That Was Never My Plan
Most people in construction would not consider themselves entrepreneurs. They see themselves as self-employed.
There’s not a huge difference between the two, but it is significant.
It’s the difference between working in your business or working on your business.
Someone who is self-employed is earning income from their own business, trade, or profession. This is how most people working for themselves in construction see it. It’s just a job like any other.
Most of them started out working for someone else. They learned their construction trade but not the business. Being self-employed tends to overlook the business part.
Doing business is scary…not to mention most self-employed construction people don’t like doing paperwork. The problem is, like it or not, self-employment is being in business.
An entrepreneur, on the other hand, is someone who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of the business. This difference is mostly perspective, and it’s critical. It’s how you see yourself.
It’s about where your focus is. Are you focused on just showing up on the jobsite every day doing construction, or is it bigger than that? This is the difference between having a job and owning a business.
Is what I’m doing just a job or is it building a business?
If we see ourselves as just having a job, the daily rat race becomes overwhelming and is often the reason self-employed contractors go out of business within the first five years. The numbers are staggering.
So if you see yourself as self-employed, what are you going to do to avoid becoming one of these statistics?
The first step is becoming aware. You have to see the problem before you can do anything about it. Then you can decide if you want to keep doing things the way you always have or do something different.
After you become aware of the problem, you need to understand it. This is where things are going to get harder. It’s going to require some research. This is going to take time that you don’t have, but it’s time well spent if you want to stay in business.
Now that you understand the problem, you will need information and instructions for implementing changes. I know this sounds like a lot, and you may be wondering, is it really worth it?
If it is, then you need to learn these new and different ways of doing business and change how you do things.
If this seems like too much, maybe you should just go back to working for someone else!
If you decide that you want to accept the title of entrepreneur and work on building your business rather than just working a job, then we can help.
At Solution Building we help you make this transition from self-employed to entrepreneur. We have business building tools and training available.
If you have questions about transitioning from self-employed to entrepreneur, you can set up a free 30-minute construction company consultation. It’s up to you. You get to decide if you want to accept the role of entrepreneur or continue working as an employee for yourself.