This is my first post on this website and I thought to discuss the importance given to jobs in India. I belong to middle class family and most of family members had been in jobs only. Fortunately (for them) , they are in government jobs and thus continuing with the same job profile for years. For instance, my father has completed about 38 years of service this year. As such, I was always told to study hard so that I can get a decent job and live a stable life. I did study well (was above average in school and college). After my college I joined a private company as well. Initially, I enjoyed working there though my salary was quite low (happens with almost everyone :). Thereafter, I left the job as I started getting bored there. Now, most of the people say that jobs give stability in life and thus should be preferred over business and entrepreneurship. This is what people say and let me tell you what actually happened in those 8 months in the company.
Are Jobs Really Safe and Secure ?
1) We used to have two tea breaks of 15 minutes and a lunch break. Most of the males in the company used to gather at a nearby place and used to curse their jobs daily. It was daily routine at that place and even the people working for 4-5 years used to do so. They complained about low salary, no incentives and rude behavior of management. It was ironical that they were still continuing with the jobs. The primary reason in my opinion was that what the parents or neighbor will say if they leave the job.
2)Talking about the rewards (salary), I think that most of the employees were not content with it. Later when I started working as a freelance content writer, I used to earn my monthly salary in two days freelance work (total 16 hours). A little more later, when I found more ways of making money online, I used to earn that monthly salary in one hour work.
3)So far as the security aspect is concerned, in my company the scenario was good. Management never fired anyone provided he/she is working nicely. However, I do not think that I need to tell about the working of private companies in India. Recently, IBN7 group fired a number of employees and it was in the news too.
Why is Entrepreneurship better than jobs ?
I will not generalize that Entrepreneurship is better than jobs. However, here are the reasons I preferred it over jobs:
1) I find doing the same work everyday very boring. I want to do something creative and something that I really enjoy.
2) I decide my own timings (as I am working as a freelancer). This does not apply to every entrepreneur as most of them have offline business that has fixed timings.
3) I can dream of becoming rich this way. With a job, I cannot even think of living a luxurious life. No doubt, it requires a lot of effort, hard work and patience even with the former route. But it seems more probable with this route.
Problems I face ?
Here are the problems that I face because of choosing Entrepreneurship/business over jobs
1)Most common is that I have to face objection from friends, family and neighbors. It is so much inside our minds that they are not ready to listen or understand anything I say. Solution: I stopped arguing with them and just try to avoid this topic.
2)One potential problem I can think of is marriage as I am from a middle class family. I do not think that any father in this income bracket in our area will be ready to marry his daughter to a businessman. No matter, what I am earning. In fact, all of the people that asked me about my work failed to understand what I do and how I earn(less awareness about online work in India). I am talking about my neighbors working as engineers in a reputed government company.
I feel really disheartened to see the reactions of relatives and friends on choices that I had made in my life. I still have to fight with my parents regarding not opting for higher studies or doing preparation for government jobs. But, I hope one day, they will understand my choices and approve them.
Waiting to hear comments from fellow members.