Quora Answer: If You Want to Make Money, is It Better to Work for the Government or be an Entrepreneur?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “If you want to make money, is it better to work for the Government, or be an entrepreneur?”

If you want to be wealthy, become an entrepreneur eventually.  When you work for someone, if you are valued, they will pay you enough that you will stay, until you have no more worth to them or a cheaper alternative comes along.  They will never pay you enough to leave.

However, you are trading stability for opportunity.  There are no guarantees when it comes to opportunity.  You either make it or not.  Not making it is not the end of the world; you can always go back to work for someone as long as you are competent.  Or, you can try again.  Few entrepreneurs succeed the first time.  What makes them successful is that they did not give up at the first challenge.  What is most important here is that you should have taken a calculated risk.  You did your homework before jumping.  Even if you fail, you know that you tried.