Running a business isn’t for everyone. Some people are scared to death of it — the work, the responsibility, the investments. Others are just comfortable in their jobs and don’t want to leave. Some think that they are so far in debt they feel they can’t afford to take the risk of running a company that might fail.

These are all valid concerns. In my opinion, running a company isn’t for everyone. Not everyone’s brain is wired that way. I would venture to say that most people’s brains are wired that way at birth, but get unwired through the American education system. But that’s not really the point of this post.

What I’m really trying to get at is the fact that it’s not for everyone, but I still think you should give it a shot. In my opinion and experience, running a company and making money for yourself is much better than working for someone else to make them more money. In fact, that was my first clue that I needed to be out on my own.

At the time, I was working for a large, international corporation as a software engineer. I wrote a program that would save thousands of man-hours of work every year, making an entire warehousing operation more efficient. I thought to myself, “I wrote this program that is going to make this company more money, and I get paid how much?”

I didn’t get paid much. Not enough, at least. It was at that point that I knew I needed start my own company. Doing what? I had no idea. I just knew that I needed to do something.

Not everyone gets that feeling. Some people have, quite honestly, great jobs. Jobs that give them a fat paycheck and loads of personal satisfaction. If you fit into that group, then maybe running your own company isn’t the right step for you.

But I do still think you should give it a try. A little something on the side, if you have a little time and a little energy, can add some nice padding to your bank account. You might love your job, but if you can find some way to monetize a hobby of yours, then you can start a side business and earn extra money. If you live in America, you could always use some extra cash. The price gas, health care, and everything else that is out of control won’t cause so much stress with extra money.

Running a company is right for me. Though it’s not the sense of “I’m the boss!” It’s more a case of seeking personal freedom and satisfaction. I want to work on my projects that make money for my company. Additionally, I value the needs and accomplishments of the individual over those of the team. I’m also a very self-motivated, independent person. One thing I’ve noticed about corporate America is that they don’t care much for self-motivated, independent people. A manager looks for a good employee more often that a driven individual. At least as far as I have observed, that is.

Now that I’ve taken the plunge to working for my company full time, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sure, it’s hard, and I have to work far too hard, way too often. Sometimes I don’t know if an invoice will be paid, or from where I’m going to drum up new clients. They usually just land in my lap by chance (higher power?), and then I work with them while looking for more clients.

I work for myself, and it’s almost everything I thought it would be. Almost everything because I still have to travel to the job site for my current big project. I would rather do the work from my own home office, but we can’t have everything all the time, can we?

What type of person are you? Do you fit in a job best, or should you start your own company? Do you love your job, hate your current job, or hate any job you’ve ever had? What about personal satisfaction? There’s more to work than money, after all. If there is anything inside that head of yours telling you that you might be better off on your own, maybe you should listen.

That voice in your head might be right.