3 Things That Surprised Me the Most About Running My Own Business

Over a decade ago, I started my own freelance writing business. It has been a very rewarding process and I've been able to grow my income substantially. This, in turn, enabled me to increase my brokerage account balance and my net worth. 

But, while I've loved many aspects of running my own company, I've also been faced with some unexpected surprises. In fact, here are three big things I didn't realize I'd be taking on before I became an entrepreneur. 

1. The amount of time doing mundane tasks unrelated to my actual job

When I started my freelance writing business, I expected I would get to spend my days writing interesting articles about the subjects I am passionate about. And I definitely get to do a lot of that.

But, I also spend far more time than I expected dealing with other stuff that's not directly related to writing. This includes things like figuring out a system to keep track of deadlines, handling accounting issues, and researching equipment and software needed to enhance productivity. I also have to find substitutes for standard workplace benefits like a 401(k) and health insurance, and make sure I'm invoicing properly and keeping up to date with new style guides or other requirements. 

While all of these tasks are necessary to be effective at my job and to ensure I'm running a profitable company, they aren't necessarily very fun. And, I'm continually surprised by how big of a chunk of my time they take up, since my business doesn't seem at first glance like one that would be heavy on the administrative tasks.

The reality is, whenever you run a business, you won't just be able to spend all day providing the product or service -- you actually have to take care of running the business too. It's important to be ready for that both in terms of the time commitment and learning what admin tasks you'll actually need to take care of. 

2. The added cost of tax compliance

I expected filing my taxes to become a little bit more complicated once I owned my own business. But, things ended up being a lot more complicated. Not only do I have to pay estimated taxes, but I also have to file business tax returns since I run my business as an S-corporation. 

I have had to pay for a payroll service to handle some of my IRS obligations and an accountant to handle others, and together the costs of these services add up to more than $1,000 annually. That's a lot of extra money for a small business owner to pay. 

3. The pressure I felt to work more hours

Finally, once I became responsible for running my own business, I ended up being surprised by how much pressure I put on myself to always be doing more. Since I'm in direct control of my income, I'd find myself thinking it wasn't worth it to watch that TV show or read that book when I could just work an extra hour and make more money. 

I've had to put some limits in order to regain work/life balance, but it took some practice and a change in mindset to get to the point where I wasn't just focused on working all the time to make my business a success.

If you're starting your own company, you may face similar surprises -- or other unexpected challenges of your own. The good news is, I'm still really happy running my company despite these issues, and hopefully you will be too.