Freelancer vs. Entrepreneur?

An Article from @jonathanhinshaw

Freelancer vs. Entrepreneur?

If I had to pinpoint one area that people get stuck in when creating their new company, brand, business — it’s usually this question…

When should I decide on whether or not I’m going to be a freelancer or an entrepreneur?

The answer is… tomorrow! If you want to build any kind of business then you must get this figured out asap.

So, if you are unsure whether or not you are a Freelancer or an Entrepreneur, ask yourself these questions…

• Are You Building Something Bigger Than Yourself? Meaning, the company can run without you.
• Can you stand back and let people do their jobs? Meaning, you want to hire talent, and let them work.
• Do you have a desire to constantly break your company? What I mean is, if it’s working and bringing in money — would you make changes that could potentially disrupt the revenue, but could also possibly improve it?

If you answered YES to at least 2 of these questions, odds are — you’re an entrepreneur. Now you can go out and get started!

But wait Jonathan… I’m still stuck! Ok, Ok… Keep Reading…

Stop Avoiding The Hard Stuff

When I hear stuff like “I’m just working on the logo…” or “We’re preparing for the big launch!” I cringe. Why? Because they are sitting on the easy stuff and avoiding the hard stuff.

The hardest part about starting a company, any company is getting people’s attention. You won’t have to worry about what your logo looks like if no one ever sees it.

The reality is — your logo isn’t that important.

You can always work on the branding, you can re-design a website. I’m not saying you don’t need those things. I’m saying to stop sitting on them and using them as an excuse to avoid doing the work.

What’s the work? Making connections!

This is especially important for those who are bootstrapping. The hard part is getting known for something. Even harder than that — earning the attention of your marketplace.

Think about it… I’ll put my twitter followers up against your logo design any day and we’ll see which one brings in more cashflow :)

What Should You I Focus On?

OK, so by now you’re probably thinking to yourself “Cool. I can get this, but what should I do first?” — the funny thing is. You already know the answer.

90% of the time, I am hired to bring in “THE ANSWER”. Here’s what I do to help business owners, freelancers and entrepreneurs find “THE ANSWER”… I pull it out of my their brain.

Let me give you an exercise that will help you find out your own answers.

I want you to imagine that you have just earned one hundred million dollars. But, you also just found out that you have only 10 years to live.

Now, imagine what you’re life is like in that scenario. What would change?The answer is usually “I would change everything!”

Now you see how money and time actually influence your decisions for positive or negative.

Whether we realize it or not, we make decisions based on money and time everyday and it’s usually tied to some sort of fear with regards to loosing one or the other.

But Jonathan, I’m stuck — I have 2 big ideas and I don’t know which one I want to dedicate my time too?

That’s not really you’re issue. You go to lunch everyday. Some days you don’t know what you’re going to eat. Maybe it’s a salad, maybe it’s a sandwich. If you don’t know what to eat do you just not eat? Of course not, you make a decision and eat, right?!

Business is no different. What’s holding you back is the fear of failure. Your not afraid that if you choose the wrong lunch you’re company will fail. So, the risk factor is low. But, you’re scared to death that if you make the wrong decision in business that it will fail. And, the truth is — it might. But if you don’t make a decision, you’ll never know!

Wouldn’t you rather shoot for the moon and make it half way rather than not try and never see what happens? Of course you would. Because half way is probably a pretty cool place to be!

Making Decisions

Zig Ziglar tells a story about decision making…

He talks about an airplane pilot leaving from LA headed towards New York. They take off and about half way into the flight the airplane hits turbulence.

What does the pilot do? Do they turn around, land the plane and start again?

No! They simply adjust their course and keep heading towards their final destination.

If you’re going to be in business today, you’re going to have to get used to making decisions. Making “course corrections” along the way.

What do you do if you launch a product and it doesn’t work? You make it better. You don’t start over. You simply make it better.

So go out and make some decisions already!

Thanks for reading, you guys are awesome :)