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Five Things To Consider When Transitioning From A Corporate Career To Your Own Company

Forbes Coaches Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Becky Davis

For an employee at a company, the idea of setting out on your own and starting your own business can be overwhelming. Not only does it represent a chance to be your own boss, but it allows you the opportunity to follow your passion and dreams. However, to be successful as an entrepreneur, you need to be able to shift from an employee mindset to an entrepreneurial one.

There is a high mortality rate among small businesses. If your business fails, you could suffer damaged credit, crushed confidence, and even hardships for your family. Starting a business is not a decision to be taken lightly.

Here are five things I didn't realize about how I would need to shift my mindset until I was in business for myself.

1. You are the decision maker.

In the corporate world, I would get direction from my manager on the company's focus each year and the goals for my market, and share strategy ideas. I would review the goals and create my plans to execute. When I started my business, no one gave me goals or strategy ideas. It was all up to me. I had to create my three-year plan. I was responsible if the decision was a good or bad one. There was no one to blame when it was wrong.

You can't wait for things to happen, or for someone to tell you what to do; you must make everything happen.

Start looking at what decisions you would make regarding the company you work for now. What would you do differently in marketing, sales, products or prices? Do a self-assessment to know if you struggle to make decisions alone and whether you take a long or short time to make a decision. You need to know because you will have to adjust and grow your decision-making muscle.

2. Being uncomfortable is your new home.

When you are an employee, it's easy to be an "in-the-box" thinker because you usually have to color inside the lines. As an entrepreneur, there is no box; there are no lines on your picture. I had to learn to push myself to take risks and see things with new lenses. Every time my business began to grow, it was when I was uncomfortable by doing something outside of the corporate mindset I was used to.

As an employee, breaking the rules could get your fired. As an entrepreneur, you have to push past the status quo and look for ways to break the rules to do things differently. Prepare yourself to live in a state of being uncomfortable if you plan to have a successful business.

If you are not an out-of-the-box thinker, partner with someone who is and let them help you start to see things differently and think differently. Be proactive. Since you know that things will be uncomfortable, create your plan of action of what you need to think about and do when it happens.

3. Long-term visions are as important as short-term visions.

When you are an employee, you are responsible for ensuring that what needs to be done is done based on the company's direction. As an entrepreneur, you have to become a forward-thinker to be able to think about potential pitfalls, opportunities and barriers ahead. This means that what you do or don't do in the present will have an impact on your business five months or five years down the line. As an entrepreneur, you need a wider perspective that's always peering over the horizon, or at least toward it, to where the next big thing is waiting.

Begin by asking yourself these questions: Where do you plan to be in three years? Who do you need to help you? What's your strategy to get there?

4. Marketing is critical.

When you are an employee, all the marketing is done by the marketing department. Even if you share your ideas with the marketing department, they make it come to life. They are experts in creating content to drive customer actions. As an entrepreneur, you are the marketing department. If you have the best product or service out there, it will not matter if its the best kept secret. The myth is "build it, and they will come." You have to find a need, execute a strategy, and let people know that you have the solution.

Start researching marketing for small businesses. Read articles about marketing. Look for marketing webinars or teleconferences to attend. You might even outsource to a PR/marketing firm that can provide marketing exposure for your business.

5. Learning never stops.

When you work in corporate, everyone has a job description. As long as you meet those skills and behaviors, you are succeeding. As an entrepreneur, you create the job description as you do it because it involves learning new skills like marketing, accounting, pitching your business, sales proposals, creating contracts and agreements, and so much more. What needs to be done, and has to be done, is usually on you when you are starting, unless you have the funds to outsource.

There are so many resources for free (or for a fee) to continue learning. Google should be your best friend. Google any area you need to know more about to find out who the experts are. Then follow the experts on social media and get on their email list. Learn from their free trainings. Attend conferences, read more books, join associations. All of this will help you continue to learn.

Different circumstances and situations require different mindsets, something that anyone who wants to leave their job and strike out on their own must be aware of. There must be a shift in your mindset to go from someone else's company to your own. Before you take the leap, consider these five thoughts and come up with a plan for how you will handle them. It will serve you well long term.

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