I am often told by a business owner that they are an entrepreneur, but most of the time I disagree with their position. Most business owners, especially those that are struggling financially right now are truly business owners and not entrepreneurs.
So what’s the difference between a business owner and an entrepreneur?
Here’s a quick example of a business owner…Bob owns a jewelry store on a busy intersection or at the mall in your local community. Bob sells lots of jewelry inside of his store but he doesn’t really expand his business offerings. Bob might add a second store but essentially Bob still is a business owner with two locations.
Here’s a quick example of an entrepreneur that owns the same jewelry store…Bob has the same location or two locations. Bob also starts doing private shows at a local upscale restaurant to find prospects for his line of custom jewelry that sells for double or triple the price of his “stock” jewelry. Bob then creates a list of customers that attended his private events at the local restaurant and invites them to a “Diamond Exploration Trip”. Bob arranges a trip to Antwerp, Belgium where he and the local travel agent craft an experience trip where Bob gets a percentage of the money spent on the trip. Bob has now created another new revenue stream. But Bob’s a crazy entrepreneur and part of the trip requires each attendee to find their own diamond that Bob then mounts for them in a necklace, earrings or bracelet. Bob also creates an online website where his customers can become members to receive additional discounts and coupons. Bob charges a small fee to become a member but gives back double this fee back as in-store coupons. Bob also teams up with local charities to do monthly fundraisers at his store. Where members of the charity spend cash and Bob returns a percentage of that money to each charity.
See the entrepreneur continues to add new revenue streams and other businesses to their existing business. Most people are really business owners that have just created a job for themselves. Many entrepreneurs find it difficult not to find opportunities or new ways to create revenues for their companies. It’s the reason why many of my friends and I that are entrepreneurs have been able to rise above the current economic crisis and have record years.
I’m thankful that I’ve become an entrepreneur and not a business owner.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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