Whether your company is successful or not, it is exciting to tell people that you are a founder of a startup. The fact that you actually started something is more than most people can say and gives you some credibility as an entrepreneur. But the fun part comes when you need to make your business cards and you start “handing out” the titles that you will use. The titles of CEO, Chairman, Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and other big name positions are always fun to give out. But what do they mean, especially when you are first building your product, and how can they affect the company in the long run.

One of the cool things about being a founder is that you will always be the founder. No one can ever take that away from you and it is a part of the company’s history. However, every other position is negotiable and very often, the founders find that they are not right for those jobs. This may not occur at the outset, but often that is because everyone wears multiple hats and works to get everything done together. In the early stages of a company, there is very little separation of duties and tasks; everyone pitches in wherever they are needed. But as the company grows, management must grow into their roles and this is when it is essential to know your strengths and weaknesses.

It is also important to remember that you can give yourself whatever title you want at the onset, but that can easily be stripped from you as your company grows. When you grow the company and take on investors, part of the due diligence they perform will be focused on the management team in place. While you may think you are right for the job of CEO because you are the founder of the company, the investment may come with you being replaced by the VC’s own CEO. Getting fired from your own company is not a pleasant experience or something that anyone ever wants, but at the end of the day, it may be essential to your company’s growth.

Knowing your role and what you do well are essential. There is a tremendous difference between having an idea and executing on it. While title and roles in the company don’t matter much at the onset, they should still be real and something that you are capable of handling and growing into as your business expands. Outsiders and clients will view you in this capacity and you always want to put the best foot forward by being able to handle your job. And there is nothing wrong with just calling yourself the founder until you have time to figure it out. At least that way you will save some money on business card printing!

Small business owner vs. entrepreneur: What’s the difference or are they the same? This question is something I have been struggling with for a while, not because I don’t know the difference, but because I think it is very hard to define. The main reason for that is the challenge in defining an entrepreneur. The term is becoming overused and almost generic. Almost everyone that I know who starts a business calls himself or herself an entrepreneur. From friends who started making baby/kids clothing, to lawyers who started their own practice to people who started websites and blog to those starting their own companies; everyone calls themselves an entrepreneur.

I recently posted this question on the KAYWEB Angels group page and received some interesting responses. However there seems to be some common thoughts between all of the answers, which are that an entrepreneur is about creating change and having a vision often bigger than their company. These are two unique traits to entrepreneurs that can differentiate them from a small business owner.

Both small business owners and entrepreneurs are risk takers. In many cases, these two groups put their financial future at the mercy of their business. Taking out mortgages or lines of credit, running up credit card debt and borrowing from friends and family are pretty common for people starting a business. But what differentiates the small business owner from the entrepreneur is the vision and the mindset. Small business owners want to build a business where they can work for themselves, make money for themselves instead of someone else and support their lifestyle. Entrepreneurs dream of creating the next great platform that will change how people do things. For entrepreneurs, the thought of a small business never enters their mind, as they are always dreaming of creating the next Facebook or changing an industry. While their business may grow and level off as a small business, the mindset of an entrepreneur is to pivot or create the next great idea beyond their original one.

A great example of this is someone who wants to create a kids clothing store. The small business owner will buy other people’s fabric and designs and use them to create the standard shirts, hair clips, smocks, towels etc. The entrepreneur will dream of creating a new product that can change the way kids clothing functions, such as a new type of clip that is childproof or shirt that is stain proof, or a new way of producing or marketing the clothing. While small business owners may consider themselves entrepreneurs, they lack the vision and passion to be unique and create a new way of doing things.

While these two things may set small business owners and entrepreneurs apart, there are probably numerous ways to differentiate the two, including comparing the strict definitions of the terms. But to me, the difference is greater than the definitions; it is about a mindset and a little bug inside of you that says, “I am an entrepreneur.” It is something that other entrepreneurs can sense and it makes you part of the entrepreneurial community. That feeling and sense of community is something that serves as a true differentiator.