I was at an entrepreneur seminar on campus last month, and Director Bill Howe was talking about how he owns an auto dealer consulting business. He went on to say that he helps auto dealers improve customer service and marketing. His business had a name, a logo, business card, and he was listed as President. The problem was that he was the only employee, and instead of owning a business, he was merely a freelance consultant. Often entrepreneurs are confused with owning a business, and being your own boss. The distinction is subtle, but actually quite noticeable once discussed. If someone is a freelancer, they choose their own jobs, market themselves, and work with clients directly. Essentially, a freelancer is similar to a service employee at a large firm, but standalone and instead of working for that company, instead works directly for clients. Web designers often are the lone employees are their small businesses, yet consider “owning the business”, which upon closer examination is not true. I myself am guilty of such mistake, and after discussing the differences with my father, realized that I was instead a freelance web designer, and not an entrepreneur. In my scenario, I would own my web design business if I had a salesperson who marketed PixelTorch, worked with clients, and managed the programmers; a programmer; and a designer. The business could run on autopilot, and I would essentially oversee the operations and make adjustments. Instead at PixelTorch, I am the designer and the salesperson, which instead of makes me a freelance web designer, as opposed to a business owner. Do you guys think a freelancer is considered an entrepreneur (a person who undertakes and operates a new enterprise or venture and assumes some accountability for the inherent risk)?