Building a Business Allows Me to Redefine Work
It’s no longer about what other people want.
Sometimes, I’d look around at my corporate job and wonder, “What are we even doing?”
The goals weren’t clear. Or the work felt pointless. Or the ask felt impossible with the resources available.
Yet, I played that game for a long time. I spent 17 years in the corporate world, job-hopping for the final two years. Each time, I hoped that my new employer would have its act together more than the last.
But doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. I developed a negative connotation with work.
But eventually, I realized that it wasn’t work I despised. It was working for other people.
The only way to find joy in work was to work for myself.
I know how work ties to business goals.
I spent most of my career at a tech startup. The company veered off-track many times. New features would be developed because of a promise made during the sales process. We’d rush features out the door to match a competitor’s offering. And sometimes, those projects weren’t aligned with the product’s core value proposition.
There were times I’d wonder, “Will we ever see a return on investment for this effort?”
By running my own business, I know how my work aligns with my goals. I can see the impact on my financial statements.
I can spend time on work that doesn’t have a clear throughline to income (such as engaging on LinkedIn), but know that my time there eventually leads to new business.
I’m not doing work that has an unclear outcome.
I’m accountable for my own commitments.
Recently, one of my Facebook “On This Day” posts reminded me that I’d put in a 14-hour day for my employer.
It was crushing to read. While I don’t remember the circumstances, no doubt I was racing to meet some ridiculous deadline. An example of “overpromising” from someone else.
These days, if I overpromise (which I try very hard not to do!) I have no one to blame but myself.
I know that if I can’t meet my client obligations, they won’t trust me and I’ll lose business.
There are times I push myself, but it’s because I want to work harder. I’m building momentum or I see a clear business reason to work harder.
My mission and values are clear.
Ever read a company’s mission statement on its website and think, “What the heck does that even mean?” It’s all fluff, no substance.
Even worse, you work for a company, and its mission and values are completely disconnected from how the company actually operates.
I have a very clear mission for the work I do. I know exactly the type of clients I’m targeting and what I can offer.
I operate by a set of values — and working for myself means I can choose to break up with clients if they don’t align with my values.
Working for someone else meant I often had to put up with terrible clients. Clients with unreasonable demands. Clients that were rude to the customer service team. Clients that needed so much attention, yet paid the company a paltry amount.
As a business owner, one of my values is to protect my time. I set boundaries with clients. I don’t work with terrible people. And since my mission is to create a sustainable business, I pay attention to how much I’m earning versus how much a client is paying me.
Anna Burgess Yang
I can opt out of corporate nonsense.
If I had to think about the number of pointless meetings I’ve sat through in my life, my head would probably explode.
Hours-long planning meetings that didn’t result in an actual decision. Product meetings where the employees bickered. Status update meetings that should have been an email.
On top of that, I’m sure thousands of hours of my life were wasted on office politics. I’ve been working remotely for years so there was no “watercooler talk” but the complaining, whispering, and (sometimes) backstabbing happened via company chat channels or emails. It was part of the corporate game and hard to ignore.
Now, my work life is mostly peaceful. I can sometimes tell that my clients have internal office drama, but I don’t have to participate. I can deliver my work and remain on the outside.
I don’t have pointless meetings because every meeting is costing me time.
While I’m a solopreneur now, I expect to bring on contractors to run parts of my business at some point. My focus will remain clear: we do our work, we respect each other’s work, and we work as efficiently as possible. Leave the drama somewhere else.
I’m working for my own benefit, not someone else’s.
One of the worst feelings I had as an employee was knowing how much an employer was earning compared to how much I was paid.
My work was the direct reason clients increased their investment with the company. Or the reason they signed contracts. What did I see out of that? Very little compared to the money I was earning for the company.
Hard work earned me nothing more than a pat on the back.
Eventually, I became disillusioned. I stopped working hard because it didn’t benefit me in any way. I wasn’t professionally satisfied or rewarded in a way that correlated with my hard work.
Then I realized that I could directly benefit from work: if I became an entrepreneur.
Everything I do benefits me and my business in some way.
I can take on projects I know I’ll enjoy and decline projects that aren’t a good fit. I’m proud of the work I deliver to clients. Everything I do has a purpose and a business goal.
And I’m the one who reaps the rewards.
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