Business 101: Shifting From Employee to Entrepreneur
When the time comes that you think being an employee ends now and being an entrepreneur sounds better, you will need to prepare yourself to face the impossible. Shifting from a steady employment to make your own name in the world of entrepreneurs requires you to shift your mindset as well. There are a lot of things that will be different from the ways you are used to and a lot of other things you didn’t even knew are packaged along with it.
Finding Your Own Honey Hole
If you’re just going to rely on other people’s suggestions, it will be best if you get back to your full-time job. Finding your own honey hole means finding the right industry to establish your business in. There are a lot of entrepreneurs who used their own skills and industry when they were still employees, while others relied on their hobbies.
For example, you work as a programmer for a BPO company and your favorite hobby is baking. Maybe you’d want to start your own business of programming mobile and web applications and sell them; you can also be a provider of software to multiple IT companies; or build your own mini bakery or invest your severance pay on food carts.
The Power and Responsibilities
Being your own boss gives you the power to do everything and whenever you want it done. Sounds nice, right? But what most new entrepreneurs fail to grasp are the responsibilities that comes with their actions. As an entrepreneur, you will no longer have to wait for someone to tell you what to do or for things to happen, you are the one in charge of making things happen. And whatever the result is – good or bad; you have to take all the responsibilities.
You also have to learn to wear multiple hats, especially if you’re starting out with a small budget. You will have to say goodbye to John from the IT department who updates your OS and cleans your computer of viruses, and Louie, the guy you always pass by down the hall mopping the floors, vacuuming the carpet and watering the plants. You will learn to handle everything; sales and marketing, billing and accounting, customer support and even taking out the trash.
Even if you have the budget to hire people to work for you, you will still need to learn how everything works so you would know if your business is being productive or not. You cannot know if there is a problem if you do not know how things work.
No More Excuses
You’ve probably made a lot of excuses as an employee, but being an entrepreneur, excuses will not help you succeed, and you’ll only be fooling yourself. There will also come a time when people will try to tell you things that you should be doing for your business, these can be new opportunities for you but you also have to learn to say NO because juggling multiple ventures can side-track you from your ultimate goal and that doesn’t make a good excuse either.
Live and Breathe It
As an employee, you learned to schedule your tasks based on the working hours per day you are required to work. But as an entrepreneur, long hours will be a part of your family. This is why it’s important to start something you love to do ‘till the end of time. You will always be thinking of how your business is doing, what more can be improved or if you’re doing the right method. You’ll find yourself logging in to your computer during a weekend getaway with the family or during a vacation on the beach just to check up on your metrics.
Funding Your Dream
Do you know how to manage your cash flow? If you can budget your salary from the day it’s wired to your bank account ‘till your next payday, then you do know how to manage your cash flow. Same goes with building a business, the money that comes in must be higher than the money that goes out or else you’ll go bankrupt.
If you’re really serious about becoming an entrepreneur, fund it ahead of time. That way, you won’t have to worry about how you’re going to pay your employees and the bills.
Shifting from employee to entrepreneur is a great deal; it may be easy for natural born entrepreneurs or to those born in a family with a multi-million dollar empire, but it doesn’t mean it’s not for you. Turn your ambition into a goal and keep your eyes open for opportunities that are already in front of you. Remember that you have all the opportunity to create something out of nothing.
