Make as smooth a transition as possible in your journey to self-employment
Your employment history is a journey in the making. Whether you’re in the same job for many years, starting a new job, or looking to move into entrepreneurship, it’s all an experience.
But branching out on your own and becoming an entrepreneur carries possibly the biggest risk of all. The axiom of ‘high risk, high reward’ certainly holds true for those leaving the safety net of working for someone else and attempting to make it on their own.
No entrepreneur looks or wants to fail, and although around 20% of new businesses fail in the first two years, there are some tenets you can aspire to in order to minimize the inherent risk of starting your own business. Entrepreneurs are indeed a special breed. They are willing to risk literally everything to succeed on their own terms. They want to have that freedom and accountability to themselves that comes with running your own company. It’s far from the safest option but that’s what makes the success all the sweeter if and when it happens.
For this article, we will list some tips on how to minimize your risk and hopefully succeed in your commercial endeavor.
1. Expertise
If you’re starting your own company, chances are you’ve been working in other jobs previously. In such circumstances, you’ll have developed an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Use these skills, these experiences, this expertise when starting your own business!
2. Mentor
Experience counts. If you’re about to start your entrepreneurial journey, get in contact with someone who’s already traveled that same road. This mentor will be able to advise you on what traps to avoid, aspirations to pursue, advantages to look out for. No-one knows everything, so utilizing the knowledge and experience of someone else is an invaluable advantage to have.
3. Startup
Before you attempt to found your own business, try working for an actual startup company. This will give you valuable insight into the pros and cons of running your own business. In so doing, take special note of what they’re doing, right and wrong, and utilize that knowledge to suit your own business. Also, look at their own individual business model and see how it could work for you.
4. Knowledge
Once you decide on what profession your business will be concentrating on, read up as much as possible on every aspect of it. Consult experienced individuals on the subject, attend conferences if any are on, submerge yourself in that profession and become something of an expert on it. If there’s something you don’t know about that subject, then resolve to find out. Leave no knowledge gaps unexplored.
5. Network
If you want to be an entrepreneur then you need to act like one! And one of the most important aspects of that is networking. Reaching out to other entrepreneurs by meeting at conferences, conventions, even socially, is where you connect and build relationships that will produce positive results later.
6. Trends
If you’re going to enter the marketplace, you’re going to have to understand the tides and currents of that arena. This means continually staying educated and updated on how your profession is moving in the commercial market. This might mean the need to change course if market trends shift, but by keeping track of how the marketplace ebbs and flows, you’ll have a better chance of continued success.
7. Communication
In the last two decades, the art of communication for business has changed beyond all recognition. Social media has shifted the proverbial goalposts and if you want to succeed in business, you’re going to have to know how to kick that ball! Establishing market awareness of your business is a continual process and you need to adopt all tools at your disposal. Perhaps enlist the services of a digital marketing company to design your digital footprint. Yes it will cost but believe us when we say it will pay for itself in the long-term.
We sincerely hope that this article has provided you useful tips in your journey to entrepreneurship. Good luck to you!
