Employment vs Entrepreneurship

In March 2009, the parents of IIT Delhi alumnus Deepinder Goyal, 29, were perplexed to see their son working from home. After a few days, they began to worry. Their "worst fears" were confirmed when Goyal disclosed that he had quit his cushy job at consulting firm Bain & Co to set up a foodie website—Foodiebay.com. His parents were worried and advised Goyal to return to a "job." But the company he founded, now called Zomato.com, received $2.3 million (about Rs 12.3 crore) in funding in 2011, broke even with estimated revenue of more than Rs 3.5 crore in 2012, and has even expanded to west Asia and Europe. "They are extremely happy and proud now," says Goyal.

Almost every aspiring graduate finds the leap to entrepreneurship brings with it difficulties that are not just economic. The fear of rebuke or rejection from family and friends is in most cases their first challenge. "Resistance from families to risk is one of the three biggest inhibitors to entrepreneurship in India, the other two being capital and awareness.
When IIT Roorkee alumnus and founder of property portal CommonFloor.com Sumit Jain, 28, wanted to launch his own venture in the third year of his engineering course, his father, who owned a hardware business in Meerut, vehemently opposed the idea
Such resistance stems from deep-rooted cultural mores. We suffer from a dependency syndrome in India, of working for someone than creating jobs. Even the students in colleges are taught to become employees and never employers. It is the promise of growth that is encouraging entrepreneurs to push forward. But for every Zuckerberg or Jobs who break out of the mould, there are many who fail to make the leap. "Children who have nothing to fall back upon often prefer secure jobs. Not only at home, entrepreneurs are black-listed in the marriage market and on social front too, where they are mostly regarded as 'unstable.'

Mindset is probably the major determinant of success in pretty much every walk of life and so in entrepreneurship. In other words, the thinking patterns you habitually adopt largely govern the results you achieve.  But different circumstances and situations require different mindsets, something that anyone looking to leave paid employment and strike out on their own, must be aware of. Unfortunately, not all would-be entrepreneurs understand the dramatic mindset shifts required, without which business success is unlikely.

When an employee you are busy trying to play safe. You are trying hard to either complete the task given or reach the target posted. As an employee you follow the rules, policies and play the game. While as an entrepreneur you do the opposite you take risks, break the rules, define new tasks and sometimes change target midway. To put it crudely it’s the difference between following your gut vs covering your butt.
That said I don't think being an employee is a bad thing. Taking instructions and following rules is not a taboo. If employees didn't exist then the world would not be the same. We all evolve into entrepreneur, leaders and business owners only after learning the ropes as an employee.
End of the day you can be an entrepreneur or an employee or an entrepreneurial employee the only secret to success is the right mindset and attitude