Disclaimer: This analysis/ study is my personal opinion based on the experiences i have had as a freelancer. This is not in any way an authoritative document. However, you are free to discuss your perspective with me. Will be glad to know what you think.
Part1 synopsis:
- Becoming a freelancer is a transition, and not a degree/diploma.
- Help yourself – Educate yourself – Make informed choices.
- When in doubt, google it/him/them.. and… google some more.
- Perseverance is the key.
- Freelancers and Homepreneurs are indeed (dis)similar.
- Their dissimilarity lies in the manner in which they manage their time / priorities.
- Look deep into your upbringing, may be you have that homepreneurial spark, waiting to show up.
Couple of months back, I had been to the NASSCOM Product conclave 2010 at Bangalore. As an independent freelancer / homepreneur, I was not associated with any company. My business card read “Freelance Consultant” along with Homepreneur.com as the url. My corporate friends would agree that, formal way of introducing oneself is to say “I am __ from ___ Company.” All I had was, “Hi, I am Deepa & I am a homepreneur”.
This spiked the interest (.. which is good for me… I get to do my sales pitch), and wanted to know more. Here is a small snapshot of our conversation.
I do not have permission to disclose the identity of the fellow attendee, so here is the rest of the conversation.
Fellow Attendee: Hi, I am ___ from ____ (Company), heard about us.
Myself: Yes, I was briefed about your products and services by your colleague Ms.____ a little while ago. It is something very new to me. I should try it out soon.
FA: Great! Sorry I didn’t catch whom you represent.
Myself: :-), I am Deepa & I am a homepreneur. I do freelance consultations for Zoho applications.
FA: Yes, we have been hearing a lot about Zoho at this conclave. So you work with Zohocorp? Is it so?
Myself : Oh No!. I do not work for zohocorp… I am not employed by zohocorp. I do freelance consultations (Customizations, Developments etc) for people using zoho suite of applications. My focus is primarily on Zoho Creator. I develop customized applications in zoho creator for people who want to use a web based database oriented application with their business.
FA: Thats interesting. So what kind of applications have you developed?
— and we chat about it for some more time—
FA: You mentioned that you are a homepreneur. What is this supposed to mean?
Myself: Homepreneur is an Entrepreneur working from home.
FA: So, more like a Garage-Startup? Is it?
Myself : No, not exactly. All start-ups, however small, nourish the dream of growing into something big – have an office space – hire more hands etc. Homepreneur, on the other hand, is contended with being busy (& paid) for the time she can allot herself to work on any given day.
FA: So, you mean to say, homepreneurs don’t dream big? They would not want to have an office for themselves?
Myself: Some homepreneurs move on to become entrepreneurs. Some just remain as homepreneurs. For such enterprising minds, Homepreneurship is a transitory phase.
FA: How exactly do you think homepreneurs and entrepreneurs are different? Coz, As I see it, they are just the same, except for their place of work.
Myself: Indeed, that is the most obvious difference. However,
|
Homepreneur |
Entrepreneur |
||
| Place of work | Home | Office | |
| Nature of work | Products / Services that can be predominantly handled by a single person | Focuses on products / services as complete packed which involves diverse skill sets. | |
| Delivery of work | Physical products: Clients usually drops by to collect items personally. Popular example being Pico work on sarees. | Physical products are manufactured & shipped to the clients. | |
| If Services, it is usually delivered electronically. | Most services are delivered electronically, but also tends to have a company representative at the client location to set things up. | ||
| Team Size | Just 1 (oneself – to start with). However, if an ongoing client comes up with additional requirements, other like minded homepreneurs/ freelancers are called in to work as a team. So, Teaming-up is basically the need of the hour and not the essential driving factor. | Vary from 5- 15 depending on the nature of the business. | |
| Recruiting new hands | Practically non-existent. Entirely based on client’s demands & if existing team members are unable to contribute or does not match the requirements. | Aggressive recruitment. Tends to have at least 2 (skilled) team members on the bench who can start of immediately (ASAP) on a new project. |
|
| Working hours | Self Chosen. (- multiple factors determine the exact working hours-) |
An Entrepreneur is forever working. Yet, the general perception of 9 am – 7 pm stands true to almost all of them. | |
| Work Load | Takes extra care to accept projects that fit just into her chosen working hours. Being at home, does not ensure that she is available to work 24x 7. Most often “Little Less” tends to be “Just Right” for harmony between work and rest of her responsibilities. |
Entrepreneur has a business to run & payroll to attend to. So, every employee on the bench is a resource underutilized && Costs $$ to company without any returns. Hence aggressively looks for projects (so that CTC is justified) |
The gentleman appeared to be convinced about my take on the difference between homepreneur and entrepreneurs. The conversation continued for a little more time, until the conclave volunteer announced the commencement of the next programme in the agenda.
I have to admit, it is this conversation with this gentleman that prompted me to make this comparative series between Employee: Freelancer : Homepreneur and Entrepreneur. It is likely that I missed out on few other things in this comparative study. Do feel free to share them at the comments. Will be glad to know more on your take on the (dis)similarities.
Ever listened to those haunting Kishore Kumar tunes on a starry night? Did your lips hint at a smile along the corner, while you watch the tiny tots strut off in their school uniforms? Did you just shift your position at the cafe / train so that you can catch some titbits off the self-engrossed-high pitched-conversations of college kids near you?
Every generation thinks “ we are better informed”. …(Get over it, you and me cannot beat this)….. But our experience have taught us that “ they need direction” …. again .. so did we, .. but we loathed anyone who came to us with advice… So.. what kind of reaction do you expect when you approach these young kids with ammunition called advice. Youngsters are like oyster clams. They do not open up easily. But when they do, be ready to be marvelled by their brilliance, making the wait worthy in every physical-spiritual-aesthetic sense.