How Much Freedom Do You Need?

As tech workers — and office workers in general — we are already blessed with more freedom than most. We can work from home with flexible hours, take days off when we want, and if we have a personal errand during work hours we just put it in the calendar.

If we are sick we send a mail. If we need time off we send another one. If we want a change of scenery we can pack our laptop and work from a beach house or a cottage in the mountains. As long as there is a stable internet connection (there increasingly is) we are fine.

To a large part of the working population, this sounds like heaven.

And we take it all for granted. Heck, my own spiel is about more independence. I have all this freedom and yet I want more!

Building towards something is fine. But appreciating what I already have is just as important — if not more. Being grateful helps me exit the endless race towards more.

During the last ~ 10 months I have chased money online by trying to build a couple of websites. Turns out, this is really hard to do. And working overtime isn’t without consequences.

Zooming out I’m starting to question some of my decisions. I’m starting to question the narrative that attracted me in the first place: build an online solo business and be free.

I know it is possible. But I also know it is unlikely.

And how free is a small business owner on the brink of profitability really?

As I’m writing this I’m on a four week leave from work. Can a business owner disconnect for weeks to hike in the mountains? Or what about the 3 months backpacking trip I took last fall?

Set up well, a business may be able to survive — or even thrive — without the founder. But that requires much more than just profitability, making the likelihood of success even smaller. It’s why you see entrepreneurs tweeting about their first vacation in years — after stress and hardship they finally manage to take some time off (usually just a week). And often they still end up checking in on things (and of course they keep on tweeting. They have to, right?)

Sounds like the dream? No?

The Dream is a small business that runs on auto-pilot and generates enough profit for you to sustain a comfortable life. But that scenario is rare. And even if it does manifest after much toil and many skipped vacations, it probably doesn’t look anything like The Dream.

Instead, you can sacrifice less and enjoy what you already have. How much freedom do you really need?

If you adopt a less extravagant lifestyle, you may be able to live on, say 50% of your income. If you invest the rest you can build up financial independence and more freedom that way. Or you can simply take the time off you desire. At a 50% savings rate you’ll only have to work 6 months a year. Bump it to 66% and you are down to 4 months.

This isn’t magic. It is math and the generous pay we receive as tech workers.

Building a solo business online is a beautiful thing. By all means, go ahead and give it a shot. But if your only goal is more freedom I suggest you zoom out a bit. Otherwise, you may just end up reaching your goal only to realize your freedom is gone and you had everything you needed in the first place.