It is not all sunshine and roses for the vast majority of businesses. Everything will eventually suck. I am not sure the world would be a better place if most engineers shifted to becoming business owners. People like Dave Cutler, Linus Torvalds, Dennis Ritchie, etc. may be more accomplished as engineers than they ever would as business owners. Yes, they are outliers, but so are most successful businesses.
"I am not sure the world would be a better place if most engineers shifted to becoming business owners."
I know plenty of engineers that aren't capable of owning a business. They need to be told what to do..otherwise nothing will get done. Owning a business requires self-discipline and many people just don't have it.
"but so are most successful businesses"
It depends on how you define success. There are plenty of businesses that make enough in profit to give the owner a good lifestyle (as good or better than working for someone else).
I've worked for other people for the 15 years (I quit a little over 2 years ago to start my own company). In every single job, no matter how good it seems like in the beginning, it eventually turned bad.
You will almost always be asked to work on something you don't like, work extra hours, or get denied vacation time. I got tired of it. I got tired of being forced to ask someone if I can take a day off of work to go to the doctor or visit family after Christmas. It felt just like when I was in school. I suppose school is good training for real life.
As a business owner, I have more freedom. There are many times when I don't want to work on something, but it's still enjoyable to me because it's mine. Life also seems to pass by much slower. I don't feel like I'm wasting my life.
The downside is that I have more responsibility (if you can call it a downside). I can't just go into work and collect my check at the end of the month.
