Why do we choose to work for ourselves?

As a guy who's recently returned to the corporate world after 12 years of being an entrepreneur, here's my take on working for ourselves.

I too enjoyed the freedom of choice and ability to charge whatever the market would bear for my consulting services - often making 50% and more profit on my efforts and working about 30 hours per week.

And, like Michael below, I leveraged my time and resources to a certain extent through outsourcing, thus making the work even more fun and productive.

And, as Gordon mentioned, I left my previous corporate job mainly because I didn't respect my boss at the time, and thought I could do a much better job on my own. I was right, but my ex-boss and I are friends to this day - better colleagues than senior/subordinate.

I went back to work for a startup company (hi tech but not dot.com:-)) as a marketing and sales director to refresh my knowledge of the Fortune 50 market and update my technical knowledge.

I intend to leverage both my salary and commissions toward another personal startup in the future, as the hi tech world is a constant merry-go-round of employees coming and going.

So, I figure I'll do the best job possible for the company, increase my knowledge, have as much fun as possible, and move on when the timing is right.

And, yes, I do chafe under the 8 to 6 mentality, useless meetings, power grabs, endless presentations, politics and other trappings of corporate life. However, if I can maintain a sense of balance and stay above the fray, I can contribute and control my destiny within the environment until the stock options kick in or the company folds:-)

So, in the words of Jackson Brown:

"I'm just a happy idiot, working for the legal tender . . ." and being entrepreneurial on the side:-)

Bob