Welcome to the age of entrepreneurship. The age where there are no teachers in classes, the age where there are no farmers on the fields, the age where the doctors and lawyers are in their dream companies and have forsaken their professions.
The age of confusion!
It has now become a common trend for everyone to call themselves entrepreneurs and I know that is a careless statement borne out of lack of proper understanding of what entrepreneurship is.
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All of a sudden, youths are beginning to resent the statement of working for someone or working 9 – 5 jobs. I really do wonder how many entrepreneurs work from 9 – 12. Matter of fact, they do sleep in offices, get depressed, worried and all.
I have seen lots of young ladies call themselves fashion designers who would do better interning or working with a fashion brand.
I’ll try to explain the difference between entrepreneurship and freelancing so you’d know where you fall into and not get yourself killed over wrong decisions.
An entrepreneur is someone who has created a business that can run on itself even if the boss is on a 2-year vacation. It is having a business in which the system and structure have been set in motion and you can easily opt out of the running work process.
That means you have successfully leveraged on other people’s skills and experiences as well as expertise to create a workflow that does not necessarily include you. I am not talking about the CEO of a company. A CEO can be employed. He must resume to work daily else he won’t get paid.
A freelancer on the other hand is someone who has acquired a skill, a knowledge and is being paid for it. If you don’t show up to work, you don’t get paid because you didn’t show up. Although most entrepreneurs start from this stage.
Don’t let me make you feel bad but being a graphics designer is not entrepreneurship, except you can easily opt out of the workflow and money still comes in; you’re just a freelancer. Same as a writer, a fashion designer and all.
Now to my main point. We don’t all have to be entrepreneurs. Do not mistake it for leading. A leader is someone who is in charge of other people’s decision and movement. You can be a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, or a farmer.
Subsistence farming is not entrepreneurship but a farmer can be an entrepreneur. A farmer can also be a leader. Leading means standing out, being remarkable, making the choice to create a difference, to take the big risks for people.
So you see, being an entrepreneur is not the same as being a freelancer and a leader. Be wise enough to know what will scale for you and stop the whole noise-making about entrepreneurship. Do you have what it takes?
Do you have the skill and know nothing about handling a business, handling risk, then stay a freelancer. But you could also become a leader among freelancers. That means you’ve chosen to lead, to stay ahead, to care, to be remarkable.
There is a lot of this misconception going around. Many do wounot Iknow ldwhat it takes to handle a business, to create a workflow, a wheel, a cycle of value that generates income even without it’s it’s founder. I will share this on my WhatsApp status and Facebook page.
Nicely written.