23 May Are You A Small Business Owner Or An Entrepreneur?

I invest in entrepreneurs.  I love small business owners, but investing in small business is not my specialty and, while I appreciate small business owners, my focus has always been on the big ideas that will change the world.  I know it may not seem like there is much of a difference, but there is a big difference between entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Small business owners have a great idea and solve a problem in their community.  Your dry cleaner is offering a very useful service that you need. They clean your suit, offer you excellent customer service, and keep you looking like the reputable business person that you are.

Entrepreneurs have big, world changing ideas.  Entrepreneurs look at dry cleaning and wonder why it couldn’t be done differently.  They are the crazy people inventing at home dry cleaning systems or clothing that never gets dirty.

Small business owners like consistency and a good routine.  They love the repeat customers, the community connection, and knowing that every day when they open their doors the people will walk through them with some level of consistency.

Entrepreneurs love risk and live their lives on a ledge.  They thrive hanging from a bungee cord in the middle of a proverbial canyon.  The entrepreneur believes that consistency is boring and prefers the unknown.

Small business owners love what they do and want to do it forever.  Listen, I love restaurant owners who have had their business in their family for 50 years because they adore what they do.  I appreciate everything about them.  They are emotionally attached to what they do.

Entrepreneurs are all about scaling and love the idea that what they create could change the world.  Ray Kroc with McDonalds was an entrepreneur because he wasn’t married to keeping the cheeseburger in one location, but, instead, wanted to share it with the world and scale as fast as possible. Today, McDonalds is what it is because of his vision.