Certainly, but it's far more rewarding than being grist for the mill. You can spend your entire life doing less-hard work, only to wake up at 80 and have nothing to show for it but a bank account that you can't take with you.
Building your own thing is a rough go (13 years deep myself), but hell if I don't wake up most days with a shit eating grin on my face.
> Certainly, but it's far more rewarding than being grist for the mill.
Depends on your goals and your personality.
When I list the things I want to achieve in my life, working for myself drastically reduces the likelihood of achieving those things - unless my own business makes enough money for me to retire in a few years (extremely unlikely).
> You can spend your entire life doing less-hard work, only to wake up at 80 and have nothing to show for it but a bank account that you can't take with you.
Amusingly enough, I feel it's even more acute when you work for yourself:
"You can spend your entire life working hard for yourself, only to wake up at 80 and have nothing to show for it but a (tiny) bank account that you wouldn't want to take with you."
At least when you work for someone else (at about 40 hours a week), there's room for hobbies.
I recall a friend of mine - a local inventor (he had a PhD and kept building things, trying to make products out of them, etc). In his mid 50's, he had invented a lot, but his only success was that the business didn't go under. He qualified for food stamps, and hadn't taken a vacation in over a decade. He never had time for a meaningful relationship. He cut his losses and took a regular job. He misses doing deep technical work, but he's much happier.
Smart guy. I knew younger people who worked for him - did more fun technical stuff than I've ever done for a job. They took the lesson to heart and got regular jobs eventually, as well.
Out of curiosity, was he doing work on the side to fund his inventions/research?
I see a lot of entrepreneurs get stuck in the "I have to go all in on this thing I'm not certain will work" vs. "I can do freelance/contract gigs on the side to fund my work and still have a decent standard of living until I prove out my idea(s)."
You're right that it comes down to goals and personality, but if you're in a position where you think a union is going to help save you, you may be better off working on your own thing.
I don't know if he had side work when he started, but by the time I knew him, he didn't. He made enough money to stay afloat and have some (cheap, but smart) employees. By that point he had no time for side gigs.
