The Employee vs. Entrepreneurial Mindset: Which One Do You Have?

The mindset required for being an entrepreneurial is much different than that of being an employee. Entrepreneurs have to be highly self-motivated, have a high tolerance for risk and embrace the need to be constantly learning new skills. Employees on the other hand have to embrace working in groups, welcome the need to navigate corporate environments as well as having their work directed by others. One isn’t better than the other, they’re just different. Which one best suits you?

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This video is targeted to my channel’s audience of entrepreneurs, designers, creative professionals and anyone interested in brand strategy, business planning, design, trend, marketing and communications.
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Philip VanDusen is the founder of Verhaal Brand Design, a brand strategy and design agency in the New York City metro area. He is an accomplished creative executive and expert in brand strategy, graphic design, marketing and creative management. Philip gives design, branding, marketing, career and business advice to creative professionals, entrepreneurs and companies on how to build successful brands for themselves or for the clients they serve.
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[mariahargis]

The entrepreneur life fits me better. I had so much trouble fitting in with the employee culture. I do have a safety net when it come to being an entrepreneur, I am an veteran with support. When I am not working on my business, I am shopping and delivery people groceries. I have found a balance when I can continue producing content and pay the bills. It is slow going but it works.

[thompsonjm]

I stumbled on your video when researching the difference between the entrepreneurial and the employee mindset. Loved the way you broke it down across multiple aspects, without explicitly promoting either side, which really helped me to reflect which side I lean towards. Look forward to catching up with your other content!

[nullzero]

Man of his word, great roundup, thanks Philip!

[TheUltimateBlooper]

Very useful! I've been working for a small design agency for about 6 years now and I really want to get the hell out now. Everything I've ever done is self-taught and my disciplines are highly varied and of high quality (CG, photography, video, IT, a bit of webdev and design, customer relations and support, etc), which makes me a valuable asset in such a company company, but this also makes me the perfect candidate to move into the entrepreneurial world. While I do like the stability of a 9-5, I also don't feel like the compensation I am getting is up to scratch with what I want out of life (aside from the company being very small and stagnant in terms of future expansion), so the prospect of being able to keep the "sweat of my brow" for myself, as well as expand later on, is very tempting.
Thanks for the videos - they are of great help in the process. You've got yourself a new subscriber! :)

[rositarashid]

Love your video and explanation. Thank you so much.

[Crownyourself]

Thanks for the comparison chart! Very useful. I do really have an entrepreneurial mindset.

[_rhapsodist]

I am struggling in self-employment, probably for the exact reason because I have an employee mindset

[EvangelistRBColbert]

Entrepreneurship for me! I still have my 9-5 for now, but I sell merchandise on FB Marketplace, Mercari and Poshmark. My main goal is to have my own platform where people can sell their items.

[zihaoliu]

Very decent videos, detailed and structured.

[helenkinson]

Another great video! Looking forward to having you on the show today!

[elkammash]

Honest review that not only praising the entrepreneurs

[daileykohtz]

I am researching the concept of deschooling myself. I believe that my general education was geared towards making me an employee, but my personality never fit that.

My goal is to rewrite my habits and be able to help others do the same. I believe that conventional school is not the best for fostering creativity or the natural curiosity that makes good entrepreneurs.

Being able to own yourself and your outcomes is the ultimate freedom.

[prakhargpandey]

Very nice analysis. And I loved the way of presentation in tabular form. Totally relatable. Thanks for the knowledge.

[pranaytony]

Thankyou so much sir!
This video work of you means a lot to me!!

I am always getting some lines from my colleagues that you are bossy CEO person in your words, attitude, working
(Cause I do my best, learn every single time even from a sweeper, I expect the best from my colleagues too, if they don't I will help explain them motivate them that you can do this & I don't depend on anyone out there.)

Also I get to heat that,
You are not that fit as an employee, you are feeling like you are the boss for this company,
(Cause I don't want to be in a single position for years, I use to ask my managers, CEO too, that,
What is an entrepreneurship?
How should I become an entrepreneur?,
what's this company working for?, targeting for?,
Budget, capital?
Who are the clients?,
Who are those investors?, mentors?,
How you people reach them?
What are the risks involved in hiring people & bringing investors?
What are the taxes, finances, accounts systems?
What are those sales, marketing issues?
How this company manages finances with the investors, clients, employees?
How should I develop a system for myself from scratch?
How can I contribute myself to be in the core managing people of this company?
How you expand the business? & so on...

They use to insult, scold me saying that be in your limits & also give me with fake false advices so that I can fail at an early stage in my attempts & get in to a fear of not crossing this paycheck to paycheck 9 to 6 life!
Like I wanna do some business with this company but not as an employee!

I don't have the right people in providing a path to travel to achieve those goals!

I started my instagram.com/pranaytony18 page about Motivating content but suddenly I started posting entrepreneural content!

I always wanted to be a self dependent person & run a small to medium based company & make it a big in the future, hire some cool people & provide them with the employee friendly culture, so that they can grow from their positions to achieve their ideas to an individual successful businesses in to reality!

[jagodabrie]

In my case, I believe I have entrepreneurial mindset more than employee mindset, however I still do not feel confident quitting being an employee (read: quitting stability) to pursue a bigger goal. I feel like there are certain things I need to learn first, so that I can minimise the stress of making such a change.
Currently I am an employee that is always trying to do more than expected, in the culture that proactivity is not welcome (particularly from a young woman). I think being an employee in a place where you can at least grow and have increasing impact is a good middle ground. It might gradually make you familiar with how it is to have more responsibility and decision making power, and that can help you gain confidence in becoming an entrepreneur.

[myfavoriteplanet]

To be an employee you have to learn to be a machine for a bigger machine.
Be a corporate puppet for some greedy psychopath narcissist that cares nothing about you because their profit is all that matters.
Don't get sick or have other needs.
To be an employee you have to also be able to tolerate a very short leash day after day over and over.

[kynchan]

I have an employee mindset but have been forced into being an entrepreneur, due to never getting past the interview. To fill the hours I charge some of the lowest prices so it is very attractive to use my services.

I also like to save and be as frugal as possible most of the time. When value appears eg low metal and fuel prices (that time of the business cycle), low real estate prices (unattractive property eg commercial and waste land when everyone is trying to buy residential) I like to buy heavily into the equities that relate to the cheap cyclical asset and or the unattractive real estate.

The value and contrarian mindset added to the very hard working employee mindset and the generally frugal habits lifestyle has made me very wealthy over time, mostly from inflation lifting the value of the assets as a positive (hence can borrow more to buy more unattractive assets) and inflation raising living costs, but I'm not affected too negatively because I have production on my waste land (trees that produce starchy nuts, fatty nuts, fruits and wood for timber, flavouring, charcoal/fuel; fruit bushes and the flatter areas are great as gardens for vegetables and oil crops).

But I have to say I never wanted to be an entrepreneur ever the very thought of taking enormous risk is awful. The comfort of just being able to slot into a situation everyday, even if the pay is not so good, is perfectly fine. If I want more pay I'll work longer hours, do without the momentary impulse or find an alternative. The employer can take the risk. Everything bought must hold value or it is risk taking.

[JessMaccain]

Actually I've adopted the entrepreneur mindset even being just an employee (though not a very successful one), because learning and taking intiative is fulfilling in itself, regardless of my role. With entrepreneurship, I feel I can take on the mindset but not the high risk. Personally I also have trouble making my real interests into a business -- I'm into music, literature, philosophy, psychology, spiritual stuff. I'm good at writting and can speak Mandarin Chinese and English. I just didn't find much opportunity to package all of that into a business. I just wrote a lot on Quora for free, answering other people's questions. I think I may only become an entrepreneur if I actually have a product to solve unsolved problems on the market.

[fantaientertainment]

1.energy
2.yes
3.somewhat ok
4.a good amount
5.none yet
6.none yet
7.i like to only what i want ti learn sometimes i would rather learn myself

[trentonpearson]

How would compare being a real estate agent vs. being an entrepreneur. Is it the same or are there differences?