The Scarcity of Resources and Human Wants
The scarcity of resources insatiable human wants characterizes the world and thus requiring that individuals device optimal means of utilizing the available opportunities to realize growth and success. The enhancement in technological advancement and globalization is revitalizing the world as far as access to goods and services, and opportunities to generate revenue are concerned.
Social Progress and Overcoming Conventional Beliefs
The opening up of economies allowing people to secure employment in foreign countries, international business operation and overseas education is a step towards overcoming the hurdles that limited human capacity in the past. Social progress is attained when members of a community can exercise free-will as far as creativity and exploration of self-capacity are concerned. Infrastructural development, access to capital, prudent regulation and empowerment programs witnessed in nations has allowed people to overcome conventional beliefs including an inclination towards employment that relatively hampered human creativity (Gallagher, 2016).
Analyzing Similarities and Differences
As far as the pursuit of financial success is concerned, the exploration of talent and entrepreneurial skills is changing the revenue earning capacity of many people. However, there are inherent factors that influence an individual's choice of being an employee or embarking on self-employment. This paper will analyze the various similarities and differences between being an employee and pursuing self-employment in order to draw a conclusion on the better alternative.
Similarities: Employee versus Self-Employment
Being employed or in self-employment is guided by the need to attain success in life. In the employment context, creating income is a dominant factor in assessing success. However, elements including fulfilling a purpose, helping others and validating self-worth are inherent in the determination of one's achievement as far as employment is concerned. As an individual decides on an employment avenue to embark on, life goals form the basis of motivation. Pertinent questions on why one is yearning for success as well as the short and long-term goals regarding income and career growth guide in the formulation of an employment chart. Employees in any given organization are motivated by the need to realize career development regarding further studies, experience, job promotion and increased remuneration (In Bilgin\" In Danis, 2016). In the case of a self-employed individual, employment goals include increasing the business' revenue creation capacity, expanding the market share, enhanced service delivery and customer experience. It is therefore evident that the need to attain success guides both being an employee and in self-employment.
The Importance of Willingness and Performance
Self-employment and being an employee is guided by a demonstrated ability and willingness to perform the given employment tasks. In the case of an employee, the employer determines what needs to be done over stipulated periods and the expected results. Employees are always on payroll and employers would want to realize proportionate value creation from the money invested in an employee through remuneration. An employed person would also be expected to understand the job description at his or her disposal and accord the necessary effort to protect employment. In the case of a self-employed individual, the determination of work and effort required is guided by projected revenue and sales targets. The use of forecasting tools including cash flows and break-even analysis allows a self-employed person to understand where and how long he or she is expected to work. It can, therefore, be deduced that both being an employee and in self-employment is subject to unwavering willingness to perform defined tasks.
The Importance of Focus in Employment
The focus is a requirement in being an employee or a self-employed individual. Outlined objectives and performance evaluation procedure allow an individual to remain on track and adjust accordingly to ensure that employment success is attained. In the case of an employee, performance appraisal from the employer coupled with self-assessment ensures prudent progress evaluation. A self-employed individual utilizes business evaluation techniques to monitor general growth, income, and expenses to ensure that appropriate changes and decisions are made to keep the business on its success path.
Contrasts: Employee versus Self-Employment
Flexibility: While an employed person can shift from one employer, department or organization to another easily, a business person may not enjoy the liberty to leave one business for another at will. If an employed person feels the need of a new challenge or fails to adopt the culture in given organization, seeking a new job will only require the presentation of the career credentials to another company with a job vacancy. A businessman is liable to the government, creditors, employees, and customers thus complicating the process of liquidating an established business to pursue another one. Self-employment is an investment where time and money is traded with the aim of earning a profit thus requiring that changing a business need time and precise planning to avoid losses. Therefore, while being an employee is flexible, self-employed people experience rigidity in changing employment.
Employment Protection and Fringe Benefits
Employment protection: employees are protected by the legislative laws that govern labor in the country. Legal employment provisions that guide security of tenure, minimum wage, working time and discrimination ensures that employed individuals are protected from unfounded dismissal from job and poor working environment. Self-employed people are subject to the prevailing market conditions which can favor business or cause losses. Entrepreneurs have no minimum wage requirement or protection from unlawful job dismissal. Security of a self-employed person is therefore reliant on his or her ability to assess the available opportunities, anticipate challenges and take advantage of forthcoming opportunities to boost revenue creation and business sustainability.
Power and Growth Potential
Fringe Benefits: the law accords employees with various benefits including holidays, paid sick leave, retirement plans as seen in the case of 401(k) and health insurance (International Labour Organisation, 2017). In the case of a self-employed person, payment is only available when one works. Small business owners in most cases do not have the luxury to go on long holiday vacations, accord themselves paid sick leaves or subsidized health insurance as seen in the case of employed people. Self-employment thus requires one to sacrifice to create sufficient income and realize growth.
Growth Potential and Conclusion
Power: an employed person is subject to the demands of the employer. In most instances, decision making and policy articulation in organizations involve the shareholders only. An employee is expected to adopt laid down procedures that serve the interest of the employer. In the case of self-employment, decision making and strategy formulation is a mandate of the given individual. One can decide on who to partner with, work rate or expansion plans unilaterally based on personal interests and aspirations. A self-employed person, therefore, enjoys a sense of control which enhances the sense of self-worth as opposed to the case of being an employee where one is a subject to the organization's shareholders.
Unlimited Growth Potential
Growth Potential: the career development and income increment of an employed person are built over time in that salaries are always fixed, and increments and job promotions are always limited. In the case of self-employment, one benefits from the reward and risk principle. Hard work and the adoption of an appropriate business model render the potential of a business limitless. An entrepreneur has the potential of becoming wealthy as opposed to an employee whom despite the level of effort, his or her salary will always remain limited to defined wage rates.
Conclusion
While an employee can enjoy job security, fringe benefits and flexibility in changing employment, the growth potential of the given individual is limited. Also, employees can move from one employment to another, but they are subject to the wishes of the employers. Self-employment, on the other hand, is characterized by risk-taking, increased workload, and responsibility as well as limited flexibility. However, the growth potential of a self-employed person is unlimited with the ability to grow business and become wealthy. Basing on the fact that an individual seeks employment to earn income, impact change and realize self-worth, self-employment is better than being employed. A self-employed person can enjoy decision-making and unlimited growth. Fringe benefits and employment protection enjoyed by employees is addressed through the creation of risk management and business diversification by the self-employed people. Personal attributes which include aggressiveness, creativity, self-discipline, perseverance, and adaptability is a requirement for one to realize success in self-employment. While self-employment is a better alternative, individuals seeking security may opt to be employed.
References
Gallagher, K. (2016). Essential study and employment skills for business and management students. Oxford (GB: Oxford University Press. 2016
International Labour Organisation, (2017). World employment social outlook: Trends. Geneva: International Labour Office, 2017
In Bilgin, M. H., " In Danis, H. (2016). Entrepreneurship, business and economics: Vol. 1. Cham: Springer, 2016
