Transitioning From Employee To Entrepreneur

I read an article from Quora where some poor soul was desperate to leave their 9-5 to pursue a business of their own because of the unforeseen mental effects resulting from COVID19. Like so many who’s been struggling with the side effects of COVID19 and is desperately seeking life-changing alternatives, responders were quick to provide their guidance.

However, while reading some of the suggestions, I noticed they all had the same ringtone and no practicality to figuring out the first steps. Vague and “many ways to solve a problem” type answers were very dominant. “Follow your passion.” “Solve a problem.” “Reflect on life.”

As a fellow tech entrepreneur, I can relate to both sides of the equation. On the one hand, do follow your passion because you’re going to need a strong why to keep going when things are tough. On the other side, you need assembly instructions as you begin your journey toward entrepreneurship when immediately coming from a 9-5 environment.

It’s NOT common to have a 9-5 (desk job or otherwise) where you’re free to make your own decisions. In the rare cases where you can, you certainly don’t make the final decision. Your indecisiveness comes from years of being checked and validated by a standard you weren’t part of the building. So, shifting to an entrepreneur is going to not be physically challenging, but rather mentally challenging.

The truth is, 9-5 folks and entrepreneurial folks work the same, both doing practical tasks to grow the bottom line, but it’s the mindset that is different. “Doing it for me is just as important as doing it for someone else.” “How do I set my new job up so that I, too, can pay myself for time off?”

A mindset shift is powerful and is the key to your transition.

It’s essential to adapt to the entrepreneurial mindset while on your journey. You can’t make it otherwise. Dedicate 20-30 minutes a day reading money mindset and self-development books by other entrepreneurs. This is a critical step in your growth. Skip this step, nothing below will truly take root, and you’ll be another failed business owner. I know it’s harsh, but it’s the ugly truth. Faith, discipline, consistency, and perseverance are my four foundations toward my success.

Here’s my suggestion on how to get into transition mode.

Establish a new foundation outside your 9-5. 

Instead of leaving your 9-5 immediately, start by building a foundation to host your future side streams of income. The best way to grow your confidence in your own knowledge is to talk or write about it and get feedback. Whatever that knowledge may be, it’s yours to plant, nurture, and release it into the world.

Get a website to hold your blog, podcast, and/or YouTube videos. Your website will allow you to have one digital home that can be shared and is a single location where folks can find you.

I chose to blog because it’s my comfort zone. Some may choose video because they can speak better than they write. Some can’t take viewing themselves on camera, and their personality shines brighter through podcasts. It’s up to you. Either way, you need a website. Check out this post on how to start a blog and get you up and running in no time.

Monetize your digital home. 

Now here’s where you start building your financial foundation. It’s important to note that entrepreneurship is a series of steps and shifts that will take you to the brim of your limits, then always ask you to take one more action. Sort of the same feeling you get if someone was to ask you to jump off a cliff. Essentially, you will never remain in your comfort zone. When you’re out of that comfort zone, anxiety may come, giving up may seem like a viable choice, other interest or previous promises of tasks you made to others will seem more comfortable to do, and even chores will even seem appetizing. While this is normal behavior, you have to fight it with everything you’ve got. Self-awareness will become your superpower!

When building your financial foundation, the goal is to plant the seeds – there’s no planting of fully grown fruit trees when starting entrepreneurship. Monetize your digital space with posts filled with affiliate links, ad space, and sometimes full affiliate posts like product reviews. In my opinion, this is the most natural way to integrate your knowledge with passive income. Most companies of your favorite products offer affiliate programs. Sign up for them and start incorporating them into your posts.

By this time in your journey, you’ll start to get a better grasp of how people are responding to your knowledge. Your confidence in knowing is growing each day you post. Now begin to choose how to make service-type products. I find that you can achieve this in 2 ways, consultant work (virtual one-on-ones or groups) and online courses or programs. Both are lucrative. Another passive income stream is an e-commerce store. Although e-commerce stores are passive streams of income, it takes way more effort than affiliate marketing. E-commerce stores (lucrative ones) are a business by itself. Nevertheless, this is how you get started with building your financial foundation.

Do freelance work for business seed money.

While building your business, you’re going to need extra income to seed it’s financing. If you find that your current 9-5 is not leaving you extra or enough income to feed your business needs, there’s a solution – freelance work. The truth is, in today’s economy, the majority of people are currently living paycheck to paycheck. So, don’t be ashamed if this is your story. Just be thankful that there’s a solution that will allow moving forward despite your circumstances.

Freelance and consultant work can seem similar, but they’re not. Consultant work forces you to provide more intimate connections with your clients, while freelance work begins with requirements and ends with delivery. In landscape businesses, for example, you’ll have the owner who meets with clients, builds that relationship, and sends the workers (freelancers) to do the work. Now, you have to imagine this difference for yourself, as it may seem similar to your 9-5 job. Ask yourself what you can do virtually, that gathers requirements, and allows you to do good work to deliver and get paid? Places like Fiverr and Upwork can help you with that! These marketplaces are free to join because they take a percentage of your earnings. It’s also great practice to get you into the mindset of working toward YOUR bottom-line instead of someone else’s bottom-line.

Get some help!

You can’t do it all. It’s impossible to attempt to do everything yourself.

You’re going to need help in two departments:

• Building your mindset and the vision of your business.
• Delegating specific tasks that someone else can do, so you can concentrate on seeding and growing your business.

Finding help toward rebuilding your mindset, and the vision of your business can be achieved by reaching out to a mentor who’s already at the place where you want to be. You can’t get help reaching 6 or 7-figure incomes, from someone who has never made a 6 or 7-figure income. You will also need to join support groups with folks making the same journey as you. They can encourage you to keep going, help you during your implementation phase, and share funny stories of all the tough patches you’ve both experienced together. These groups are called tribes where you can cultivate friendships, business ideas, and business joins with people you can trust.

Help towards delegating specific tasks so you can concentrate on what’s essential can be found within your family, friends, or Fiverr. Similarly to you joining Fiverr to do work, you can get work done at the same cost. At the beginning of our entrepreneurial journey, we’re trying to juggle time and money. Ask yourself, what repetitive tasks am I doing that I can assign to someone else for hourly work? Make a list and find a virtual assistant on Fiverr. I promise you, it will be the best investment you can make for your business and sanity! 

While you’re on the path of full transformation, remember that only ACTION will get you to the finish line. Thinking about it, planning it, and engaging in groups will not get you out of your 9-5 and into having your own venture without ACTION. You can get quite comfortable engaging and never implementing real quick! Grind through the process by getting into a habit of writing daily task list and taking it one day at a time. Believe in yourself because if this article’s title was calling to you, then it was meant for you.