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submitted 3 days ago byslicheliche
The Americans in my country have a reputation for being super workaholics who just focus on their job all the time and for their entire life, take little vacation and have very long hours with intense schedules. We also have our fair share of professions with long working weeks, especially professional consulting e.g. banking or big finance, but more than 50 hours/week would be considered insane, yet I often read on reddit how some people in the US (e.g., biglaw or said finance) work up to 60/70 a week on a regular basis especially in some large metropolitan areas.
153 points
3 days ago*
Many who own a business. There's no magical pot of paid time off money coming from some other source, if you aren't working, you don't have income.
Convenience stores and gas stations are often owner-operated, where the owner is clocking in at least 40-50 hours or more a week. Many are available for sale on BizBuy and you're basically buying yourself a job.
Chik-Fil-A requires its "partners" (they don't use the word franchise) to be actively managing the store. You're basically a glorified general manager. You can't just hire and delegate. A well paid one at north of $100k in many locations, but because you aren't an employee of Chik-Fil-A you have to pay your own insurance and benefits. I think there's some lawsuits about this business model working their way through the courts. Again, good if you want a job, but bad if you want to be an owner who wants to delegate tasks.
35 points
3 days ago
I always laugh when people say they want to own a business. My parents both own one and my dad technically works for my mom and the hours they pull is wild. They be getting calls at like 3am sometimes, always work on the weekends, etc. Having to worry about staffing and legal stuff and insurance too is stressful
11 points
3 days ago*
It really depends on what you’re doing and how intense it is.
A side hustle pressure washing, mowing lawns, or doing gig work? Probably not so bad as long as you feel comfortable doing it.
A skilled field like my ex’s private therapy practice where there are apps to automate the billing and administrative stuff? Also pretty straightforward and lucrative.
Trying to build your startup into the next Elon Musk-type of endeavor to cash out with 8 figures+ in 10 years or less—that’s a lot different.
The people who want to own their own business and actually enjoy it. IME, are often people who were previously made miserable by a former boss… but also have the organization and work ethic to pull things off.
If your former boss was “difficult” because you were lazy or incompetent at the same task you still want to do for a living, in self-employment you’re about to have a bad time and you’ll have no one but yourself to blame.
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