The Blog of Lisa Morosky

It’s no real secret that I’m a huge fan of reality TV. One of the shows I’ve become addicted to recently is “Flipping Out” on Bravo. If you’re not familiar with the show, it’s essentially about Jeff Lewis, a totally outrageous house-flipper living in Los Angeles, and his equally as eccentric “posse”. It’s an entertaining show, mainly because Jeff is so obsessive compulsive and out-there.

But aside from being a rather peculiar guy, Jeff and I actually share a lot of the same qualities when it comes to looking at our lives as entrepreneurs. Here are just a few:

Our passion and motivation comes from a deep sense of dissatisfaction with our current situation.
Currently, Jeff is back in the business of working with clients because the house-flipping market is crap. There was a recent episode where Jeff was annoyed with some clients he’s working with. The anger and frustration he felt fueled him to call up his real estate agent and work on getting back into the game of house-flipping. He hated his situation so much and he let those feelings fuel big change.

Hello. This is me exactly. I’m doing what I do now because I hated my last job with a burning passion. I turned that frustration into hard work in order to improve my life.

No one can tell us no. We need to figure it out ourselves.
We share a ridiculously stubborn attitude when it comes to business.

I could have a thousand people telling me that something will never work, but I’m just going to have to try and either succeed or fail on my own.

We hate wasting time.
Jeff literally “flips out” when people waste time.

I turn into that person too. Every minute is a minute that can be spent on a task, whether that’s writing, emailing, or making dinner. Time isn’t given to us to be wasted. But I’ll admit, this attitude is definitely detrimental at times.

Jeff also won’t waste his time on clients or opportunities which aren’t worth his while. This is one of the biggest lessons I’ve had to learn as a new entrepreneur – saying no.

We let others share in our success.
When you’re successful, it’s really important to take others up with you and share your success with those that helped to get you where you are.

Honestly, I think Jeff Lewis is a good businessman (most of the time). I think he’s an aggressive and smart entrepreneur, with a human quality to him that others can relate to.

I see a lot of my business philosophy in him, but I see about zero of my life philosophy in him. I think that’s important to mention.

Image Credit: http://maps-dota.blogspot.com

When you first start out online, it can be real confusing to figure out what you should be calling yourself. “Freelancer” and “entrepreneur” both have different definitions and fundamental differences. But, you can be both a freelancer and an entrepreneur. Let’s see if we can iron out the differences a little bit.

The easiest way to understand something is to define it. Here’s how good ole Merriam-Webster defines each term:

Freelancer: a person who acts independently without being affiliated with or authorized by an organization; a person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any one employer

Entrepreneur: one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise

Does that confuse you? Because it confuses me.

The way I see it, the classification of these two terms comes down to three things: what motivates you, who’s involved, and what you’re selling.

What motivates you?

For freelancers, it’s the lifestyle. Freelancers like the flexibility to work for whoever they want to, whenever they want to, and to hop from one project to the next to keep it exciting. For freelancers, it’s all about having freedom.

Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are motivated to create a large, lasting, profitable business. Entrepreneurs want to create something powerful, take risks, and leave a legacy.

Who’s involved?

A freelancer is one person who works for many clients.

An entrepreneur may start a small business on their own, but it eventually grows to include more traditional aspects of business (marketing, administration, HR, etc). An entrepreneur’s very nature is to take risks and grow.

What are you selling?

A freelancer is selling themselves. They’re selling their skills and services.

An entrepreneur is selling their business. The bigger they can grow their business, the better.

So where does that leave you?

I consider myself to be both. With my VA business, I’m selling my skills and services and it lets me live the lifestyle I desire. Therefore, I’m a freelancer in that regard.

However, I plan to expand that business, in order to take on more clients, and continue growing. Perhaps I’ll even sell it in the coming years. With my blogging business, I’m totally entrepreneurial. I’m selling my brand, I want to expand, and I’m motivated by it becoming a large, lasting, profitable business.

It depends on your goals I suppose. Don’t feel the need to box yourself into one term or the other. Just understanding the linguistic differences helps to decipher where you stand.