'WARNING: What I'm going to share with you will probably be offensive and reveal what you have been doing intentionally or not. So if you don't want to get offended, please stop reading this article right now... otherwise if you decide to continue reading this... it is at your own discretion.
What's the difference between a Self-Employed Person and an Entrepreneur?
Last week, at a networking event I met a contractor, that for his own safety, we're going to call him Tim. He started complaining that his advertising wasn't working for him, Tim was telling me that advertising and marketing in general are not good for businesses.
I asked why he decided to advertise in the first place and why he chose the specific media that he did. He told me that business has been tough... less customers, less profits, more competitors and word of mouth is good but inconsistent. So pretty much working harder to make less money. The offer that was presented to him was good (meaning cheap) and the rep promised him the moon, sounds familiar...
Bottom line he was complaining that his $100 monthly investment was a waste, to which I said "Yep you got sold" he looked at me and said "Excuse me?" and I proceed to explain to him that he never bought advertising, he got sold. Actually 85% of all advertising purchased by SMB's (Small Medium Size Business) is not bought but sold. Meaning someone knocked your door, called you or emailed / mailed you an offer that you decided, why not? You were so excited about the load of money that will come after your $100 a month investment. However, you didn't stop to think of the media targets in your market and if you have the right message to address them. In fewer words, you didn't have a strategy just a tactic to wing it.
The problem with that approach is that you never put the fundamentals of marketing to work for you.Market-Message-Media in that specific order and not any other way around. Today's article is not about the Marketing Fundamentals but the mindset that Tim was showing when he decided on the investment as well as when he was complaining about it. He has a healthy profit margin of 35%, his overhead was small but he didn't follow up with his customers after the sale to create upsell opportunities or to develop a referral system. He wasn't reinvesting in his company to make it grow, he didn't want the hassle of managing employees, dealing with vendors or being too busy that he had to work after 5.
The more he was talking about it, the more I realized that he is just a self-employed guy and not really an entrepreneur. Often seen as the same thing because they both own a business, however the difference between them is enormous. A self-employed person works for himself instead of an employer. An entrepreneur organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking greater than normal financial risk in order to gain greater gains. A self-employed person tries to do everything themselves, as no one will do a better job than them. Entrepreneurs are master of delegation, the key is to hire people smarter and more experienced than you for a specific skill set and trust them, but keeping them accountable for their actions.
A self-employed person wants to own everything for security. An entrepreneur, on the other hand, wants to own as little as possible but control everything. Self-employed people are goal oriented people but an entrepreneur is master of leverage in order to achieve their goals easier, faster and bigger. Self-employed people are married to their products or services. Entrepreneurs are in love with their customers. You see, you want to multiply your business focus on your customers not your company. Therefore you can offer them whatever you want and not just your trade. A self -employed person is looking for an income.
Entrepreneurs are looking for profit to reinvest in their business and in another ventures. An entrepreneur has strategies in place or they are actively seeking for ones to implement in their business, not just operationally but with sales and marketing as well. In the local economy self-employed people are not creators of jobs they just want to do their stuff so they can go home; entrepreneurs boost the local economy by creating real jobs, which at the same time will empower those employees to spend locally, and therefore having everyone benefits from it.
Napoleon Hill was commissioned to study and write about the most successful entrepreneurs of his time. His book "Think and Grow Rich" is the cornerstone to understand what makes successful people tick and follow their examples.
No one is born an entrepreneur, we all are formed with the same clay but the way our environment and experiences molds us, determine who we are and what we become. Unless, you consciously decided to escape your circumstances, take control of your destiny, ignite the fire within you and enjoy the successful future life that is waiting for you to grab it.
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