I have many friends who are employed, mostly it seems by large corporates or the government, through jobs in teaching, the health service or other government departments. They all seem fairly happy with their lot, most of them don’t earn huge amounts of money, but seem happy with the (perceived) job security, paid holidays and pension scheme.

I have first hand experience of going through a business failure and seeing how it affects one’s personal finances, not to mention one’s private life! It’s because of this experience that I have been through that I am able to see beyond the immediate reality of job security and see that actually, most people’s jobs or business’s (if self employed) are not that secure.

What strikes me is that so many people seem to get lulled into a false sense of security simply because they have money flowing into their bank account each month in the form of wages. If they were to think a bit more about the process of having a job and getting paid each month and just how delicately balanced their finances are upon this (perceived) constant, they might come to the conclusion that in reality, having a job allows them to remain just over broke, in so much that they have enough money each month to pay all their bills, have a bit of money and save a small amount.

I certainly won’t take credit for Just Over Broke, this is a well known acronym used by many enlightened people to describe the futility of having a job, I think I first read it in a Robert Kiyosaki book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

If I were to go and get a job, I would spend my whole time worrying about money, because I would know that the money I was earning could potentially run out at any point, of course I would have one month’s notice, but it would still be a worry for me.

The only thing that would stop me from worrying if I had a job would be the knowledge that I had paid off my mortgage, but that’s a long way off from happening…So what is the answer then? In my opinion, the answer is to shun the perception of job security and accept a much higher (perceived) level of risk and start your own business. This is what I am pursuing, and so far I’ve had 7 years of trials and tribulations, some great times along the way and some downright awful times as well.

It has been a steep learning curve, but as I embark on what is my third business startup, I can reflect back on the previous two businesses dispassionately and avoid the mistakes made and identify risks that went unnoticed in the previous attempts at financial freedom.