Success in Decorative Concrete: Embracing Self-Employment or Entrepreneurship

Are you self-employed or an entrepreneur?

Aren't those the same thing?

Not exactly. While all entrepreneurs are self-employed, not all self-employed are entrepreneurs.

But the more significant questions are, which one do you want to be? And then, how can you stay in your lane?

EMBRACING THE DISTINCTIONS

In pursuing financial independence and freedom, you have either chosen (or are considering choosing) to venture into the decorative concrete industry.

While both self-employed and entrepreneurs want independence from the traditional 9-5 job and take charge of their income, they are distinct in mindset and objectives.

Let's start by exploring the nuances that set self-employment apart from entrepreneurship.

Distinction #1: Focus

Self-employed decorative concrete professionals typically focus on directly providing their skills and services to customers to earn a living.

Their primary goal revolves around generating enough income to sustain their lifestyle and meet their financial needs.

On the other hand, entrepreneurs do all of this AND aim to create businesses that can scale and employ others.

Self-employed individuals are often content with maintaining their current level of work without a broader vision for expansion.

Distinction #2: Growth Mindset

Entrepreneurs are known for innovating, taking risks, and identifying growth opportunities.

In decorative concrete, this might look like trying new techniques or products, expanding the number of crews, and investing in marketing, coaching, and other business development options.

In contrast, many self-employed individuals may be skilled at what they do but lack the drive to explore new things. They are confident in the products and options they offer and don't seek out ways to expand or diversify.

PRO TIP: Don't ADD businesses to expand your decorative concrete business.

We're talking about expanding your decorative concrete business, not adding new businesses.

I've met guys who think adding concrete finishing or curbing expands their business. It's not. It's adding businesses.

We recommend staying in your lane and becoming successful and profitable before exploring other types of businesses.

Distinction #3: Approach

Self-employed individuals often work alone or with minimal assistance, handling most tasks themselves. They prefer to maintain direct control over their work and may hesitate to delegate or employ others.

On the other hand, entrepreneurs are willing to build a team to support the growth of their business. Simply put, they are more inclined to work with and employ others to achieve their goals.

WHICH ARE YOU?

So, which are you? An entrepreneur or a self-employed professional?

While I tend to lean entrepreneurial, I don't think being one over the other is right or wrong.

I know guys who do almost everything themselves, sometimes with a helper. They offer a small menu of installation offerings and take the winter off to fish and hunt. They can do this because they are self-employed and are not scaling the business to include others who depend on them.

But if you have dreams of scaling your business, or your financial and life goals exceed the ability of one person (even one person with a helper), developing an entrepreneurial mindset and skillset will be necessary.

You can clearly see the difference between the two. You either know which one you are and/or which one you want to be. But I promised to give you advice to help you stay in the lane you choose.

So here it is:

If you choose the self-employed lane, be content.

You can't desire the results of entrepreneurship without the work and investment. But it's 100 percent okay to be content with a healthy, predictable business that you run by yourself for yourself.

If you choose the entrepreneurship lane, stay committed to continuous learning and personal development.

Successful entrepreneurs understand the importance of staying ahead of the curve and continuously improving themselves and their businesses.

BONUS: Scaling Your Business

Before we wrap up, I promised some advice on scaling your business.

Here it is:

Until you're profitable -- don't.

If you lose money with one crew, you'll lose money with two. Scaling doesn't solve a profitability problem.

So build a healthy, profitable business and then scale from there.

So there you have it.

So, there you have it -- three distinctions between self-employed versus entrepreneur, how to pick a lane, and then stay in it. Plus, simple advice in the area of scaling your business.