Self-Employed vs. Entrepreneur

Self employment is the act of working for oneself alone, having no boss to answer to. Self employment is finding jobs and being paid for them, or receiving money for products and/or services. Many professionals who are self employed choose to work at home for convenience, but it's not a requirement.You can certainly telecommute, share full time jobs (job sharing), create your own business. Visit www.workoptions for more information.

How does one become self-employed? There are all kinds of skills and talents that could be applied in the business world, and almost any skill can be parlayed into an opportunity for self-employment. In today's world, anyone with a little bit of knowledge of computers can set up a Web site to serve as a base for Internet buying and selling of products or services. A Web site is also a good tool for self-promotion, which is often necessary when self employed.

The first step to self-employment is self-assessment. Know personal work habits, where strengths and weaknesses lie and the best personal working environment. Knowing oneself is the key to self-employment, because to be self employed is to be alone.

An entrepreneur is a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome

There are many differing views on what makes someone an entrepreneur and what an entrepreneurial venture is.

Daile Tucker, provides her thoughts on what it takes to be an entrepreneur in Are You an Entrepreneur? She defines an entrepreneur as "a person who has decided to take control of his future and become self-employed whether by creating his own unique business or working as a member of a team, as in multi-level marketing." She identifies work ethics and several character traits of successful entrepreneurs, ending with "Entrepreneurs compete with themselves and believe that success or failure lies within their personal control or influence.

Entrepreneurs are about loving their journey, not their destination." For me, this sums up the excitement and fun of being an entrepreneur. Many entrepreneurs are perfectly content to sell tried-and-true products, bringing a steady income without the intensity of launching a new product. They are labeled lifestyle entrepreneurs.
The entrepreneurial mind set can operate in all sizes and types of businesses.

There is a big difference between being “self-employed” and being an entrepreneur. A lot of people with entrepreneurial ambitions have dreams of breaking away from their 9 to 5 jobs and starting their own businesses. This is an admirable objective, and anyone who has done it is a hero. Regardless of the outcome, it takes guts, fortitude, and drive to have the courage to go it alone and give up a steady paycheck for a chance to do something more. Too often though, people end up self-employed rather than living the life of a true entrepreneur. So what’s the difference?

Here two stories to illustrate:
The Story of Aaron

Aaron began working at a local photo studio while in high school and continued working there while he attended college. He enjoyed the work, even though it didn’t pay very well, and his boss was an alright guy. While in college, aaron took some business classes that got him thinking about owning his own business. He had learned the photography business inside and out, so he started to think about the possibility of opening his own Photo studio. After checking into the logistics of such an endeavor and writing a simple business plan, Aaron realized that he could definitely make it work.

A year after college, with some money he had received from an inheritance and a small-business loan from his bank, Aaron opened Aaron’s Photos! He so loved the idea of having his own business that Aaron poured himself into his work. He knew he’d have to work very hard in the beginning to get new clients and deliver quality work to them, and he didn’t mind a bit. Eventually he hired one, then two press workers to help out in the shop while he went out and sold, and before long he was making a decent living.

Flash ahead 20 years: Aaron is still working his business daily and tending to his clients. He’s got four employees now, and managing them can sometimes be a hassle, but what can you do? He can’t afford to pay for top-notch help, so he’s got to deal with whatever he can get. Aaron hasn’t taken a vacation in years. The last time he went out of town with his wife and kids, it was a disaster. He spent weeks trying to console upset customers about orders that were wrong or didn’t get done, and he’s pretty sure the kids working the presses threw a party at the shop at least one night while he was gone. He works about ten hours a day, six days a week, but he makes pretty good money, and he’s his own boss, so it’s worth it. Right?

The Story of Luz

For some reason, even before she had children of her own, Luz always loved women's hats’. In fact, her friends teased her because she would stop at millinery stores in the mall even though she wasn’t attending social events or under the sun – and even going to the beach! While she was in college, Luz worked at a department store – in the women's accesories section of course – and she learned all she could about manufacturers, brands, inventory, and merchandising. She took courses surrounding business and marketing, and even after college she read any book, blog or magazine she could find to learn as much about being an entrepreneur as possible. She had no doubt what she wanted to do after graduation, and with a helpful loan from her parents, she opened her millinery store, Hats by Design, about a year after college.

Before opening the store, Luz got help from a mentor she had found through networking, to devise a business plan that included a detailed marketing plan as well as expansion and sales goals. She knew that she wanted Hats by Design to be huge someday, and she was ready for the hard work it would take to get it there. One of her first tasks was to open her online store and begin her Internet marketing, in conjunction with the marketing of her brick and mortar location.

Flash ahead 5 years: Luz now owns six Hats by Design stores throughout her province, with plans for three more in the next year. While she still works very hard, she loves every minute of it, and because she’s hired the best managers she could find, she’s able to take time off when she needs it most – to spend time with her hubby and their new baby. Last week, she was approached about selling her company to a huge women's retail chain, and she’s seriously considering it. Her biggest decision is what business she would start next if she sold now? She just can’t imagine not being an entrepreneur!

Self-Employed vs. Entrepreneur

Do you see the difference between these two business owners? Both own their own businesses, but Aaron basically just created a job for himself. He’s self-employed, which is in many ways better than working for someone else, but he hasn’t created the freedom that entrepreneurship should bring. Luz is an entrepreneur. She has created a business that probably can’t run completely without her but that doesn’t need her to devote every waking hour to keeping it going. One of the primary differences between these two fictional characters is that Luz is passionate about the focus of her business. Aaron knows his business well, but probably wasn’t in love with the product/service even in the beginning. Another key difference is in the planning. There’s no reason Aaron couldn’t have planned for expansion – both through opening other shops and by opening an online store, but it wasn’t part of his vision, so didn’t enter into his plan.

Luz is an entrepreneur and Aaron a self employed.

It should be stated that there are people who are perfectly happy owning a little store and making a decent living without the excitement and pressures that come with building something big, and there is nothing wrong with that. We all just want to be happy in the long run. The important thing is that you plan and run your business in such a way that it gives you what you want to get out of it. That way you don’t look back 25 years from now and realize being self-employed sucks!


Marisol Diaz is one of the country's leading Online business implementation experts. An Ontario Entreprenuership Award Winner and Web based business columnist,
her latest eventure is Canada Employer's Database for Int'l Professionals. An instructor, author, and public speaker, Mari Diaz speaks around the world about Online business, business websites and entrepreneurship, including recent visits to Latin America. She has been on women hispanic network, hispanic channel among many others, and her business column,Ask an Expert, appears weekly at this blog. If you would like Mari to speak to your group, help your business grow, or if you would like to sign up for his free newsletter, "Subscription Based Business Success Secrets!" please visit her website --www.hinenimedia.memberlodge.org