ENTREPRENEUR OR FREELANCER, WHICH ARE YOU?
March 4, 2010
First, you must answer the vital question above. This is your moment of truth. Being honest to yourself now will save you monster heartache later.
Difference?
Freelancers sell themselves and their talents. Though they may have a few employees working for them, they focus on getting a job done rather than running a business. Consultants, advisors, artists, landscapers, musicians, and writers are all freelancers. There is no exit strategy. Freelancers are driven by the satisfaction of working for themselves, setting their own hours, and being their own boss. Freelancing is the single easiest way to start a new business.
Entrepreneurs are building something big, lasting, and profitable, focusing on growth. An entrepreneur is willing to receive little pay, work long hours, and take on great risk in exchange for the freedom to make something big with real market value. Venture capitalists and other investors are usually involved. An entrepreneur’s business is sustainable and can survive after they are gone. For them, it’s all about making it big and leaving behind a legacy.
If you buy a Quizinos franchise hoping to work very little and get very rich, you’re in for a huge disappointment. The numbers of the business model do not support absentee management of most Quizinos. You, the franchisee, need to be the manager as well.
Contrast this with the entrepreneur who invents a new kind of contact management program, then leverages everything he owns and borrows the rest to build a company with 45 employees in less than a year. If it works, he’s hit a home run and influenced the lives of many people. If it fails, he’s out of the game for a minute or two and then, like all good entrepreneurs, he’s back.
Both situations offer tremendous opportunity to the right person, and millions of people are delighted that they left their jobs to become a freelancer or an entrepreneur. But for you, only one of them will do. And you must figure out which one. Right Now!
Freelancers focus on a craft. They can easily build their business by doing great work and supplying great service consistently. The entrepreneur is comfortable raising money, hiring and firing, leasing more office space than he or she needs right now. The entrepreneur dreams big and persuades others to share their dream. Successful entrepreneurs rarely invent a new business model. They trade on the success of a proven one. Here are a few advantages to doing this.
LEARN FROM OTHERS MISTAKES. If the guy down the street grows to quickly, you can learn from that.
FIND A MENTOR. Somewhere, there’s someone with a similar model that’s probably willing to teach you.
BE CERTAIN THAT IT CAN BE DONE. If someone is making a living with this business model, odds are you can too.
YOU’RE NOT ALONE. The horrible uncertainty of staring down a bottomless pit doesn’t afflict the entrepreneur who is brave enough to steal a business model.
Listen up!
Copying some poor schmuck isn’t the answer. Instead, take his business model and make it your own. If someone’s making a good living selling candy bars from a van, maybe you could sell ice cream from a bus the same way. Business models are the same—same distribution, same competitive pressures, and so on. There’s plenty of room for creativity in the business trenches, why not take advantage of the knowledge that’s there for you?
Knowing the distinctions between an entrepreneur and a freelancer is just a start. You’re the one who determines how you’re labeled. It’s up to you to decide the kind of success you want.
If you’re a freelancer, freelance. If you’re an entrepreneur, build a business that works. Whatever you do, never mix em!
Never give up. Success is persistence. Set realistic expectations. Never give up.
Craig Zuber takes the discipline and accountability of the US Marine Corps into the business world with the publishing of his cutting-edge business guide, In The Trenches: Do Or Die Lessons From the Business Battlefield. Download the first two chapters FREE
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- How “In The Trenches” Applies to YOU!
- Client Testimonials
- The Business Battlefield
- Welcome! Let’s Go!
- Leadership Means Service – In the Business Trenches
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