Today I’m thinking about all these terms we throw around\u2014small business owner, entrepreneur, sole proprietor, self-employed. We use them interchangeably, but do they actually mean the same thing?<\/p>\n
In business today, especially with social media, we’re obsessed with definitions. Everyone’s a coach, a small business owner, an entrepreneur. We use these terms to define ourselves, but we don’t always define the words themselves.<\/p>\n
So here’s how I see it.<\/p>\n
Self-Employed: You Made a Good Job for Yourself<\/strong> You made a job for yourself. It’s wrapped up in a business structure, but functionally, it’s a job.<\/p>\n The Small Business Owner: You Built an Organization<\/strong> The key difference? They think in terms of organization, not just themselves. The risk here? Sometimes the business runs them instead of the other way around. But that’s a subject for another time.<\/p>\n The Entrepreneur: You’re Solving a Problem Beyond Profit<\/strong> They’re usually trying to do something larger. They have a bigger purpose. They take bigger risks. And they’re trying to scale and grow. Why These Definitions Matter<\/strong> These aren’t value judgments. One isn’t better than the other. However, different people have varying perspectives, risks, and needs. Which One Are You?<\/p>\n Let me know. Let’s discuss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today I’m thinking about all these terms we throw around\u2014small business owner, entrepreneur, sole proprietor, self-employed. We use them interchangeably, but do they actually mean the same thing? In business today, especially with social media, we’re obsessed with definitions. Everyone’s a coach, a small business owner, an entrepreneur. We use these terms to define ourselves, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2013,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[128,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advisory","category-small-business"],"modified_by":"James E. Heyward CPA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heywardcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heywardcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heywardcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heywardcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heywardcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2012"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.heywardcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2014,"href":"https:\/\/www.heywardcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions\/2014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heywardcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heywardcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heywardcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heywardcpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nA lot of self-employed people\u2014and I’m not talking about entity structure here\u2014have essentially created jobs for themselves. They might have a single-source contract or one or two major clients that pay the bills.
\nIf they lose one client? They’re cooked.<\/p>\n
\nA small business owner typically has employees or contractors. Other people are essential to the operation. They’re dealing with the seven functions of business on some level.<\/p>\n
\nSome small business owners are focused on growth. Others are maintaining what they’ve built, and that’s fine. But there’s a structure around them\u2014even if parts are outsourced.<\/p>\n
\nIn my opinion, entrepreneurs are driven by something beyond profit. They take resources and use them to solve a problem.<\/p>\n
\nDon’t get me wrong\u2014all three are profit-motivated. However, the way they pursue profit is different.<\/p>\n
\nAs an accountant and an entrepreneur, understanding these differences matters because it dictates how I work with someone.<\/p>\n
\nSelf-employed means you have made a good job for yourself.
\nThe small business owner has an organization to maintain or grow.
\nThe entrepreneur has a vision and is executing it to solve a problem.<\/p>\n