If you are thinking about starting your own business after a successful career in corporate there are three things that have to change immediately so that your business will thrive.
When you are working in corporate things are pretty structured. You get hired for a role. You perform in that role and every fifteen or thirty days get paid an agreed-upon amount of money. The higher up the ladder, the more responsibility to deliver on the bottom line you have, and the more people you have working for you to rely on to help you accomplish those goals.
The minute you become a business owner EVERYTHING changes as you become responsible for your paycheck.
That means you must change how you think about things leaving your corporate personality behind and adopt an entrepreneurial mindset.
Specifically when it comes to…
- DECISION-MAKING
You got to speed up the time that it takes you to make a decision because you can’t wait as you would in the corporate world for the meeting next week to get to a consensus and keep dragging out the process until you come up against a hard deadline which almost always results in having to spend more money and putting a strain on the system.
When it’s your business it’s your money and you are likely bootstrapping in the beginning, so that means you must make decisions quickly, learn to trust yourself, and recognize opportunity when it presents itself.
Then it’s about learning how to
2. TAKE CALCULATED RISKS
when it comes to investing in resources and how you spend your money. That has everything to do with you being able to recognize opportunity and knowing where to invest your most precious asset which is your time and your second most precious asset which is your money. Everything has to go towards the needle-moving activities in your business that lead to consistent sales.
3. SAY GOODBYE TO BEING A PEOPLE-PLEASER
Yes, some tough love here to set the stage and manage expectations. Not everybody is going to like you or agree with you the minute you step out and become visible to the people that need your product or service.
And that is ok. You are not meant to be helping everybody, only those who are ready and able to engage with you. (Side note: It’s never about being liked. It’s always about helping others.)
Letting go of our inherent human need to be liked also means that you ask for fair compensation for your product or service without having any feelings attached to how you might be perceived by others. In other words, you got to become great at sales and asking for money.
Here’s the one shift that changed EVERYTHING for me. The minute this clicked in my mind asking for money became natural. Ready for this?
Sales is service.
When you are selling you are being OF SERVICE to the person who is transacting with you. You are actually being a blessing to them.
Think about it:
You pay your doctor for a consultation.
You pay your surgeon to perform surgery on you.
You pay your dentist to do that root canal.
And you don’t think anything less of them because they ask you to pay for it because…
They are being of service to you, helping you solve a problem.
That very same principle applies to you, the new business owner.
You are being of service to your clients and customers with your product or expertise.
Changing how you think about those three things from the get-go will not only save you time and money (your two most precious assets as a business owner), but it will also lead to your business thriving and for you to create an enormous positive impact in the lives of others as a result.
Got a question or would like my support in helping you build your business, connect with me HERE.
Simona
PS: This is what one of my clients had to say about his experience working with me.
Cover Photo (c): Tamara Bellis @Unsplash.com