Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur or at least in love with the idea of being one. That is, until they realize that working for yourself isn’t as easy as working for someone else. Working for yourself requires a different type of discipline. When you work a job you’re expected to follow certain rules and commitments. When rules/commitments are violated there are consequence one will have to deal with like being fired. Knowing that you may loose your job is motivation enough to show up to work on time.
When you are an entrepreneur who will hold you accountable for breaking the rules/commitments ? Who will fire you when you decide to go to lunch with friends instead of working on your task for the day? As an employee you show up for work and you do your best in hopes of a promotion or a raise. As an entrepreneur you show up for work and work your ass off more than an employee would ever and it may not pay off for years.
The Best Entrepreneur
As you transition from employee to entrepreneur. You will realize that in essence you’re just an employee for your own company. The same qualities as an employee you possessed you must keep in order to be able to make the transition into true entrepreneurship. When first starting a Business you must have the same discipline as you did as an employee. That includes being on time and staying for the entire work schedule. That means no skipping work to lunch with friends ( I learned the hard way).
So how do you make the transition from employee to entrepreneur? Set a schedule and stick to it. Unless it is a family emergency stick to your schedule like you would for a job. This is crucial. I see a lot of people fail at entrepreneurship because they are careless with their work time. They don’t Create realistic schedules and stick to them.
Create a realistic daily, weekly and monthly task manager. I keep saying the word realistic because you know what you can accomplish. So be real with yourself and you’ll get more done. Next way to transition smoothly is creating a financial plan. Set a daily, weekly, monthly get that down to a T before setting a yearly one. Once ready then set yearly.
The Entrepreneur Employee
Learn to work and understand how every position of your business works. Spend at least 6 months working each position. You may not be the best at every position but at least understand the work of the position. Know what it requires and be able to cover when you lack the help. knowing what each position takes will help you better understand the type of employee that will be the best fit. Learning to work every position will be your best life line. When someone quits unexpectedly or calls off business won’t have such a negative impact. That’s because you’ll always be able fill in.
New Entrepreneurs don’t like to think of negative risk. We like to be optimistic and only focus on the positive. Well, as an employee you didn’t have to worry or even think about loss or negative risk. All you had to do was show up. But as you transition you must add a loss/risk factor. Have a budget to cover the loss so the business can still incline.
Create a strategy for your business. I prefer a strategy over a plan. I’m not saying don’t have a plan but make sure you create a strategy and stick to it. There is a big difference between a plan and a strategy. When you have a plan and things aren’t going according to it. You have to go back to the drawing board starting over to create a new plan. A strategy allows for a natural flow of thought and continual momentum that builds until success is reached and expectations are blown out of the water.
Never Let Your Inner Employee Die
It will save your business
Never let the spirit of your inner employee die. It will save your business many of nights. As an entrepreneur there is no high horse or ego. Your inner employee is the real MVP!