Did you know you can also subscribe to the RSS of all the comments on this blog? This is where the most interesting discussions often take place. Enjoy!
I love this article on BusinessPundit.com on Why Entrepreneurship Isn’t All It Cracked Up To Be. It makes for interesting reading, and I agree with a lot of it. It’s so fashionable to be “an entrepreneur” these days and there seems to be this blanket assumption that it will always be better than having a 9 to 5 job.
I am so tired of this common thread on blogs that says everyone must be an entrepreneur and in order to be an entrepreneur you have to be a programmer, web designer, consultant, or freelance writer.
Funny though, I wouldn’t automatically think of a freelancer as an entrepreneur… to me, entrepreneur has the connoctation of inventing something new, or doing something different – not just working on a self-employed basis for a series of clients. And why is it that a self-employed translator would automatically be described as freelance, whereas a self-employed accountant or consultant would be running a practice or consultancy of some kind?!
Other posts on related topics:
- Who cares what other translators are doing wrong? I was surprised to feel my face stretch into a smile of recognition this...
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Freelancers are very different from entrepreneurs. Freelancers are self-employed people, working for different clients, hence they follow orders and get paid for it.
The entrepreneur, on the other hand, is someone who has a “idea” or a goal, something that can have an impact or cause change. And the entrepreneur pursue this “idea” with much passion.
Good point, bootstrap. I agree that there has to be an element of “something new” for someone to become an entrepreneur in my eyes at least. But don’t you think someone can be *both* a freelancer and an entrepreneur? Say, if I’m a freelance translator, but my idea of how I want my business to run is perhaps a little different from the “typical” freelance translation model (whatever that is…)? Of course, I’m going to pursue it with great passion, and I certainly hope that this will have a positive impact on my life, the lives of others in my community and, because it is different, maybe even my profession too? Lofty ideals, this entrepreneurial lark, eh?!