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Business owner vs founder

The differences between business owners and founders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a founder has an average salary of $91,296, which is higher than the $50,934 average annual salary of a business owner.

The top three skills for a business owner include customer service, payroll and financial statements. The most important skills for a founder are web design, business strategy, and non-profit organization.

Business owner vs founder overview

Business OwnerFounder
Yearly salary$50,934$91,296
Hourly rate$24.49$43.89
Growth rate6%-5%
Number of jobs107,66359
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 52%Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age4444
Years of experience6-

What does a business owner do?

Business owners, also known as Entrepreneurs, are responsible for their company and brand's success. There are many areas of responsibility when you're a business owner, such as in the aspects of planning and budgeting, arranging finances and legal documentation, and even hiring the workforce essential for the business to grow. However, these responsibilities will vary according to how a business owner will uphold them. Moreover, building a business from the ground up requires dedication and a vision and mission for the brand.

What does a founder do?

A Founder is responsible for building his/her business from the ground up through various strategies and extensive planning. A Founder is also responsible for the workforce's funding and recruitment that would be vital for a company to succeed and create a vision and mission that the business would uphold. Furthermore, a Founder must take the lead in the business planning and operations, develop and maintain goals, coordinate with the board, and maintain a healthy relationship with employees.

Business owner vs founder salary

Business owners and founders have different pay scales, as shown below.

Business OwnerFounder
Average salary$50,934$91,296
Salary rangeBetween $27,000 And $94,000Between $47,000 And $176,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WA-
Highest paying stateWashington-
Best paying companyBD-
Best paying industryRetail-

Differences between business owner and founder education

There are a few differences between a business owner and a founder in terms of educational background:

Business OwnerFounder
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 52%Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of Pennsylvania-

Business owner vs founder demographics

Here are the differences between business owners' and founders' demographics:

Business OwnerFounder
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 51.4% Female, 48.6%Male, 64.3% Female, 35.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 3.7% White, 62.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage10%7%

Differences between business owner and founder duties and responsibilities

Business owner example responsibilities.

  • Manage the budget and insure operations run smoothly.
  • Create, own and manage a LLC for grind pet transportation.
  • Establish and manage a beading boutique via the Internet by utilizing Photoshop to post designs on a personal website.
  • Manage sales, customer service, billing, A/P, A/R, vendor relations, negotiations, repairs, and maintenance.
  • Manage end to end business operations including hiring, scheduling visits, conducting customer consultations and performing pet visits.
  • Handle all aspects from A/P to A/R, payroll, ordering and dealing with all distributors and city officials.
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Founder example responsibilities.

  • Manage revenue, expense transactions, complete customer invoices, purchase orders (QuickBooks).
  • Lead team of software developers (JavaScript) and sound engineers that launch interactive sound solutions for the web.
  • Manage paid AdWords and Facebook marketing campaigns for consumer-persona research, brand awareness and customer acquisition.
  • Manage company expense and payroll accounts, purchase and deliver materials to job-sites, and business administrative services simultaneously.
  • Design, develop and maintain websites using cross-browser compliant XHTML, CSS & JavaScript.
  • Launch the site to fill a gap in educating beginner web programmers to use HTML to PHP to MySQL.
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Business owner vs founder skills

Common business owner skills
  • Customer Service, 31%
  • Payroll, 12%
  • Financial Statements, 9%
  • Business Plan, 7%
  • Business Model, 3%
  • Real Estate, 2%
Common founder skills
  • Web Design, 24%
  • Business Strategy, 5%
  • Non-Profit Organization, 5%
  • Facebook, 5%
  • R, 4%
  • Business Plan, 4%

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