I have a hard time with the word “entrepreneur”..and it’s not just spelling it..

For those of you that haven’t had to suffer through the story of how I came to be self-employed, let’s just say it was more of a reactive decision than proactive.

People have used the “entrepreneur” work in describing where I’m at now, and I’ve never felt quite right in claiming it - I was just a guy with a family to feed, a house to pay for, and found work that came around in project form rather than full-time jobs.

But after more than three years now, I’m starting to understand a bit more of the requirements and benefits of entrepreneurialism.  Granted in the scheme of things I’m still pretty small fry, but that’s ok - it’s where I feel God wants me to be right now.

There were quite a few interesting reasons in this list...but this one sentence summed up what I like best about self-employment more eloquently than I’ve been able to:

“You can earn your days without being beholden.”

I have a feeling that one’s hard to understand unless you’ve sat where I’m sitting - and honestly I’m not able to totally understand it yet either.  But I know some of what it means:

• No more formal “360 performance reviews” where you’re required to take input from people you don’t trust or respect.
• Realizing that you can take a two hour lunch on a pretty fall day without feeling guilty.
• Knowing that the late night work is for you and your client’s direct benefit.
• Realizing that there are more important things in life than income and market share.
• Being able to explore and learn new things without having to justify them or related them to some grand master development plan.
• Being able to pass on work that just isn’t interesting, even though it may be profitable.
• Holding each check that comes in, staring at it in wonder and amazement that God continues to care for you.