If you choose not to work for someone else, you have two options: you can be self employed or be an entrepreneur. What are the difference between them?
If you are self employed, you need to do the work yourself to make money. The more money you want to make, the more work you need to do. Being a freelancer falls into this category. You need to work on more projects if you want to earn more. Doctors and lawyers also fall into this category.
The nice thing about being self employed is you don’t have a boss other than your clients. As long as you can get the job done, you can control your own schedule. The problem is your capacity is limited. You can only take certain number of jobs. Another problem is if you leave your work for vacation, for instance, your income will stop.
Being an entrepreneur is different. If you are an entrepreneur, you build a system that can work without you. The system can continue making money even if you aren’t actively involved. This way you have the freedom to go anywhere you want without worrying that your income will stop.
The problem is it’s much easier to build a system that works. You may need to spend a lot of time and effort in the beginning to build the system. Once the system works, though, you will the reward of freedom.
So which one should we choose? This depends on your situation, but I think being an entpreneur is a good long-term strategy. You will need to work hard to build the system, but you can then enjoy the results.