The Advantages of Being a Micro-Entrepreneur

We and countless other micro-entrepreneurs have a few things in common. We’ve by and large rejected the “employee” track, where our jobs and livelihoods are subject to the whims of the economy, corporate restructuring and changes in management. (I was the victim of “management reorganization” at my last full-time job, which ended in 1999. Never again.) Now, we swallow the risk on our own, win, lose or draw. But the difference is, as micro-entrepreneurs with low overhead—most of us work from home offices—and little monetary investment in our businesses, our risks are lower (than say, getting fired from a high-paying job on which we are totally dependent) and the potential for rewards much, much higher.

Read Related: Yes, I Work From Home, But I’m a Professional!

According to Fast Company, the online magazine for progressive business, the appeal of micro-entrepreneurship isn’t just the avoidance of the corporate axe. Using talents or assets as a base for business allows micro-entrepreneurs to:

• Follow their hearts by working in fields they love.

• Have the flexibility to work from home, take care of their kids, and get to the gym for that 3pm Pilates class without having to clock out.

• Keep their minds and lives enriched by learning new skills, making new contacts and forging new partnerships. (For example, I just learned SEO Search Engine Optimization] writing for the Internet this year—a year ago I’d never heard of the term.)

• Be creative by directing their own businesses, using their own creative skills and ideas, and not having to follow a corporate mold.

• MAKE MONEY There’s nothing wrong with that!

When colleague and fellow micro-entrepreneur Lorraine C. Ladish first urged me to start blogging and learn SEO, she told me, “The Internet is where the jobs are.” For us creative types, it’s the absolute truth. And to that, I add that entrepreneurship, and particularly micro-entrepreneurship, is the where the jobs are too—jobs that we create and control ourselves.