Are you considering starting your own business? Or maybe you don’t really think it’s all that necessary. There are numerous potential benefits to being a business owner. Keep scrolling to read about some of them.

Plan B

The global economy is volatile and having only one stream of income is risky. I’ll use my dad as an example. Somewhere along the line he managed to land a middle management job at a national corporation. This was his big break in life after having grown up in a remote rural village. While working at that job he was able to own two homes. He could afford to send his children to private school and go on some family vacations. He probably believed he was financially secure for life.

Then around the time of the 2008 financial crisis he lost his job. What immediately ensued were his desperate attempts to find new employment, his scramble (in vain) to try to start his own successful business, and his abrupt move to another country to look for work where he was forced to change careers more than once. Eventually (fortunately) he was hired for a middle management job at an information technology services company. The whole ordeal was not great for a child to have to watch their dad go through.

His experience losing his job was unfortunately not unique. According to sky.com 3.7 million employees were made redundant in the United Kingdom between 2008 and 2013. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the unemployment rate in the UK rose from 5.5% in the first quarter of 2007 to 8% in the first quarter of 2010. During the coronavirus pandemic, unemployment rose from 3.8% in quarter 1 of 2019 to 4.9% in quarter 1 of 2021. And during the current cost of living crisis, unemployment rose from 3.9% in the final quarter of 2023 to 4.7% in the second quarter of 2025.

Undoubtedly, there are risks in waiting for a crisis to attempt to increase your income. Evidently, economic crises happen and fairly frequently at that. It may be wise to research, take calculated business risks and gradually build something of your own when times are good rather than trying to do so when times are not so good.

A solid plan B in the form of a small business may help to tide you over if, heaven forbid, something unforeseen happens to your current state of employment. And if you start a business and find that you end up with more money than you know what to do with, there will always be investments that could be made. For instance, you could invest more in your children and grandchildren’s futures. You could finally follow your lifelong dream or passion. You could do some things on your bucket list. You could also use it to help someone going through a rough patch or someone less fortunate than you.

Purpose

Going back to the story of my dad, once he found this new job, he poured himself into his work. Most of his waking hours were spent working and he had little time for anything else (maybe a pint after work and watching some football). Then came time for his retirement and a few weeks after he retired, he suffered a short illness and died suddenly.

This is not to say that his death was the direct result of his retirement. But, according to a 2013 report by the London-based Institute of Economic Affairs, retirement was shown to increase the chances of depression by 40% and to increase the chances of suffering from a diagnosed physical condition by 60%. Furthermore, a 2017 study in Ageing & Mental Health by Hill and Weston showed a positive link between retirement and loss of sense of purpose. It is not uncommon, therefore, for people to lose their identity once they retire.

Finding something to put your time and energy into, for example building your own business, might be a good idea to help give your life meaning outside of work during your time off, and ultimately one day when retirement comes. It may help to give your life more structure, to help find yourself a new role in society and to help keep your mind and body active.

Independence

I was working at my very first job ever when my dad passed. My manager notified me that he would give me no more than a couple of days off. I remember feeling so surprised by his indifference. He was so cold. So unfeeling. What that experience made me realise was that working for an employer meant that they dictated where I needed to be and when. My life had to revolve around their targets, timetables and rules, and I needed their permission to go deal with a personal emergency, mourn a loss, recover from an illness, attend a celebration, and so on.

All this is not to say that my boss was a villain. Businesses exist to make money after all. If a company allowed everyone to take as much time off as they wanted the bottom line would deteriorate. This might defeat the purpose of running the business in the first place. However, my circumstances at the time made me wish I had more autonomy in my own life. I wanted to have more say over when I could take a break to care for my physical and mental health. I wanted more authority to decide how much time to spend with people I care about. And I wanted more control over whether I could take time to deal with the life events that will invariably arise. All are things that running one’s own business could potentially make possible.

Conclusion

This is not advice to quit your day job. That probably isn’t a good idea. However, if your situation allows, looking into building your own business could be a wise use of your time. It could potentially increase your earnings, give you the freedom to set your own hours and keep you active in retirement, among many other benefits.