A graduate from college these days faces lots of decisions, but one of them is whether to work for a big company or go into business for themselves as a consultant. Of course, with the economy the way it is, more and more people are finding that there is a 3rd solution: do both. If you have a 9-to-5 job during the week, you can always run a little side business on evenings and weekends after work—you just have to be willing to give up things like sleeping and eating.

The big plus of consulting (assuming you’re doing it on your own, rather than working for a consulting giant, which would then qualify as “working for a big company”) is that you get to set your own hours. At least that what people will tell you. The thing is, unless you’re a pretty disciplined type of person, that can come back to haunt you. Because there’s a reason why companies want you to work 9-to-5: that’s when everybody else is working, too. So if you call up your clients at midnight and tell them you have some time available, it’s not very likely you’ll receive a positive response. To say the least.

On the other hand, there’s nothing like the drudgery of a 9-to-5 job to kill every last creative instinct you’ve ever had if it’s a job you loathe. Or even just aren’t very passionate about. Most people who end up working for a firm like IBM or HP do so because they have a passion for the work. But when they see that there is little to no follow-through on a particular product, or that the creative process can involves dozens or even hundreds of people in a corporate environment rather than the creative frenzy of a single individual, these people become discouraged. They require extra coffee to make it in the morning.

So, what’s the solution? First of all, it helps to have realistic expectatations going in. The fact is that most start-ups fail—and that includes your consulting business, too. Understand that it will be a lot of work at first to get things going, and that there will be no one to prod you into doing the work. If you don’t do, no one will—and that can mean the difference between you getting a new client, or the guy down the street getting him. Understand that for a long time, you probably will get paid less (often, a lot less) than someone working at a big company that’s just punching the clock. If you think you’ve got what it takes, and you have a solid business plan put together, go for it.

On the hand, if you’re the kind of person that doesn’t take out the garbage until the worms come, and the dishes pile up in the sink ‘till they’re furry, you might want to look at working for someone else. Assuming you’ve gotten offers from someone else. Because it can actually be very rewarding to put in a hard day’s work and get paid for it at the end of the week. Why else do you think so many people do it?

David Turner enjoys answering students’ questions, for example, what students can expect from a computer technician salary.

Subscribes to this post comment rss or trackback url

 Username (*required)

 Email Address (*private)

 Website (*optional)