It’s becoming common for young adults to think they want to run their own businesses. Since I’m now three years down this rabbit hole, and was raised by a business owner, I’d like to share a few insights about what it’s actually like to be an entrepreneur.
If you think that working for yourself will fast track you to expertise in your field or get you rich quickly, dispel those thoughts now. The hard truth is that it isn’t quick, and it isn’t that lucrative (in the first few years). There are also two paths you can go down when you begin “running your own business:” freelancing and entrepreneurship.
There’s a big difference between being an entrepreneur and a freelancer. Being an entrepreneur means that you plan to grow a product line or service offerings — these endeavors typically require employees, steady growth, and a healthy scale. Freelancing means that you offer your skills to other businesses, typically on a project-to-project basis. As a freelancer, you’re still working for yourself, but you don’t have others working for you.
Both entrepreneurship and freelancing are fine ways to follow your passion and stay out of corporate America, but they have their trade-offs:
Entrepreneurship
As a business owner, you’re the one to blame if things go wrong. You’re responsible for the health and well-being of all of your clients, employees, and yourself. You have to pay people, perhaps help them pay their healthcare, and you have an obligation to pay half their taxes.
Of course there are perks, as well. You have the luxury of building your team, finding all-star people who are better at the things you’re not so good at. You can have a fuller service menu, and you have others to check your ideas, review your work, and cover for you if you’re sick.
Freelancing
As a freelancer, you’re all on your own. You have to figure out your service prices, pay your quarterly taxes, and complete all of your project work alone. There are only so many hours in the day — do you really want to spend all weekend working on a website project?
On the flipside, you’ll have more flexibility with your schedule, clientele, and choice of work, which can be appealing to young people. As long as you’re making enough to live the life you want, you can choose to have a two week vacation every summer. However, if your client isn’t satisfied with your work, causing you to blow your deadline, your vacation may have to be postponed.
Regardless of whether you choose to become a true entrepreneur or a freelancer, you’re going to have to stand out. New companies emerge every day, and a lot of them compete in similar spaces. The best way to stand out is to really figure out an industry or specialty. The key is to do something that you enjoy; it can’t be about the money. I repeat, it can’t be all about the money. Once you have strong footing in one space, it’s a lot easier to pivot into different opportunities.
For what it’s worth, both entrepreneurship and freelancing have great advantages and disadvantages. If you’re not sure about which path you’d like to take, consider working for an entrepreneur to learn about their craft, or join a freelancers group to learn from others how they operate their one person show. It’s okay to change your mind, try one path for a while and another later on. It’s okay to start multiple companies, or to start none at all.
As long as you work on something you’re truly passionate about, it should never feel like too much work, and it will always give you a sense of pride and accomplishment.