For half my life—fully 18 of my 36 years—I filled out timesheets, accounting for every minute of my workday to corporations both large and small who valued my time far below my own personal estimations of its worth. Degrees and certifications combined with long hours, hard work, and a can-do attitude produced a decade-long string of stellar performance reviews, but did relatively little to raise the value of my time to these corporations.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I was paid a competitive wage, received good benefits, enjoyed comfortable working conditions, and was treated with respect. The only real problem was that a large portion of the fruits of my labor had to be shared with the company’s owners. The reason that a corporation exists, after all, is to make money for its stockholders.

Even though it was a fair arrangement, I didn’t feel that I was getting the best return on the time and money I was investing. No matter who you are or what you do, self-employment is clearly the best—if not the only—way to maximize your potential. As the sole owner of and investor in your own business, there is no one else to claim a share of your profits (except Uncle Sam, perhaps).