September 3rd, 2010

Have you ever stopped to think why some people are more successful in business than others? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be your own boss and enjoy a life that was exciting and fulfilling? The possibility of self-employment may sound exciting to many, but those of who have actually been self-employment understand the enormous risks, time commitment, frustrations and pains that come along with owning and operating a business, especially on strained or limited funds.

The Self-Employed

Self-employment can be enjoyable.  It does not have to be a cumbersome and painstaking venture if you understand the mindset of the self-employed versus the business owner.

Self-employed. It means just that. A true self-employment business usually has one employee. You. The army of one. Otherwise, it is a partnership or corporation. Those in businesses that operate a self-employment business are more or less operating it with a JOB mentality. You wake up spend 50-70 hours a week keeping growing your business into a thriving entity. Producing results as a one man army. Those how are self-employed are stressed out, frustrated, overworked, and sometimes feel that it was easier when they held a traditional JOB.  

At least the weight of the world and the strain of the dollar were not on their shoulder or in their pocket. Those that are self-employed are caught between two worlds – striving for independence and being pushed to re-enter the rat race. The dread the thought of having to work for someone else, enjoy the satisfaction of saying, ”I am a self-employed business owner” but at the same time loathe the fact that in most cases they are putting in sometimes more hours than they did or at least equal to those that were put in when they were gainfully employed.

If only the self-employed could figure out where to find good help to run their business, or what needed to be done to be more efficient and productive with less time or better how to make more money in less time. Because let’s face it, businesses exist to make money, right.

The self-employed work hard. The try to use their hands to keep busy and strive to stay focus on the prize of one day having a self-running money making machine. But there is only one problem. How do they get over the hump of the day-to-day jumbo mumbo of running a business? There is just too much for one person to have to do.

The Business Owner

One the other hand, there is the business owner. The business owner does not run his or her business 50-70 hours a week. They do not trade time for money nor do they allow time to be a dictator of their profits. The business owner works with his hands just as the self-employed. Yet, they compound their labor through the power of leverage. Leverage could be several things: technology, people, and systems.

Each of these examples help the business owner creates profits without wasting time. The businesses owner does not just work with their hands, but they work with the hands of others to get things done.

For example, for someone in the property preservation field. They would work with a company and send out others to do the work for them and split the profit. The business owner has not had to lift a finger other than making a phone call, sending work orders to those willing to work, and sending out payments for work completed.

Or how about the educational teacher that wants to generate extra income, but has a heavy schedule. She could use technology to create a tutoring website that will allow her to meet with her students online and share record each session for others to download, learn and enjoy.

Do you get it? Can you see the difference between the self-employed versus the business owner?

Let’s go a little deeper

What it all breaks down to is mind set. The self-employed may think in a funnel and the business owner thinks more globally. The business owner uses systems, while the self-employed use – traditional JOB techniques. Operating a business like a job is one of the most dangerous acts that can be committed in the businesses world.

If you find yourself saying, “I have to go to work” in your self-employed business versus “I have to go create value” then you need to recheck your reality. You must leverage others – whether it means systems or people you cannot do it along. You will be wasting precious money making time.

Just remember, the business owner reaps harvest he did not plant, He deposits checks that he worked for while sleeping or on vacation. The business owner creates value that his customers can keep going back to and while they are gathering the value, he is busy elsewhere creating more value to make them happy. Good examples are musicians and entertainers. They create products, CDs, videos, recordings so that you can continue to enjoy, download, or share while he or she is away on vacation enjoying the fruits of their labor. Then they go back to the studio and do it all again – create a product that is meaningful and valuable to his listeners and fans.