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“With great power comes great responsibility” is something that would have sounded cooler if you were a web-slinger. However, the life of an entrepreneur (which you are about to begin), is no less daunting than that of a “friendly neighbourhood” superhero. If you have spent a couple of years serving as a corporate employee, adjusting to the new life as an entrepreneur is not going to be easy at all.
Entrepreneurship does bring freedom, flexibility and financial potential, and allows you to become your own boss. However, none of those perks comes easy. A sudden increase in responsibility might seem intimidating in the first few months of entrepreneurship, especially if you are accustomed to your 9 to 5 job.
If you are really considering leaving the 9 to 5 job and starting your own business, you need a few tricks up your sleeve to make the transition less bumpy.
1. Don’t quit your job, just yet
A lot of people choose entrepreneurship to enjoy the flexibility and freedom it offers. However, if you really want to see yourself among the top entrepreneurs, you cannot just rush things. When you have the idea to set up a business, nurture it, polish it, and do everything necessary to set the stage for the execution of the idea. You can do all these without quitting your job.
Yes, you may eventually need to quit your job to spearhead your new venture, but until everything is ready, you should continue with your 9-5 job as usual. If you quit the job before making any significant progress towards building your business, you are actually putting yourself in a limited financial position. It becomes difficult to stay focused on your goal when you are continuously busy worrying about daily expenses.
2. Prepare for a tough road ahead
It may sound discouraging, but entrepreneurship comes with a lot of hardships. You may already know for a fact that only 10 percent of startups can sustain in the market for more than two years. While most startups run out of funds, some fail to set up a business model that can earn significant amount of revenue. Quite often, the struggle of an entrepreneur is over-shadowed by his or her success.
So, you can understand the amount of effort you need to put in once you start your journey as an entrepreneur. Gone are the days of school where you can ask for assignment help and get it from your tutors. Right now, you are in a highly competitive market, where no one is going to provide you with assistance until there’s something in it for them. Being prepared for all sorts of obstacles
will help you to make a smooth transition from corporate employment to entrepreneurship.
3. Acknowledge your strengths
In most cases, people don’t realise what they are capable of until their limits are pushed. Since you can’t really expect your new life as an entrepreneur to be super-smooth, you have to unlock your full potential. You can start it by recognising the strengths which you didn’t know you had. It can be your intellectual prowess, creativity or even your resilience in the face of adversities. Discovering your untapped potential can help you refine your vision for the journey you are embarking on. Whatever your strength is, don’t shy away from using it to your advantage, especially in this crucial phase of transition. Entrepreneurship is going to test your potential in numerous ways. Being aware of your own strengths can help you to stay on top of every challenge that is thrown at you.
4. Be clear about your responsibilities
We have already talked about how your responsibilities are going to increase once you change from your 9-5 job to entrepreneurship. Yes, things are going to be a lot harder when you are responsible for every major decision that is made in your startup. However, you can still have everything under your control, only if you know your job well.
Like any other professional, an entrepreneur can also excel in the field, if he or she knows the job well. So, make it a priority to identify your responsibilities. Unless you have a complete understanding of your responsibilities, you won’t be able to execute the ideas or objectives you had in mind during the planning you had for the startup. Also, if you don’t understand your role in the company, how are you supposed to lead a team of individuals?
5. Learn to measure success
Success has a different meaning for different people. However, for most businesses, success is measured by their ROI and by the conversions that they make. There’s nothing wrong in
putting all your focus on generating revenue. In fact, it should be the primary objective of your entrepreneurship – but what exactly should be the parameter for success?
When you are starting out as an entrepreneur, you should aim to make the same money as you were making in your previous job. It may sound petty but setting your previous salary as the benchmark for initial success is not a bad idea. In the first few months, the amount of money will be enough for you to maintain the lifestyle you had for years. You can aim for a stronger revenue stream as you get a grip on the new life of an entrepreneur.
Wrapping Up
If someone says to you that entrepreneurship is more fun than the 9-5 job, they are right for the most part. However, running a business is no child’s play. If you are not feeling content with the job you already have, entrepreneurship may help you find your soul. However, you also need to prepare yourself for all the challenges that entrepreneurship has to offer.
“The opinions expressed by BizWitty Contributors are their own, not those of BizCover and should not be relied upon in place of appropriate professional advice. Please read our full disclaimer."
