Are you tired of the cubicles, staring at the hourhand of your wristwatch and hoping it moves faster, downing cups of coffee and staring blankly at the computer screen, refreshing your mailbox and waiting for close of work when you can release yourself from the grip of formal stuck-up clothing, and breathe easy? Are you tired of working without being appreciated, and rather The Man makes you believe that you are not doing enough, and should do more, for him to earn more?
Do you see a better way The Man should run his business? Do you get frustrated by workplace bureaucracy? Do you have that Big Idea, which you don’t want to sell to The Man, and you're sure will you can run with?

If all of the above applies to you, well here is why you should give the middle finger to The Man and step out into the real world.

1. Job security is an illusion. The Man gave you a business card, a customized e-mail address, a telephone line and maybe a cubicle. He also gave you a fancy job title. Well, someone occupied that seat before you did and the same way someone will when you’re gone. You’re disposable to The Man, despite what he may want you to believe. If letting you go will reduce his overhead cost, he is not running a charity, he will fire you no matter how good you are, and hire someone who will earn less and do more. It is not your company, not your inheritance, it is his. But when you work for yourself, you can’t fire yourself, can you? You can change business, and try something else, but you are your best employee.

2. Your input translates into real income for you. When you work for The Man, you can work 8-5, 7-8, 6-8... or as he decides. Your hard work translates into value in The Man’s bank account, and you may get bonus, or as I call it, a Carrot. All in all, your handwork pays him, although you are under the illusion that it pays you. He asks you to improve on your qualification, so your work can earn him more. In fact, he may chose to loan you some money to get further qualified. What you earn more is his. However when you work for yourself, every ounce of energy and effort you add to what you do benefits you directly. Your extra qualification is tailored to suit your business, and will ultimately add value to your bank account.

3. Your income is not dictated by The Man. Let’s face facts, whatever The Man wants you to eat, whatever dress he wants your wife to wear at Christmas, or school he wants your child to go to and the quality of education he wants for your children is up to him. He decides what money you take home, and when you get it. But working for yourself gives you the freedom to decide how you want to live. You know that your success or failure in life is dependent on the level of efforts you put into your business. So failure of your wife to wear that fancy dress she saw on Jumia this Christmas will be your fault, and you wouldn’t want that.

4. You choose your co-workers. The Man decides who you work with, and who cares if you don’t like it. Who cares if you don’t have chemistry with your team-member, you must be a team-player. The Man judges you by how well you wear that fake smile, and how well you pretend to love it here. Your success in life depends on it. Your well-being, and that of your family depends on how well you develop chemistry with that co-worker who you don’t agree with. Interestingly, you don’t have to agree with the co-worker, even with The Man. When you start your own business, you choose who you can work best with and your results will be astounding. You decide how best you work, without for example that pesky supervisor who breathes down your neck and threatens you with her appraisal.

5. Casual Fridays can be all days of the week! That is self explanatory. To hell with dress codes and corporate regulatory jargons. Creativity and conformism don’t mix. You can actually be yourself at work. Whatever you choose to wear, bathrobes with bow-tie, suspenders over your suits, whatever you work best in.

6. You can be richer than The Man. It is true that The Man can increase your take home, and you will be able to buy that fancy dress for the wife and send junior to Grange. What you get is a small fraction of what The Man takes home. Whatever he gives you, you can never be richer than he, and so your earning is capped by his income. He will not pay you more than he earns. If he drives a Honda EOD, you dare not drive a Range Sport. You can’t even afford it. (Even if you could, you still wouldn’t dare). Your children cant go to better schools than The Man's. But why settle for less? You can earn your income and take all profits for yourself, with the same effort (or more) put into working for The Man.

7. The Man was in the same place you are now. He would give you the illusion that working for him is the best option you have at the moment. What he wouldn’t tell you is how he also got frustrated working for The other Man, that he had to leave and voila! Yes, he started off this way too, and thus the big corporation built over the years. He doesn’t have two heads. Chances are, you will do it better than he did.

8. Working for your self is an investment. When you are with The Man, no matter how long you work, you leave with a pat on the back, while someone else takes your seat. The Man tells you to step aside when your energy is drained, and you cannot do same task with the speed and efficiency of your earlier days. So you go home, sit by your balcony and start to think what business you can go into, taking into cognisance your aged body and its limitations. And no matter how hard you work, your child will not inherit that seat. If you die on the job, your family gets your pat-on-the-back, while someone else replaces you. However, when you set up your own company, there is no retirement age and you have a retirement plan. You work and make that money until you want to stop. What is more, you get to step aside for your children to inherit what you have built. Is that not what The Man will eventually do?

9. In other notes:

a. You get to do wild interesting things every day.
b. You feel alive and proud of yourself.
c. The internet will make everything easier.
d. Vacation/family time is unlimited.
e. You can make work fun!
f. You can measure your growth with real value and profits, and not with staff appraisals.
g. Take risks. Not all risks are risky. Get the adrenaline pumping.
h. You can drink at work.

There are many more reasons, dependent on your circumstances. It is not true that all men are not cut out to be entrepreneurs; rather not all men are ambitious.

-Braggante