I'm pretty sure that most of us will probably come up with the common consensus of reasons for what makes it great to run a business of our own - such as not having to answer to a boss and being in charge of our own schedules and actions, etc.
At the same time, however, I know that as bosses, it's often difficult to vent because we are almost never allowed to show weakness and frustration. That said, it's why I love having online forum communities such as these to be free from all the constraints that we'd usually have in the offline world, so I am going to maximize this advantage and I also urge you guys to do the same. I also think it would be kind of therapeutic not only to speak our minds but also to hear about other people's experiences as well, and maybe even some newbies who are thinking of making the jump can learn a thing or two from our miseries too to aid in their decision on whether or not they should transition.
Anyway, I'll start, and again, I still love having my own business, so don't get me wrong, but of course there are bound to be some downsides here and there and here is mine:
What I hate the most about starting a business is exactly that, which is starting. First of all, I hate paperwork and formalities, and if only I could have skipped it all and skipped right on ahead to the middle wherein my only problem would be maintaining and growing the business, I most definitely would have done so. I also hate that I lacked knowledge and all the confusion I had at first, basically getting my answers from making multiple mistakes and doing things the hard way due to inexperience, not to mention the money I lost in making those mistakes, albeit not being that much, fortunately.
Mostly, I just hated the paperwork part, really - and everything else that was necessary to make my business official including applying at banks and going to our mayor's offices and having to go back and forth just to get my papers filed. It was so grueling and for someone like me who really hates filing papers, it was almost enough to make me not want to go through with it.
So, how about you guys, which is the part you hate/dislike most about starting and maintaining a business?
