Home » Entrepreneurship vs. Freelancing: Difference and Which is Best?

Entrepreneurship vs. Freelancing: Difference and Which is Best?

The more reasons you have to love your job, the better. It is true that your job is your source of livelihood and determines how you live your life. But, most of the time, you prepare yourself from a very young age when you aspire to make a mark in a certain profession. 

There have been too many instances where people have gotten disillusioned with their jobs. There were many who switched their careers because it just wasn’t giving them the emotional satisfaction they needed. It is something that one has to do day in and day out, and not deriving any joy from your job makes it a meaningless chore. 

This is one of the principal reasons many people refuse to be a part of an organization and quit their regular 9 to 5 day jobs. Day jobs can be stressful as you need to adhere to strict codes, commute in heat and traffic, deal with an overbearing boss and over-competitive coworkers. Still, you might not be able to get that promotion because of workplace politics. This can make it very frustrating to sustain a job for years at a stretch. 

Why Should You Consider Venturing Out on Your Own? 

By venturing out on their own, you have the flexibility and independence of working on 
something that brings you steady income and joy. In addition, you get to choose their workload, and the results are far more rewarding. 

Why Should You Consider Venturing Out on Your Own
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  1. Becoming a Freelancer
  2. Becoming an Entrepreneur

Read on to learn more about the difference between being a freelancer and an entrepreneur. Then, you can get an idea about which one suits you the best should you ever choose to embark on a new course of action.

Being a Freelancer 

Being a Freelancer 
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Being a freelancer can be extremely liberating. Simply put, a freelancer is not bound to one particular organization. They have a very specific set of skills, and they choose to work with multiple organizations at a time. They get to choose the projects they find interesting and decide the amount of payment they want in exchange for it. There are no rigorous rules to follow, which is often the case with employees bound to one organization. 

#1. Will Working as a Freelancer Give You Enough Employment? 

One of the many reasons people choose to remain stuck with their unsatisfactory jobs is job security. They feel that if they are not a part of an established organization, they will not make it big or ensure a steady stream of income. 

Will Working as a Freelancer Give You Enough Employment
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However, looking at the larger picture, a seasoned freelancer will give you greater assurance of steady income than a job in a private corporate organization. Private organizations often have to go through budget cuts, resulting in many employees getting the pink slip, which means that one day you have a job, and the very next day you don’t. 

Freelancing allows you to work with multiple organizations at any given period. Hence, even if one organization does not have any gigs for you in a particular week or month, another organization will. Although this will take some time and effort initially, this creates a steady stream of work in the long run. 

#2. Does Being a Freelancer Generate Enough Income?

Once you have started acquiring enough gigs, you will find that you are earning enough, if not more, than your regular day job. One of the perks of working freelance is that you do not have to face any major deductions that your salary is subject to in a conventional organization. You will still need to pay your taxes, but your take-home amount will still be quite decent. 

Does Being a Freelancer Generate Enough Income
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Moreover, suppose you have ever felt under-appreciated in your work, and you think you have been underpaid for your efforts. In that case, freelancing is the way to ensure that you are getting paid what you deserve. You have the opportunity of fixing your pay rates. Once you start getting payments from your multiple employers, you will see that it amounts to a decent sum of money. 

Therefore, unlike a regular organization, you do not have to depend on promotions to increase your pay package. The more you work, the more you get paid, and you can also increase the pay rate from time to time in accordance with industry standards to generate an adequate income. 

#3. How Can Freelancers Look For a Job? 

Thanks to the internet, looking for freelance jobs is not as difficult as you might think, considering the immense network you can create globally. Moreover, there are various third-party websites now that are dedicated to protecting the interests of freelancers and providing them with steady work. 

Any prospective employers, who do not want to increase costs by having someone permanently on the payroll, but still require quality work, post their projects on these websites. The freelancers can bid on these projects, get in touch with the employers, and have a discussion about the requirements. It does not matter what you do. There are ample opportunities for data entry work, web designers, copy editors, content writers, graphic designers, and more. 

Once you have managed to create a niche, other projects will follow. You can also find work through job portals like LinkedIn, creating and sharing your blog, and asking friends and families. It is all about getting the word out, and once people know you are good at what you do, you will keep getting offers. 

#4. Responsibilities of a Freelancer 

As a freelancer, you are free to choose your project and demand adequate payment for it. Still, there are certain responsibilities you need to shoulder as well. Here are your two main responsibilities. 

Respect the Deadline: You need to be respectful of the deadline. As a freelancer, you will be mostly working from the comforts of your home, and it is easy to fall out of routine. You might not have to reach work at a particular time, but you still need to remember that the work needs to get done, and you have to finish it on time. Not meeting the deadline will be a serious blow to your credibility as a freelancer.

Upgrade Your Skills: As a freelancer, you are practically your boss, and you might not have to worry about being reprimanded by the higher authorities. However, this does not mean that you will turn in shoddy work. On the contrary, you have to keep motivating yourself to keep doing better and better, even without a supervisor having to tell you that.

Remember that there are other freelancers out there. If your employer does not find your work up to acceptable standards, they will hire others. Therefore, it would be best to keep upgrading your skills from time to time to understand the changing dynamics of your profession. So, get updated with that new software for graphic design or check which new project management tools can make your work faster and more organized. 

Becoming an Entrepreneur

Becoming an Entrepreneur
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The first thing you need to remember about becoming an entrepreneur is that you will be responsible for something greater than yourself. You will be building a business of your own, which will often involve investments from other individuals and organizations. 

You will also need a staff to run the business since you possibly cannot look into everything independently. It means that the moment you decide to become an entrepreneur, you also become responsible for the wellbeing of several other parties. 

#1. How Would You Know if You Can Run a Business?

The first thing that you need to become an entrepreneur is leadership skills. You might not be good at every aspect of running a business. Still, you must have the leadership skill to drive others to perform to the best of their abilities. 

How Would You Know if You Can Run a Business
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As an entrepreneur, you will be spearheading an organization that will make a profit, generate employment, and is a mechanism for some change. This will be a long-term process, and you might not even make much of a profit in the initial years. 

The first few years are the most challenging for a start-up. You might barely cover the operational costs initially. However, suppose you are patient and work through the operational issues in the initial years. In that case, you will be on your way to making something permanent. 

#2. Why is Being an Entrepreneur So Rewarding?

There have been several instances where professionals have quit steady, high-paying jobs and gone on to create successful organizations of their own. The ability to create something from scratch and do something meaningful is very rewarding. As an entrepreneur, you would have created something that will make money as you sleep after a while. After a point, your investors will want to invest more, and you will be in a position to expand your business and take it to the next level.

Conclusion

When you are first thinking of venturing out on your own, it might be a little difficult to figure out whether freelancing or entrepreneurship is more apt for you. However, if you have a penchant for specific tasks and are good with time-bound projects, you might opt for freelancing. On the other hand, if you are not afraid to put in long hours initially and build something permanent with a zeal to create something new, then entrepreneurship is more apt for you. So try to understand where your passions lie and your priorities, and figure out what is best for you.