Tis the season of gratitude and as entrepreneurs we at Laptop Lounge feel especially grateful for the lives we’ve chosen. So when faced with doubting relatives gorging on cranberry chutney, roast turkey, and pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving; the ones who shake their heads at you with tsk, asking why you don’t get a “real job,” here are seven great reasons:
1. Entrepreneurs get to work WHERE we want. No cubical-nation for us! We work at home, the coffee shop, on a beach, by the pool, or a workspace that offers a coworking environment, like Laptop Lounge. Many of us are mobile and we LOVE IT!
2. Entrepreneurs get to work WHEN we want. Lori Greiner, of Shark Tank fame, claimed, “Entrepreneurs are willing to work 80 hours per week to avoid working 40 hours a week.“ While no one can deny small business owners are some of the hardest working people around, the fact is we get to choose which 80 hours of each week we’re going to work. (How’s that for a “real job” Uncle Charlie??”) We love our flexibility and freedom!
3. Entrepreneurs can WEAR what we want. How many Nine to Fivers do you know who can show up in fuzzy Garfield slippers, boxers, and the souvenir t-shirt from a frat party 15 years ago? Unless we’re meeting clients, our work wardrobe is entrepreneur-casual!
4. No one is bossing us around! When we work, how long we work, the job we do, how we get the job done – the decisions are ours to make!
5. As entrepreneurs, we are the masters of our own fate. As our own boss, we control the future of our business. Our only limitation is our mindset.
6. We can pick and choose our colleagues and clients. Remember working for someone else and dealing with the client from hell or the associate who just wouldn’t pull their own weight? Well, NO MORE! The beauty of entrepreneurship is that we can say NO to that client we don’t want, or the collaboration we just know won’t be a good fit.
7. We live life on our own terms! It doesn’t get much better than that!
Americans are giving thanks for family, friends, health, accomplishments, and triumphs. As entrepreneurs, we can add the victories and learning experiences of our businesses to the list. And at Laptop Lounge we can add gratitude for all our wonderful entrepreneur members who have defied the norm, struck out on their own and chose to join the Laptop Lounge coworking community. Thank you!
