[bitexploder]

The truth is the stability of most large employers is a myth. I think your stress working for an employer is well founded. As a small business owner I have never felt more fulfilled and stable in my entire career (19 years). We ended up building a consulting business and we are now 16 people. Each hire is like a family member. It isn't software that scales exponentially. 16 consultants is like a 100-300 person software startup with venture capital in terms of where the businesses would be if equally successful. Anyway, my main point, large businesses sway with market forces just like small businesses. Small businesses do suffer from localized variance, but on the whole small businesses aren't any more inherently unstable than big ones. Ownership mentality vs employee mentality. Owners, even as employees, always experience a mental tension to make things better and improve things. They thrive on autonomy and freedom. Smart businesses let owner minded employees do their thing within reason, because they are often the heart of successful small business.