ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS YOUR BACK-UP PLAN

Why should you invest in yourself?

Ever heard of the saying, “if you want something done, do it yourself”? Well, it’s true. Ever asked someone to do something for you, and the result ended up not fulfilling your expectations and request? You ended up frustrated, and annoyed, and then your conscious says firmly, “you should’ve done it yourself.”

You know yourself best, and so only you can truly fulfill what you want. So back to the question, why should to invest in yourself?

1. The job market is just a flimsy

Yes, the job market can be flimsy from time to time, as flimsy as a kitten heel advocate in their 1st pair of cheap 6-inch plastic pumps. I remember looking for a job starting at 13, back in 2004, and not getting a job until I was 17, in 2007. Day after day, month after month of applying, and not getting a thing. But what was consistently available? Myself. I still made money working with my dad and his lawn mowing business, as well as selling lanyard, as well as food and beverages at school. The job that I finally got at 17 working in a retail store, lasted for all of a month, and then I was fired. You want to know what happened after that? I went to college, but I continued my job search and was out of a job again for another 4 years, until 2011. But once again, who was and what was consistently available? Myself. I worked hard online doing market research studies, being a part of market research communities, doing surveys, selling old smartphones, and made $2000+ year, and earned an offer from PayPal, for a business mastercard due to the hard work and diligence of investing into my own freelance ventures, not giving because of a lack of a traditional job, and of course because of the profits I received via PayPal. Sure that’s not a lot, but it’s something. It was the only thing getting me through all those years of not making a single dime from a 9-5 employment. Remember, something is always better than nothing.

2. Jobs are there, but not extinguishing student loan debt*

Working that 9-5 job, that may pay you $10-$12/hr to start, when you have 10s of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, on top of living expenses like your car (if you have a car note), car insurance, rent, utilities, etc. etc. Shoot, this can be especially annoying when you’ve spent years grueling away at trying to acquire your bachelor’s degree, being an honor student, building relationship with professors, and college/university staff, etc., then you finish college and the only career aspects you have are $10-$12/hr positions, as if there weren’t already an onslaught of positions like that before you entered college, and without the need to acquire 50 tons of student loan debt that will sink you to the earth’s core faster than Wile E. Coyote’s Anvil of death for the Road Runner.

You don’t want to just live your life working just to pay bills, but to travel, immersing yourself into the many different cultures of the world and all their unique cuisines, create memories with family members and friends, breathe, buy that new iPhone, or that new OnePlus, Samsung, or Pixel Android smartphone. You know? Live your life, your best life. You have entrepreneurs like Supa cent (real name: Reynell Steward) who made $1 million dollars in just 90 minutes with her, The Crayon Case, make-up line,* and multi-millionaire Malcolm MJ Harris, financial services CEO.* The sky's the limit with entrepreneurship. Potentially less debt, and you get to do what you love EVERY DAY, and have time to do those things on your bucket list. Want to know how beautiful their lives are?

3. Self-employed tax deductions

Many people hate them, and believe they’re tedious. But hey, ever heard of the celebs that are stuck with owing millions to the IRS in back-taxes because their financial person didn’t pay their taxes? Yeah, I know it’s different when you work a standard 9-5, your taxes are taken out of your paycheck for you automatically, but nonetheless, the write offs for being self-employed are pretty amazing. I worked for GrubHub and this year for working about 7 months, I’m set to receive over $2,400 in mileage deductions as generated by the Hurdlr app. That’s not even including other expenses such as write offs for data for using my smartphone for the job, gas cost, etc., if I wanted to do such.There are many business write offs for being a self-employed entrepreneur, you can write off that dress or suit & tie for that business meeting, travel to the business meeting, that new Macbook or HP laptop for your business task. Here’s a list of self-employed deductions via Quickbooks.* It’s nothing like being able to “discount” yourself throughout the year, and to get a nice “cash-back” in your tax refund the next year. It’s like Groupon everyday.

4. Wage ceiling*

Being a postgraduate (almost, still have my internship) and looking for paid internships, part-time, and full-time positions is hell honestly. You have professors telling you, “just wait your time,” “keep at it,” “don’t give up!” After 4+ years…? Yeah, Navient sure ain’t trying to hear that. Then you have LinkedIn articles from previous graduates telling you to take a breather (which obviously you need to, it’s exhausting), but not everyone has the safety net of their parents finances and homes to live off of until their “breaththrough.” 99% of the “golden fish” in the sea, are basically milk duds. All offering to pay me $10-$12/hr after incurring 10s of thousand dollars of student loan debt.

According to my professors in my last year of my college coursework at GVSU, the upgrade cycle for advertising and public relationships professionals is 10-15 years. So imagine having that same pay, and having to work overtime just to get by. It’s not like your merit grants you a higher pay, you’re stuck in that little box, with the same space to...exist,and potentially suffocate for year and years before you have space to actually play, and be ALIVE. No matter how phenomenal your feats and performance are, you’re only able to reach certain heights, and that tends to be reserved after a set period of time. Imagine only having one life to live and having to live with the words, “I can’t afford that,” “can’t do that now,” “not this year,” “wish I could go to that concert,” “not this Black Friday,” “not this Christmas.” Has to suck doesn’t it? Being the cage-bird, with no air to sing, or space to spread your wings. What is it like to be free.

There’s risk in everything we do in this life. There’s risk in love, there’s risk of life, everytime we step outside our front doors, there’s risk in waking up the next day, and there’s risk in maintaining secured employment from that job you have. My mom worked her job in retail at a big department store retailer for 12 years, and was relieved of her position due to a massive credit card hack that was beyond her control. So, why not take a risk in yourself? You have yourselves at the end of the day, and I guess if all else fails, you still have those jobs to apply for. So, it’s worth the try.

*Additional links:

2*:

Jobs are there, but not extinguishing student loan debt - https://www.forbes.com/sites/civicnation/2018/12/14/a-community-promise-regardless-of-borders/#6ee852b12039

Successful entrepreneurs: Supacent - https://www.essence.com/beauty/black-woman-cosmetics-brand-made-1-million-1-hour/

Successful entrepreneurs: Malcom MJ Harris - https://www.essence.com/beauty/black-woman-cosmetics-brand-made-1-million-1-hour/

3*:

Quickbooks self-employed tax deductions - https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/professional/complete-list-of-self-employed-expenses-and-tax-deductions/

4*:

Wage-ceiling - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/01/business/economy/wages-salaries-job-market.html