To not understand why some people are so against employment?

[MilkyYay]

I'm on a local whatsapp group and we have a few people on there who are badly struggling (financially) but continue to pursue only various "businesses" or self employment options and will not consider any form of job working for an employer.

Its really hard to know how to respond, two in particularly will regularly message the group asking what we think of their latest "business venture idea" and they are always terrible. Poorly thought out, based on what's easy rather than what there's a demand for, often complete copycat of things there are already several of. They will try out something new every 4-6 months and fail "because of the economy", while also saying how skint they are. Not mlm either.
Things like:

• buying and reselling items on vinted at a mark up
• buying very cheap knock off kids items (character tat mainly) on amazon & reselling it on market stalls
• making bog standard candles & trying to sell for high prices
• getting t-shirts and jumpers printed with fairly naff slogans and selling at high prices

Am i missing something? What's so bad about getting an ordinary job? What's so appealing about this sort of buy/sell "business" as a main occupation? There are a lot of jobs around where we live & a massive range of flexible options - several childcare providers offering school hours jobs, lots of evening and weekend, choices of full & part time options are available.

I think you're being a bit unfair on people - their ideas may suck but there are plenty of reasons to prefer self employment, as listed by @malificent7 for example.

I'll admit, it's not for me, I got quite annoyed when I was made redundant years ago & some people seemed to act like obviously I should be looking to set up my own business, when there's barely anything less suited to me than doing that!

That's all good and well in theory and I think that is what attracts lots of people to this.

In practice, however, this is fantasy. Being a business owner is absolutely brutal. Everything starts and ends with you and you are responsible for everything and everyone.

You don't get to knock off at 6 to be with your kids. You don't get to take sick days or holiday until you're comfortably breaking even etc. You have to work hardest at the times of year when most people are chilling, partying etc. If you recruit anyone to help you you have to manage all the payroll, tax etc.

I think people have wildly unrealistic expectations, start a "hobby" business because they think it will be more relaxed and then quickly realise that the difference between wanting to be an entrepreneur and actually making a living from it is huge.

The closest I can equate the mindset to is when I first left home to go to university. After I finished, instead of going back home, I moved into a really grotty and very expensive (for me) bedsit, because I suspected I would have had difficulty living under someone else’s rules and would have seen it as a retrograde step in life.

The reality is it was terrible. However, not only did the reasons above still apply, but to go back would also have meant admitting I’d made the wrong decision in the first place. So I stuck with it for a year until I made my escape.

@DomesticShortHair I did the same, and it would have been a wrong move. My parents still treated me like a child. We needed a few more years before they treated me like an adult.

So although it’s a different problem, in reality the issues are the same. Whether it’s living or working under a set of rules, having already made the mental and physical leap away from them, is difficult to do, and probably wouldn’t end well either.

I somewhat agree about the resellers... and I am one! I also have a full time job at an organisation, and I only buy, curate and resell (and clean/restore most of the time) very niche things that I know will be worth my selling price. Sadly the reseller market is currently saturated with people who sell tat at a cheeky markup because they read about it somewhere and think it's easy money. They normally don't last long - if you want to make a real go of it, you need to put a lot of time and effort into researching, cleaning and photographing for starters.

Overall I get why there's a cultural movement towards working for yourself. People are sick of being exploited in the workplace, and Covid helped us all understand that life is precious and the 9-5 workday model isn't healthy or sustainable.

Benefit fraud.

An employee's earning will show up and reduce UC by 55p in the pound earned.

If they get cash in hand money and don't declare it they'll still get their full UC.

If they are carers on carers allowance they aren't even allowed to earn more than c £120 pwk!

Frequently it's people who can't actually take employment requiring regular hours.

A carer for a child with disabilities for example. The child goes to school, so they have some free time but they're frequently off sick or needing to be picked up early so they're not reliable.

Or someone who is chronically ill. They might well be well enough in the good periods to meet the DWPs capability assessment but every minor illness knocks them on their ass requiring time off work, so absence procedures result in them getting sacked.

I am self employed and have been for 12 years. For me it’s the flexibility, I do several different things but if I was employed I would have to choose one. It also means I can work term time only and I can set up my working week as I see fit. I also make twice as much as I would doing the same role employed, and if I need more money then I can put in more hours. I am still accountable to managers and clients however but I can choose what I do and when I do it.

I agree about the Vinted resellers... And I

Whoops, my phone tried to post an older draft, sorry!

I know the group of people you probably mean OP, but please, don't lump them and the useful and active self employed trades together...also, good grief, lol at the idea that the self employed sit around taking time off whenever. Our alarm goes off at 6 and DH works 7 full days a week as demand for his services/skills is increasing, almost impossibly so, despite the economic downturn. Our problem is finding anyone reliable/skilled and presentable enough he could employ to take some of the strain. Lastly, hah bloody hah at not needing to
'take orders' from people. His clients are absolutely the pickiest and most demanding you could meet. His practical skill, 30 years experience and ability to behave incredibly professionally is what keeps him in demand and has fed and clothed his family all this time.
He's the most hardworking man I've ever met.
Grrr. Rant over.

I can see that some people might find that their employment options don't work around caring responsibilities etc so are trying to find a way to make a bit of money. And the people I know who run a 'proper' self employed business work incredibly hard- but I know that's not really what OP's getting at.

I know a few people who really believe that their future lies in some as yet undefined 'business'. They have no specific business idea, or special skill set but they read lots of books about how to make a million on the internet etc. A family member who is like this has told me that he does not want to get a full time job because that would leave no time for coming up with the next business idea so by working in a mundane job he will lose out on the change to find the one idea that would have worked and started his multi-million pound empire. All his ideas are about buying cheap tat and selling it on for £££. He remains convinced that if he keeps trying he will one day find the one item that makes his fortune.

if a twit like Elon musk can be a self-made billionaire surely anyone can do it?

Yes, I'm just on hold to my diamond-mining father based in apartheid South Africa. Hopefully when I get through I can get him to transfer me that tenner I need for my McDonald's later.

She more likely to be caught in MLM as “coaching” is a very popular cover for a pyramid scheme these days. For every influencer who makes a lot of money there are thousands of bossbabes sharing pastel coloured memes about success while they’re slowly fleeced by which ever MLM they’ve signed up to.