Am I A Freelancer or Small Business Owner

Advice Column
(start a conversation)

Perception is everything. If you’re entertaining the idea of “doing your own thing” and are not sure how to best identify yourself, then now would be a good time to think about what box you need to put yourself in.

All too often, solopreneurs don’t like to be pigeon-holed. We struggle with this all the time. Never is it as much of an issue as when we’re crafting our business card. “Do I put CEO or Founder? What about Entrepreneur? But wait I do the job of 5 different people so shouldn’t I be Senior VP of Creative and Digital Operations slash Marketing slash Sales slash Fluffer?”

Seriously, sometimes it’s not that serious.

What is serious is understanding what kind of future you want to create for yourself. Freelancers, for the most part, are contracted professionals kind of like a hitman or assassin. Whereas a small business owner would be the equivalent of a Madam for a brothel. I hope putting these two analogies help put your title into perspective.

The fundamental difference between a freelancer and small business owner is mainly in the structure of your operations. While a freelancer and small business owner can work from anywhere, specialize in whatever field they want and select those customers they prefer to work with – there are still significant differences.

Freelancers tend to work solo. Like a hitman, they tend to not work well with others. That doesn’t mean they can’t but they are much more effective working by themselves. They are highly skilled in their expertise and when left to their own devices, can work some powerful magic to your bottom line.

Small business owners, often hire others to help complete the task at hand. Imagine one (1) madam filling the needs of all the local men entering her salon. A small business owner may have employees or they may outsource to various specialists. They are less hands on with the actual work itself because they are too busy lining up a steady flow of clientle.

As someone who’s freelanced for several years, I find myself transitioning into a small business owner. This is a natural and common progression for freelancers. For some, you may feel like it’s time to step it up and grow. However, for some freelancing is perfectly fine.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to your personal goals and working style. Just be clear and honest with yourself about which track is most appropriate for you and your personality.