If you listened to the podcast I did recently about the difference between an entrepreneur and a business owner, then you will know that there is a vast difference.
Now, quite often, this is of a state of mind, and important of how you want to get on in the future of your life.
So let me start with a couple of definitions —
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We hear the term entrepreneur thrown around quite a bit. We can thank the french for this word. It was brought about in 1730, and derives from the word entreprendre.
In 1730, Richard Cantillon described it as the bearing of risk of engaging in business without an assurance of the profits that will be derived.
So it talks about engaging in a business, and even the original description back in the 1300’s basically said the same thing.
Now Richard adds the term of risk and points out you may not make any money — and that’s the beauty of it.
In later years, another french gentleman, an economist named John Baptiste, described an entrepreneur as individuals who create in an economy by moving resources out of areas of low productivity to areas of higher productivity and greater yield.
In other words, they take resources and make more of them. So they grow and increase a business. They make a business more efficient and more effective.
The most important thing though, is being an entrepreneur is not a job, so someone like Richard Branson, he is an entrepreneur, but he is the CEO of the Virgin Group and other various companies.
I, myself, have been described as an entrepreneur, but I am the managing director of Fire Protection Online, and I am also the founder and owner of Marketing for Owners, and other various websites and companies.
Those are not jobs and that is very important to understand. There are many many aspects of being an entrepreneur.
In my experience, most entrepreneurs are simply unemployed. If you are sitting home, reading books, and you find yourself listening to podcasts, reading blog posts, and reading about inspirational stories, and tales of success from people and dreaming about your business, you are not an entrepreneur.
You are someone who is thinking of starting a business. So remember, first of all, get yourself a job. Now, if that is working for yourself, that’s fine.
But, you have to have a job before you can become an entrepreneur. Then we move into the mindset of it, and then you can get a job and work for yourself.
A lot of people in this modern age, in the Internet world where it is easy to get along, many of us just don’t want to work for someone else.
We don’t want to have the J-O-B and commute. We don’t want to have to work the 9-5 or to even deal with the man, work in a cubicle, or get stuck in a traffic jam.
With the economy going down or up, a lot of jobs are unsafe when you think they are safe, and all things like that — it’s quite tempting to work for yourself.
In my experience, the vast majority of people who work for themselves, and think they are an entrepreneur, are earning half or even less than that of what they would be earning if they worked for someone else.
So, remember, you don’t have to work for yourself. You can make demands on your job. You can change careers.
For example, I am 50. I have been working for myself for 32 years, but in another 20 years I will be 70 — and I will probably still be working.
But during that time, I could change careers again if I wanted to because I have at least 20 years during that time.
If you are in your mid-30’s, you probably haven’t even been working 20 years. You can change careers and do something different. You don’t have to work for yourself.
But if you do choose, being an entrepreneur and having that mindset is fabulous. It’s because you wish to make everything better.
You want to start a business, so you do that and that becomes your job, but then the entrepreneurial aspect kicks in and you want to improve it.
You continuously want to make it better, to improve it and that’s what it is all about.
I met a British guy whose name is Ash Lawrence and he is a fabulous guy. He runs coaching programs in Kent, in the southeast of England.
He was talking about one of his high level coaching things, which is called the “millionaire mindset”, and that is because the entrepreneurial thing is a mindset.
He pointed out that the average paid salary in the UK for those who have a job is around 28,000 pounds, or $45,000 a year in American money.
The average earnings of a self employed is like $11,000 — miles less.
People are scared to admit that they failed. Personally, I don’t think of it as failure. I think of it as just not having succeeded yet.
But it depends on what you want to do. If you just want to work for yourself, that’s fine. If you want to set up a little shop and work in it all day long, and earn your money that is fine.
But if you want to be an entrepreneur, you need to make yourself efficient. You need to learn how to leverage your time because we all have the same amount of time, but some people just seem to make more of it by outsourcing.
They delegate more and lose control, and that happens by systematizing and setting up goals and aiming for goals, creating projects, and growing.
It’s a whole different ball game. The rewards are fabulous if you seriously decide to do it. It will never happen if you don’t implement.
You need a coach also. You just cannot make it up as you go along. I recommend it. I know plenty of people who have done it before who can show you how.
Work on it, don’t just rely on people like me rattling on about it. Do something. Start working and then implement the things you learn.
Monday Book Recommendation
Today is Monday and that means it is time for a book recommendation. Today is a great book that I read recently.
I did not know a lot about this author beforehand, so I looked him up and found that I really like his style of writing.
The name of the Book is the Entrepreneur’s Blueprint to Massive Success by Peter Voogd.
He gives 30 strategies to help you create the lifestyle of your dreams. It is no nonsense and no fluff involved.
It is a great book and I want you to go and read it. You will like it I promise.
While you are at it, why not try out my free marketing course — it will teach you how to build a business absolutely free — no credit card or anything required.
Be sure to come back tomorrow and we will talk more about growing your business.
