The Difference in Being Self Employed and a Business Owner

June 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment

While finishing my human biology degree in preparation for attending dental school, I listened to an audio series that cause me to leave my dreams behind of a career in

Las Vegas dentistry

. The main thing I learned was the difference between being self employed and being a business owner. There were many things I liked about my former career choice. I loved the idea that I would be my own boss. As a dentist I would be important, and impressive. I would make a great living and be able to afford a large house and things like that.

I now had a new perspective. I learned of the freedom and control of life that came with becoming a business owner. Instead of becoming a high paid specialist that still traded time for money, as all employees do, I now wanted to create a business that would free up my time. As a dentist, if I took a month of to vacation on the beaches of Hawaii, for example, I would not have any income that month. I only would get paid for drilling teeth. If I wanted to double my income, I would either have to drill twice as much teeth, or charge twice as much.

On the other hand, if I built a business that ran independently of me, I could leave for a period of time and still have paychecks coming in. By now it was too late to change my major so I finished my biology degree and got the certificate. Now my adventure of becoming a business owner was about to begin.