What Type of Business Owner Am I?

Unlike the various types of entrepreneurs, there are only three types of business owners. Owning a company does not mean you are an entrepreneur. That subtle difference matters, because many people assume that having a business automatically turns them into entrepreneurs.

Within business ownership there are three personality types. They are not mutually exclusive, yet most people lean more toward one than the other two, and the Entrepreneur profile is rarely the dominant one.

1- The Producer

The Producer is an artist, someone with a distinctive talent who dreams up projects that can serve the community while sensing market needs in a sustainable way. They excel at creating, imagining, and innovating, but they do not always have the expertise to scale a business, manage people, or handle the administrative demands of a company.

2- The Leader

The Leader is the manager. This is the person with the know-how, the practical skill set required to run a business. They must constantly manage and meet the needs of the Producer or talent.

One distinction is essential here: every true leader is an efficient, excellent manager, yet a manager is not always a strong leader. You want a leader. Sometimes that leadership quality is already present inside a manager, hidden. Your job is to pull them out of their comfort zone so that hidden personality can surface.

Sponsored*

3- The Entrepreneur

The Entrepreneur is the visionary, the person who creates and sustains the vision of the business. They seek out, attract, and motivate managers and leaders, equipping them with the tools to work with people and, when the structure includes one, to manage the artist.

The entrepreneur is a risk-taker with a high tolerance for risk. They are willing to take personal risks for the business, navigating the financial and emotional challenges of the company and its team. They work effectively with managers and leaders to build a system that continually empowers Producers and talent so the organization can meet the needs of the community it serves in a sustainable way.

Now a simple exercise: look at your role in your company. Examine your strengths and weaknesses, and try to place them in one of these three categories. You will see what type of owner you are, whether you operate more as an operator or as an entrepreneur, and what you still need. If you are more of an artist than a leader, find someone who can fill that gap for the business. If you are an entrepreneur and lack someone who can motivate employees and artists day to day, bring in a leader for that work while you focus on the less visible layers of the organization.

This idea can be hard to accept, especially for people who call themselves entrepreneurs. For a company to function well, you need all three profiles. If you already embody one of them, fill the other two needs with partners or team members who can cover them.

And if you do not have a business yet, ask yourself these questions before you launch.