I am taking my business to scale. Doing so requires taking my operating systems into a replicable, low-time consumption process. This has been extremely detailed work that does not directly create pay. It has been grueling. But created a level of appreciation for those who choose to be employees.
All this work, for no compensation, for the mid-to-immediate future. At that point I realized why being employed may not be that bad. These last 4 months have provided a strong contrast about why and how capitalism works.
I can see why someone would pick to be an employee IF given the information to make that decision responsibly. Previously I thought under every circumstance the employee life was self-imposed serfdom.
I now find it an acceptable choice because the entrepreneur and the employee only exist because they are co-dependent on each other.
And like all animosity between different factions, it stems from miscommunications and a lack of empathy for the struggles, and rewards, of the other’s choices relative to their values and needs.
Anxiety
Having a creative solution to people’s problems is a tenant of entrepreneurship. To push your product to market is to put yourself on the chopping block for society to judge your abilities.
With that, you pour your soul into the solution. Your business becomes a child that you nurture towards success and sustainability. However, as success becomes imminent, as does annihilation.
Pushing your product to market can feel like you are voluntarily and knowingly marching yourself to a firing squad.
Humans are stress/discomfort-avoidant creatures.
The level of discomfort created by this paradox will manifest in many stress-relieving and/or dopamine-producing behaviors: Procrastination, masturbation, chasing girls, working out, cleaning, etc.
Competitive swimming is the ultimate delayed gratification sport where as early as 12, athletes learn to work for success that is targeted to occur a total of 10-days per 365 days.
The psychological stress of a capitalist’s delayed gratification is unparalleled.
Income-In & Income-Out
Entrepreneurship operates under the additional tenant that if a business would pay you a wage to work for them, you are worth more than the wage. Because if you were paid your worth, there would be no profit. As a result, entrepreneurship allows you to collect your full value.
So why don’t more do it?
In January of 2021, my business was earning $300/mo. In November I signed my first team increasing my revenue to $10k/mo, it was a beautiful thing to be more of my entire value versus my previous coaching job earning $3.7/mo.
But making the push toward $100k/mo was going to require placing income into streamlining my operating systems. This reduced my profit to $4k/mo, coupled with inflation, it felt like making $3k/mo.
I was broke again, but now I am doing 10k work and making what feels like 3k.
With that said, what is better:
- 3k/mo working 100 hours/week
or - 7k/mo working 40 hours per week
If you give people looking for employment the choice between option ‘a’ vs ‘b’, and consider that option ‘a’ can continue for an undetermined length of time. Having more than double the free time, to enjoy life with 3-times the money, is one hell of a deal.
Rites of Passage
I wrote a post about the need for men to have rites of passage.
I believe that even more after this week.
Putting myself through this rite of passage has put me under a great deal of anxiety. But, it took this particularly unusual high-stress week to cultivate a breakthrough solution to all the things creating this psychological pressure. Similarly, there have been 3-significant other high-stress situations that forced my evolution during entrepreneurship—homelessness, and starvation twice.
Thanks to choosing the entrepreneurship path, I have developed an understanding of the choice to be an employee. The stress is not worth it to live a fulfilling life. As such I view choosing to be an employee as acceptable bordering on respectable.
As a competitor, I do not find it respectable for a man to choose to be less than exceptional when they will spend the same amount of time working either way. However, I don’t view it as disrespectful, just as absent of being respectable. But still, I find it an acceptable destination.
Symbiotic Relationship
The entrepreneur-employee relationship is unsustainable without the one-another. However, this has become demonized via a lack of experience, understanding, and empathy for entrepreneurial struggles. Coupled with propaganda demonizing capitalists as thieves and enslavers.
There may be some truth to the propaganda on the Federal-conspiracy-crony-capitalist level. But even then, people are deciding to sacrifice their freedom and earning potential for a stable income.
The employee needs the entrepreneur to provide security of income and handle business-induced stress. Taking less income is worth having more free time and increased psychological health.
The entrepreneur needs the employee to trade their earning potential for safety and reduced stress. The increased stress is worth it because they can streamline the operation systems to eventually minimize the stressors.
We need each other.
