Business ownership… so how does this differ from being a freelancer? And can you be both? What different skill sets are needed to be a business owner rather than a freelancer. These are the questions that I will be looking at in this blog post.
Very simply a business owner differs from a freelancer in so far as if you took the person out of the equation; would there still be a business or legacy left?
Often people start out as freelancers and then start to become a business owner. If you have your own set of clients, which work with you directly, and have full responsibility for resourcing this client’s assignment, then you have become a business owner. If you take on other freelancers or permanent employees, to service all your client’s needs, then you have moved into the world of business ownership.
A quick note here, many freelancers will use the services of an accountant, book-keeper or virtual assistant… this is my book doesn’t make you a business owner. The key difference here is employing or hiring staff to service your client’s needs, rather than to help you manage your own affairs more efficiently. Many of my clients who have established businesses, struggle to find enough time in the day. With these clients I am always helping them to be more confident and prepared to delegate and outsource the routine and mundane tasks, which stop them doing more interesting and profitable work.
Many professional advisors who have left the ranks of the ‘employed’ take on freelance work until they have built up a solid client base for their own business. Whilst you are building up a professional practice it is worth setting limits on how much freelance work you will or wouldn’t take on – as too much freelance work may amply pay your bills but hamper your ability to build up your practice. One of my clients was taking on freelance legal work to finance her whilst she built up a coaching practice. However, she soon realised that if she was ever going to live off her earnings as a coach and ditch the legal stuff once and for all, she needed to severely limit the amount of freelance work she was doing.
Many professional advisors who would have never considered themselves to be salesmen (or sales women) start up their own business. It comes as a rather nasty shock to the system that business ownership means you need to be able to market and sell yours services to survive. Relying on a reputation for good quality work, and work coming to you solely via word of mouth and referrals, is not enough! Plus, if you think about it building up a business based on quality referrals takes time.
To be successful as a business owner you need to make the transition from technical specialist into business development director and Chief executive.
Before I conclude my series of blog posts on the differences between freelance, business owner and interim professionals, it is interesting to note some of the similarities… all three will probably trade as a limited company and networking is a must have skill for all three types of professionals.
That concludes my series of blog posts looking at the differences between freelance, business ownership and interim professionals. What are your thoughts on the differences?
Related posts:
- Freelancer OR Interim OR Business Owner? Part 1 What’s right for you... freelance, interim, business owner or a mixture? In the next three posts we will look at...
- Freelancer OR Interim OR Business Owner? Part 2 In this post, I look at what it means to work as an interim employee, and how this differs to...
- 18 signs that you are ready to take your business to the next stage After ‘start-up’, in my view, the most painful period in a business’s life is when the business owner makes the...
- 8 things to think about before turning freelance Making the jump from employee to contractor, freelancer or associate is a big step – which should not be taken...
- Are you running your business, or is your business running you ragged? Think back to those heady, idealist days, before you started running your own business... What was your business meant to...
2 Comments
A great trilogy, Heather! I reckon I fall into the ’semi-freelancer, semi-business-owner’ category. For both models, I need to make sure I am marketing myself (or my business) on a regular basis.
On top of that, I appreciate that I need to define exactly what my target market is for each model — they are more different than I at first realised.
I think many freelancers and small business-owners don’t spend anywhere near enough time (if any at all) to clearly define their market, let alone their marketing. Which is perhaps the biggest reason why so many don’t make it past those first few decisive years in business.
I’m glad you liek the posts Tracey. I wrote them as I was getting slightly confused over what I was. Like you I am semi-freelancer, semi-business owner. In time, & if The Efficiency Coach grows as well as it is doing at the moment, I hope that I will be 100% business owner.
When I am freelancer mode, I aim to be a chameleon & take the values, attributes and characteristics of who ever is paying my invoice!