Carissa Gordon

Five Things No One Tells You About Being the Boss (That Are Actually Kind of Important) Everyone thinks that having their own business would be a fun adventure into not having to wake up at 7 AM to take the bus to work, listen to the boss bitch about projects they haven’t completed, and chat with co-workers they absolutely loathe. Everyone is wrong. So, before you get all excited and start writing up your business plan and hiring employees, keep these things in mind. 1. You still have a boss. Many, actually. Okay, so you don’t actually have a boss. The problem is that pretty much everyone becomes your boss. Your employees, clients, banking representatives, lawyers, etc. Yeah. Those people all just became your boss. You thought you were your bosses bitch before. Well, congratulations. Now, you’re everyone’s bitch. 2. Being the boss doesn’t exempt you from the commute. Yeah, sorry buddy. You still have to actually show up at work. Actually, you have to show up earlier and leave later. I mean, there will be some nights where you sleep under your desk shaking from the twelve energy drinks you consumed to make it through the last eighty hour work week. But usually you still have to come and go to work. 3. The co-workers still suck. I’m going to let you in on a secret. Just because you’re in charge of people, that doesn’t mean they suddenly become cooler. You know those people you hate having to work next to? Like the guy that chews with his mouth open, or that girl that cleans her fingernails over top her desk and then brushes all the nasty fingernail-dirt onto the floor for the janitor to sweep up (or at least you hope)? Yeah, you still have to actually work with those people. But now, you also have to listen to their excuses twelve times a week about why they were late to work, or why their performance has been down, or why they just can’t stop wiping their boogers on the bathroom wall. Yeah. Good luck with that. 4. You’re a lot worse than any other boss you’ve ever had. Here’s the thing. When your boss is a dick to you, he has to at least pretend to be a little polite, for the most part, if he wants you to keep working for him. You know who really is a dick to you? You are. Trust me, being the boss of yourself is like fighting with your worst enemy every day for twelve to sixteen hours. Because you started a business, so deep down you must really hate yourself. 5. Everything is your fault. You know what’s great about being an employee? You can always push the blame onto another employee, or onto some malfunctioning machinery, or onto the refrigerator that makes that weird noise every half hour on the dot. However, when you’re the boss, literally everything is your fault. Products didn’t get finished because one of your employees is consistently tardy? You should have vetted your employees better before hiring them. Accountant put a transaction in wrong and caused a company-wide panic? Yeah, you probably should have spent more time training her. Or at least hired someone with an actual degree in accounting. And that weird noise the refrigerator makes? You probably should have called somebody about that like three months ago. Being the boss isn’t all it’s made out to be. The truth is, being a boss kind of sucks sometimes. It’s also awesome at times. You have to take the good with the bad. But you should at least be completely prepared before you pull out that revolving line of credit to start your small business. Make sure it’s something you’re honestly passionate about.