To me freelance just means that I work all the time.

Yes, this. BUT I'm generally doing it in my home, with no one dictating what I wear, how loud I play music or my hours. I get into flow states when I'm working; don't eat, don't sleep, leave me alone, whenever I want. As long as I make deadlines and produce, that's all that matters.

And I am SO MUCH HAPPIER for it. I just need more clients. Or more expensive projects. But I'm getting there!

ita !, ITA (hee, that always cracks me up) -- I doubt I will ever get big enough to need an employee. MAYBE a VA someday. MAYBE. But s/he will be a freelancer, too, and not a salaried employee.

It is stressful but I also find it rewarding.

I don't mind the other parts of it (I'm now remembering that being a manager can be rewarding if you have decent management yourself), but I lack the confidence to take risks on behalf of other people.

It certainly isn't something I would have guessed I'd be doing. In fact had you asked me ten years ago if I'd have a company with employees I probably would have laughed. It is tough taking risks knowing that other people rely on my decisions, but there's an upside. I'm now in the position to try to always do things the way I think a company ought to behave. All the things that were done to me over the years working for someone else that I didn't like, it's now my job to not do them that way.

It's a pretty big thing for me, and it's one of the things I cherish about having a company. I may eventually fail at it, but if I do, I will have failed on my terms, trying to do the right thing. So far I've been growing. Despite a down economy I've seen growth every year for the past 4 years. I have one full time employee and about 20 people who are casual/season labor. I pay 100% of the healthcare for my full timer, and I've committed to always making sure his salary at minimum adjusts each year for the cost of inflation (I refuse to call that adjustment a raise, it isn't, it's a mathematical adjustment to keep his earnings flat) and so far I've been able to do that and give him an annual raise.

It isn't easy, but I'm lucky, and I love it. Oh, and it is stressful. Lean times mean that it hurts for me and for the people that depend on me. But it also means that they take care of me when they can. When I was in the hospital for a month it was the middle of the single busiest time of year for me, and the people that work for me made it their mission to make sure the event came together without a hitch. They also shielded me from any problems so I could just worry about getting well. I take care of them, and they take care of me.

So you're doing something you love and doing it superbly, you've hired good people and treat them well and they reciprocate. yay!

The hair salon I go to, the owner was diagnosed with lymphoma back in October. He wasn't able to work, so the only other stylist, the receptionist, and the shampoo lady kept it running. Some customers were sent to other salons, they brought in a colorist who was between jobs and, when he's able to go back to work full time (he's able to work part time now), he'll still have a salon and customers.

I take care of them, and they take care of me.

Damned hippie socialist.

I have been only doing the small business thing for 15 months. It still scares me because while I love it, the responsibility, both to my kids and employees, is huge. But I love the work and it allows me the flexibility to be who I want, be more involved with my kids, and run a company the way I think it should be run. Like ND, I truly value the chance to be ethical in both the law and the business. The crazy thing is that, also like Drew, my business is growing. I think it comes from really hard work but also treating people right.

Eta:

Damned hippie socialist.

I love this part. J and D are working so hard while I am out with Sammy. I could never have asked/expected the level of work they are currently doing but they will take care of me and vice versa (i do now with little stuff) when the time comes.

It's mind-boggling to me how many managers think employees can't be trusted and you have to ride them every moment to get work out of them. Whereas if you back off, they'll do the work you ask of them.

I don't think I'm cut out to be a boss, I like being a worker bee. Most times.

My new nano came! Damn it's small but it has so many cool features including a pedometer thingy. Only problem is I can't find the dock connector. I saw it the other day and put it some place...but now I can't find it and I need to charge this sucker.

The FedEX driver wasn't too thrilled with my note and got a little defensive, but I told him I was here Thursday and didn't realize someone was knocking at my door until it was too late and I really didn't want to drive down 40 minutes to go pick this thing up.

Whereas if you back off, they'll do the work you ask of them

Not all of them, by a long shot.

I don't think this means you shouldn't treat your employees like individuals with individual work ethics, or that some benefit of the doubt is a respectful place to start from, but there are a not-inconsiderable number of people who aren't invested in getting done what they should be doing in the particular job they hold.

Key thing is to not hire them for that job, if you have the control.

First day without PB. So peaceful. So nice. People just working, doing their thing, chatting but not slacking. Definitely the right decision. He was a fractal peg in a round hole, or something. The rest of the crew hung with him this weekend, and it sounds like he's coming around to realize that it might not be the worst thing ever, and may try and stay in the city.

I thought I'd come home and make modified BLTs tonight... but I have no bacon. So then I thought, well, I'll scramble up some eggs and add tomato and fresh herbs and such... but I have no eggs. I don't know how that happened - I *distinctly* remember looking at eggs on the shelf yesterday. I guess I never actually picked any up? So now it's looking like hot dog or cheese toast with tomato. Woo hoo.

Either I'm getting more absent-minded or I need to check the attic access and see if my mentally ill sister is living up there. Actually, if she was a) I'd be psyched since that would mean she's out of my folks' house and b) my house would for sure be lots cleaner. She wouldn't just unpack some cds, she'd do some serious organizing.