The rapidly growing means of self-employment still raises a lot of questions. Is a light entrepreneur an entrepreneur? Yes and no. There is no completely unambiguous answer to that. However, we can provide clear and comprehensible information on light entrepreneurship, and that is what we have in abundance.
Intermediate form of entrepreneur and employee
A light entrepreneur is not officially an entrepreneur, and there is no such thing as a light entrepreneur company, at least not yet. But a light entrepreneur is also neither an employee nor an employed member. He's something in between.
A light entrepreneur can act just like an entrepreneur, but without a business ID. The great thing is that a light entrepreneur does not have to worry about accounting, insurances, prepayments or other bureaucracy. That is, all the things that an entrepreneur has to remember to take care of themselves.
The number one benefits of light entrepreneurship
Compared to the entrepreneur, the everyday life of a light entrepreneur is pleasantly carefree. Risks and paperwork are omitted, and you can focus in peace on the things that matter to you.
You can easily accept individual work gigs or assignments even when your customer wishes you could invoice the work you did. If you change your mind or have other plans, it will take practically nothing for you to stop light entrepreneurship.
If you start to have more work, light entrepreneurship may not serve you in the best possible way. In addition to the amount of invoicing, fixed costs and taxation can be a determining factor. It is then worth considering full-fledged entrepreneurship, for example in the form of a business name.
This is how a light entrepreneur gets paid for the work he does
The first thing you need is a billing service like Truster. Then you decide what kind of work you want to do, get your clients and agree on a job. Finally, you invoice the work you do through the invoicing service when it suits you best. That's all we need!
We bill your client, they pay us for your work, and we pay you for the work you do. We also take care of your taxes, payroll taxes and other obligations. Feel free to choose when you want to invoice and when you want the salary into your account.
Can anyone be a light entrepreneur?
Yes, you can. Anyone can become a light entrepreneur, from student to pensioner. You may want to do gigs alongside the main job, try a new business idea or entrepreneurship in itself.
Light entrepreneurship is a great solution when you only employ yourself and the work is quite small-scale. Light entrepreneurship gets into its rights best when you sell your customers your own expertise and want to charge for individual jobs or gigs.
However, you cannot start running a business that is subject to license like a restaurant as a light entrepreneur. In this case, you must establish, for example, a business name or a limited liability company.
Who decides whether you are an entrepreneur or a light entrepreneur?
Basically, you are always a light entrepreneur if you act without a business ID. However, the line between entrepreneurship and light entrepreneurship can still be blurred. Many light entrepreneurs feel that they are entrepreneurs, and the same interpretation may sometimes be made by the authorities.
TE offices decide on a case-by-case basis whether they think you are an entrepreneur or a light entrepreneur. For the time being, TE offices do not have a consistent policy, but as light entrepreneurship continues to become more common, perhaps decision-making will become clearer in the future.
Is light entrepreneurship always an intermediate step towards "real" entrepreneurship?
Why would it be? Not everyone needs to be interested in deepening entrepreneurship. If light entrepreneurship suits your everyday life and the nature of your work, you can easily employ yourself as a light entrepreneur for as long as you want. You will accrue a pension just as you would from paid employment. Just keep working carefree and leave the tiresome things to us.
