自営 and 経営: running your own business and managing it
Compare 自営 and 経営 through a personally run shop, a couple's inn, and reviewed expenses, while keeping preparation separate from starting a business.
自営: who runs the business personally
自営 (じえい) means self-employment or independent operation. 「父は駅前で小さな店を自営している。」 means “My father runs a small shop near the station himself.” The father is personally running the shop. 自営 highlights running one's own business; it does not specify the shop's size or number of employees.
「会社員を辞めて自営を始める準備をした。」 means “I quit my job and prepared to become self-employed.” The speaker quit a job and prepared to start independent work. 始める準備をした describes preparation to begin, so it does not establish that self-employment has already begun.
経営: the business being managed
経営 (けいえい) means management or operation. 「夫婦で海辺の小さな宿を経営している。」 means “The married couple runs a small inn by the sea.” The business being managed is a small seaside inn, and the operators are a married couple. 経営 does not require a single operator; this example describes two people running the business together.
「店の経営を立て直すため支出を見直した。」 means “We reviewed expenses to turn the store's business around.” The expense review aims to turn the store's business around. 立て直すため states the purpose of the review, rather than proving that the business has recovered.
Read the operator and the management focus
With 自営, first look at the person running their own business. With 経営, look at managing the business and its resources. These focuses can overlap: someone running their own shop can also manage its business.
The father's shop, preparation for self-employment, the couple's inn, and the expense review are separate examples. Keep each example's subject and stage instead of combining them into one person's business history.
What do the father's 自営している shop and the couple's 経営している inn each emphasize?
Show the answer and why
The first emphasizes the father personally running his own business; the second emphasizes the couple managing an inn. The meanings can overlap. In the separate preparation example, 自営を始める準備をした says the speaker prepared to start, rather than confirming that the business has started.