Entreployee... It's a word that's been around for at least ten years (although there's still no Wikipedia entry for it) and various publications seem to have slightly divergent claims over its definition. The generally accepted term is applied to employees who - for any number of reasons - are also active entrepreneurs, which is even encouraged by their employers. It's the product of a continually evolving working landscape, especially in the Information Age where Generation C can't be prevented from making up new games to play in the digital sandpit.
But I want to modify this concept of the entreployee to the opposite of what it currently means: the entrepreneur who becomes part of the client's furniture.
I've spent the last almost-two-years building a very strong relationship with digital sales company, ClickMaven. My role has primarily been in production - sometimes in a conveyor belt-like fashion - during which I've learned discipline, surviving pyjama-based deadlines, and the art of negotiation. An inventory of skills no freelancer can do without. As a result of the growth from this process and the relationship, the freelancer-client lines have become somewhat blurred, especially since I've been provided with a desk and chair at ClickMaven's office, as well as a role in their long-term strategy.
I no longer feel like just a freelancer and yet I stubbornly refuse to be an employee. MD, Ferdie Bester, and I have managed to iron out the nature of this entre-ployee-ship, but the process has certainly called into question both traditional methods of growing business relationships as well as placing talent.
It may also assist the point I want to convey, to know that I'm not the only entrepreneur/contractor - pardon me: entreployee - with a desk space at ClickMaven. As the company has grown, its offerings matured, and the digital space in which it operates changed, so too has its skills requirement. And instead of just waiting for answers to their consistent calls for new talent to arrive at its front door, getting the right talent on board has been a process of nurturing business relationships and identifying where the risks and pay-offs in these unconventional placements intersect.
This entreployeeism has required a flexible outlook from both of us, but one of the bittersweet benefits for me has included trading my hermit lifestyle and quiet home office for a creative and energetic atmosphere, for at least three days a week. In this open-plan and highly dynamic office environment, a congruous blend of expertise and personalities creates one of the most unique vibes I've ever experienced during daylight hours. The current ClickMaven team is the result of skills, synergy, and a distinct selection process - whether it's probationary interns, full-time employees, or us line-blurring entreployees, who are being strategically placed.
So it begs the following questions:
Lastly, a few benefits of using the entreployee model: