Employee, Self Employed or Business Building?

As a followup to my previous post about employment, there are also other alternatives that university graduates are looking for to sustain their livelihood. First of all, maybe I would just clarify my perspective of the difference between Business Building and Self-Employed. To me, self-employed means doing something like freelancing where you are always needed to continue making the money, whereas business building refers to beginning with the expectation that some day you will not be required for the money making vehicle to continue generating the dough.

I’m quite curious how many people do intend to spend some of their time trying to make it on their own either as a self-employed or trying to build a business. I noticed that a lot of the times, there are business ideas spinning up all over the place, but somehow few comes to fruition. Sometimes, it’s got something to do with getting the proper funds, while it’s just enthusiasm dying off at other occassions.

Recently, I have been thinking very deeply about what I want to do at the start of the next year, since I would have completed my studies by then, even though I wouldn’t have officially graduated. While it seems to people around me that I would pursue a path of entrepreneurialism, I seriously doubt that I will go that path full-time for a few reasons.

1. I really wish to work in a finance-related field and build up industrial knowledge at the fastest possible pace since I’m extremely interested in this field. For that to happen, I need to work in a respectable bank where they emphasize training and employee development.
2. Working in any company brings me colleagues and thus expose me to a wider social network. 
3. I wish to see how far I can go on the corporate ladder.
4. Working as a salaried employee reduces financial pressure, since trying to build a business provides very uncertain cash flows.

While there are other reasons, these are my key reasons. While I am joining the workforce, I think I will still be working on projects concurrently over my spare time, such as during weekends. Probably I will be using my salary to fund my business ideas, since my business ideas are usually low-cost in nature. I believe that getting involved with employment and business building at the same time will keep my life busy and force me to perform at my peak, since I may have very little time to rest and thus the momentum to work is always there.

Additionally, I do enjoy working if my job is fulfilling and I’m one of the guys that quite enjoyed my National Service as a clerk. If I enjoyed even a mandatory service, I believe that if I ever get employed, my life should be much more enjoyable since I am the one who applied for the job in the first place. With that said, I will only apply for a job which I think I will enjoy and offers good training. There are quite a few companies that match my criteria, but they are super hard to get in, haha

Anyway, I will just end this post as an advertisement for my incubator, since he’s actively looking for startups. If you are interested to start a technology/ web/ mobile related business or know of someone who does, perhaps you would like to leave your mobile number under the email address field, so that I can contact you to find out more and possibly hook you up with my incubator.