Enterpreneur or Employee
What is the difference between an entrepreneur and an employee?
Are some people cut out to be one and not the other? You’ve got to wonder. Some of the successful entrepreneurs I know kept getting spit out from one job after another.
For example, Fred Gleeck, who I’ve often done projects was fired from 5 corporate jobs in a row. Obviously he’s not a very good employee.
When I was younger, my running average was holding a job for 30 days at a time. Many were shorter than this! You wouldn’t have wanted me working for you as an employee.
I could continue on to others who had continual job problems before they decided to go into a business of their own. If you hear many of the stories, it would almost seem you have to be a horrible employee to be successful as an entrepreneur.
The good news is you sometimes hear from the other side as well…the GOOD employees who transition into successful entrepreneurs. Because we can hear from each viewpoint, the two aren’t mutually exclusive, but they do have big differences.
For example, often times you’ll hear an employee talk about job security. Security is high on their list of priorities. Rarely do you see entrepreneurs putting security on top. More often you’ll see them either talking about their passion or their end profits. Or they talk about their adventure.
Entrepreneurs are boldly going where no one has gone before.
Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, is quoted as saying, “Employees are resource-oriented. Entrepreneurs are opportunity-oriented.”
This means that someone with an employee mindset might think about a business but they won’t start one because they don’t have the money yet. The entrepreneur minded person asks themselves how they can get the money to start a business.
I’ve said many times that the right answers appear once you start asking yourself the right questions.
I find in my own personality that I’m always “messing” with things. I want to find a way to improve the results from them. It’s part of my nature. I just can’t accept “this is the way we’ve always done it.” Whether I hear that in a church, in a business, or in everyday life it drives me crazy.
You’ve probably heard the statement, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I have the personality where I’d want to take it apart just to see if we can put it back together better than it was before.
I don’t think I’d ever fit in a franchise set-up simply because I’d want to take everything apart and test it in different ways.
I’ve also noticed in my own life that I’m a little uncomfortable around those with severe employee mindsets. When they start talking about their jobs or how their boss mistreats them, I always want to respond, “Well tell them to take a hike then.”
Remember, I never was a very good employee!
And you can do that with bad clients (you simply refund their money and send them on their way).
It seems like there is a mindset difference in other areas as well. I’m always more comfortable around those who are entrepreneurs talking about their businesses. Even if they’re complaining I understand better where they’re coming from.
The question today is, “What traits make a good entrepreneur?”
What have YOU noticed that is a little different about entrepreneurs from those who make good employees?
What mindset is required for an entrepreneur that doesn’t fit well in an employee?
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Hi Terry
I love this. When I was an “employee” I used to get itchy feet and want to change my job every 3 months.
Before becoming a teacher I trained to be an accountant and I had 4 jobs in 2 years and I was always amazed I managed to last 6 months!
I just got VERY bored very easily.
At the time I thought it was just that I hated that particular job. Now, when I look back, I see that I simply didn’t enjoy being an employee.
It’s funny how so many online marketers have very similar stories.
In answer to your question – I would say that employees enjoy having their reality created for them while entrepreneurs prefer to create their OWN reality.
Cheers
Lee McIntyre
I wrote a post a while back about the more than 40 jobs I’ve had and I’m 30 years old.
What I ran into most often was wanting to improve things and having supervisors who seemed more interested in maintaining the status quo. There’s very little responsibility ever ultimately taken until someone gets fired.
I even had the CEO from a company I worked for ask for feedback from all the employees. When I replied, he said I had some great ideas and forwarded them to some VPs. I was then promptly told to shut up because I wasn’t one of them.
Maybe that’s another subset of security… employees place greater emphasis on protecting their job than creating value. As an entrepreneur, that’s all there is. You create value or you don’t eat.
Hating to be told what to do, and how to do it. But that’s just me.
Hi,
Today when i was travelling from home to my office i was reading Robert T. Kiyosaki ” Rich Dad Poor Dad” …the same topic what Terry Dean was sharing with.
Every one has to read his book who is realy want to come to right side of Quadrant which is “B” or “I” where financial freedom is there instead of just job security.
I pray to god more and more Entreprenurs are needed to this world instead of Employees.
Thanks
Mani Nagappan
Terry,
I always heard that salespeople weren’t born salespeople, they were made. That might be true for salespeople but I truly think entrepreneurs are born entrepreneurs.
An entrepreneur can’t help being an entrepreneur no more than an addict can’t help getting the next fix. There’s hope for the addict overcoming the addiction, but trying to persuade an entrepreneur to going back to Dilbert’s cube is hopeless. He or she will always find a good reason to tell the boss to shove it, and will fire a client without hesitation if they deserve it. I don’t know if this is good or bad, but I find it to be the case more often than not. A good definition for entrepreneur is; one who is unemployable.
I’ve been self employed since 1980, and like others above, find it’s in my genes (and family history) and whether I like it or not (I do) there’s nothing much I can do about it. Not my choice, not my accomplishment, but my destiny, decided before I was born.
The self congratulatory mindset that entrepreneurs often seem to be fixated on is kinda like being proud of having blue eyes. Makes no sense really. We are what we are, like everybody else, that’s all.
Honestly, I’ve found few serious conversations about freedom in the Net business community.
Real freedom would include the ability to have a stupid job with a rude boss who gives us nonsensical orders, and being capable of smiling all the way through it. Not living that life necessarily, but being able to successfully.
Imho, true freedom, the real bottom line, is internal, being able to control the territory between our own ears, not in mastery of external circumstances.
The net biz community is generally quite serious, focused and self motivated on the subject of HOW to make money, which is cool, but most often lazy and careless about really understanding WHY we want to make it.
Ironically, some of the best conversations I’ve found about freedom have been with folks who are usually half broke and probably couldn’t run a simple business if their life depended on it. Life if full of surprises, that’s what makes it fun I guess.
I think I’m neither a employee nor an entrepreneur. I get bored in jobs, and I don’t have time to build a business. There is always something happening that takes my attention away from starting off.
I’d be the first to admit, I’m a CONTROL FREAK!
The biggest thing I hated about having a regular job is not having control over what I’m doing, and how I’m doing it.
I think a lot of entrepreneurs share this feeling!
Employee’s are happy to take orders, but the employers rarely are!
I battle fear of failure but I am slain by fear of success.
Love this – we talk about this frequently at the Centre for Entrepreneurship – ie., are entrepreneurs born or bred? What entrepreneurial characteristics are employers looking for? Can we teach enterprise thinking which become transferable skills for any workplace, sector or profession?
For us at CEED – we have to work in an entrepreneurial culture which focuses on creativity, innovative thinking, commitment and dedication to service excellence, and a good broad base of skills and talent that allow for optimizing opportunities and and maximizing problem solving abilities. Freedom to be creative is also key – and lattitude to make mistakes, take risks, and be autonomous are some of the must haves for our employees. Creating a culture for staff to be entrepreneurial is key.
Having just received a couple of Terry’s books in the mail, I’m now a big time fan. That’s because the first I picked up–Financial Freedom–makes me realize it’s actually “OK” to make some money beyond just scurrying by. Though a part of me has believed this as a possibility, nearly all of what Terry says in it resonates with me, especially since it’s from such a strong Christian perspective.
On this subject specifically, I’ve been in deep, frequent prayer over where God is leaning me to go, and I keep feeling a pull toward my own gig, as I have frankly for years now. But for much of this time, until the last several months, I’ve tried my best to grind through the corporate gig, sometimes out of habit, I guess.
But, it’s a dead end, it seems, regardless of how I approach it. I’ve been so miserable at my last several jobs that I finally reached the point of–for the first time–just walking away from the last without something else to go directly to.
I have about 20K saved (actually, inherited), and I’m trying to look at it like this is an opportunity for me to trust God, to take that risk, and to work to make my own way. My personal passion is sports history, though I am not sure if I can make enough at it within a decent timeframe to where I won’t need to go back to corporate USA.
I am growing in my faith in God in these matters, and believe He can indeed open doors in ways I haven’t even considered, with my limited wisdom.
Mainly, wanting to be sure I’m doing what’s right under the circumstances.
Thanks for the post and books, especially!
Bert
I didn’t had the chance working with companies. I’m only 23 now so who knows what will happen in the future. I might be working in a company. Otherwise, I’ll continue my career as a freelancer. Actually, I enjoy my life without any boss.