Well, in my eyes a job is something that you have to go to every day. You collect a pay check every couple of weeks. It's reliable, but usually boring and very time consuming.

A business, on the other hand, is something that should be worked ON and not IN. A business is only a business if it can operate without you. In other words - somebody else should be able to take the phone calls. Somebody else should be able to keep the books. Somebody else should be able to do the selling. Doesn't necessarily mean they have to, and especially not right away because the processes need to be created. But the idea of a business is that it is a system - not a job.

If you own a job then you can't really reap the rewards of being self-employed... I mean, how could you ever take a week-long vacation if the phones need to be answered? How could you focus on expanding and improving your business if your marketing is not automated? The answer: you can't!

I recently read a blog posting by Terry Dean, a seasoned business coach who sold his company and retired at the age of 30. He recommended reading a book called the e-myth which is all about putting processes in place in your business so you can work on it and not in it. I've read these same principles over and over (especially in Rich Dad Poor Dad), so I'm going to pick this book up and read it soon:

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280

As a side note, but I think, related...

I also recently read a blog post by Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks (sold Broadcast.com for billions) that made an impression. He said that you should identify your weaknesses and outsource them. In other words - you're good at some things and you suck at other things. It's hard to actually step back from yourself and identify the things that you're not good at, so you can have someone else do them for you.

Mark says that his business would not have been successful if he didn't face up to the fact that he was terrible at organization, and bring on a partner that was strong in that area. This is worth a read:

http://www.blogmaverick.com/2008/01/06/success-and-motivation-dont-lie-to-yourself