Do you ever dream of what it would be like to be a CEO in corporate America? Run an outperforming company while receiving millions of dollars worth of stock options, bonuses and outrageous salaries while traveling the world on the corporate jet to play golf? Sounds like the dream.

The chances, of course, of becoming the CEO of the company you work for are pretty slim, but you can become your own CEO and start building a company that can make you millions.

Survey self-made millionaires and you will find that a majority built their wealth through their own businesses. Most may even tell you they could not have built their wealth by being an employee - at least not at the rate that their business allowed them to.

So what is it about running a business that can make people so rich? Let’s look at the advantages of owning a business:

• Other People’s Time: You’ve heard of “Other People’s Money.” Businesses have the advantage of using Other People’s Time as leverage. To put it simply, you could single-handedly sell a fixed amount of candy bars on the street at $1 profit, or, you could hire 10 people to stand on the streets and pay them $0.50 for every candy bar they sell and keep the remainder as profit. By leveraging other people’s time, your profits have skyrocketed.
• Multiple Streams of Income: Think about it. Employees only have one stream of income — their paycheck. If an employee loses their job, they loose 100% of their income. A business owner can have multiple customers that pay him or her. Loosing one customer does not have as great an impact on a well managed business.
• Pay Yourself First: The tax code is written so people who build businesses in America have a significant tax advantage. Business owners are able to limit their taxable, realized income by running expenses through their business and writing off many purchases and costs as business expenses.
• Write Your Own Paycheck: You are the boss and there are no limits as to how much your business can grow and how much money it can earn.
• Build it, Grow it, Sell it: As an entrepreneur, you can build a cash-generating business, sell it at a great profit, and use the money to start another business.
• Passion = Money: If you love what you do, your energy, enthusiasm and can-do attitude will bring in money in good times and bad.

Of course owning a business alone does not make people millionaires. You need to first build a profitable, sustainable business that generates a high income, and continue to demonstrate the habits and discipline that self-made millionaires exhibit.