8 ways to know if you have a job or own a business

The ultimate test of your business can be found in a simple question: would someone want to buy your company? 

Whether you want to sell next year or a decade from now, you must be building an asset someone would buy – otherwise, you have a job, not a business. 

Here are eight ways to ensure you are building a company, not just doing a job:

1. A job requires that you show up at work to make money, whereas a company generates revenue whether you are there or not.

2. If your company is so reliant on a single customer that they can dictate how you deliver your product or service, your company is more like a job than a valuable business.

3. A job is a place where your personal reputation impacts your results, whereas a company is a place where the brand is more important than the personality of the founder(s).

4. A job requires you to use your personal experience and expertise to get a result, whereas a company is a place where a process – not a person – consistently produces a desirable result.

5. In a job, you get fired for taking too much vacation, whereas if you own a company, the more vacation you can take without impacting your company’s performance, the more valuable your business will be.

6. In a job, the harder you work, the more money you earn. In a company, the smarter you work, the more money you earn.

7. In a job, you solve the problems. If you own a company, your employees solve the problems.

8. If the majority of your customers know your mobile phone number, it’s likely you have a job, not a company.

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