in small offices. Finally, some people place less value on being their
own boss than elsewhere.

And if you think being self employed/an entrepreneur/owning a business is
going to make you free, you're confusing hard work and stress with Fuck You
money.

~~~
away
I don't think that being free as the opposite of hard work.

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atarian
My reasons:

    
    
       * Benefits
          * 401K matching
          * Health insurance
          * Stock options
       * Perks
          * Food
          * Special discounts with corporate partners
          * Training/classes/conferences
          * Transportation
       * Wide-scale impact
       * Salary 
       * Stability
       * Brand recognition

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jasondrowley
Simple:

1) Some people like following rules, not making them. 2) Financial stability
and job security.

My personal observation: I think the set of people who like working in large
corporate structures overlaps significantly with the set of people who really
enjoyed the structure and orderliness of school.

~~~
codeslush
I disagree with point (1) and only somewhat agree with point (2).

For point 1 - I definitely don't like rules, and I have found that if you
create enough value, you get away with making your own rules and can come very
close to having a feeling of running your own business.

For point 2 - in the high tech industry, you can make as much, or more, income
without the uncertainty of self employment/own business. Running a business is
HARD. I tried it, for many years, and ultimately failed (well, I failed
financially, but learned a hell of a lot - so not a complete failure). Perhaps
I was in the wrong business, but I simply didn't enjoy the non-technical
aspects of it, which consume the majority of your time. The ROI wasn't there -
not for me. Not every business is going to make you rich - in fact, most of
them will not. I can't say I've given up permanently, but I have gone back to
the corporate world for now and do not regret it. I disagree with the job
stability portion of this point - you have ZERO job stability when you work
for someone else. I firmly believe you have more stability working on your own
than for a vast majority of companies. The concept of job security is a false
sense of security.

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dholowiski
I've done both. Currently I'm working for a company. The one awesome, amazing
thing is that on the 15th and end of the month I get a paycheque, and it's
always the same. After taxes, that money's all mine, to do anything I want
with. Also I get _paid_ to take vacation, and it's strongly encouraged.

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chrisbennet
I've done both. I liken entrepreneurship to owning a race team. I'd rather
"drive the race car" and let the team owner deal with everything else.

