Independence and non-financial rewards

Independence is a non-financial reward of running a business: it means you control the decisions and can be your own boss. It can matter as much as financial rewards because you choose what to sell, how to sell it, who to employ and how to organise the working day.

Independence gives personal control and flexibility, which are rewards in their own right rather than financial gain. For example, someone might leave a job at a garden centre to run a mobile plant-care service for offices. They can start at 9am, take bookings around school hours and turn down jobs that do not suit them. They might earn less profit than expected, but accept that trade-off because choosing their own hours and working from home matters to them.

Non-financial rewards are the benefits that do not appear directly in the profit figure, such as personal satisfaction and making a difference. They can be as important as financial rewards. An owner may feel proud of creating jobs, helping the local community or solving a problem customers care about. For instance, the owner of a dog-walking service may feel satisfaction from helping older residents keep their pets exercised, and pride when they hire their first employee. These feelings can motivate an owner to keep going when running the business is stressful, even if profit is modest.

Independence does not mean having no responsibility or risk. You still carry the consequences of your decisions and the risk of financial loss or failure; independence changes who makes the decisions, not whether risk exists.