A post for the entrepreneurial spirit

I have been considering a post specifically addressed to entrepreneurs for a while now but imposter syndrome is a real thing and I absolutely questioned my own authority on the topic. And yet, “being your own boss” is most definitely a part of some career journeys. It’s not for everyone though.

So how do you decide if working for yourself is better than working for someone else? How do you make that leap? And let’s not forget ALLLLL the “what ifs” that run through your brain: “What if I fail?” “What if no one wants to work with me?” “What if I can’t make enough money to support myself/my family?” “What if it’s more than I can manage?”

Working for yourself absolutely has its benefits: set your own hours, more control over your income, and creative freedom to name a few. On the flip side, when you set out to work for yourself, you are responsible for everything: your schedule, how much you make, how you market, billing for services, legal content, customer service, and more.

As you consider working for yourself, understand that “with great power comes great responsibility” or something like that. Actually as cheesy as quoting a comic book character may be, it is true that working for yourself requires a great deal of responsibility. There is no one else to pass the work load on to, and if you don’t do it, no one will. So step number one in working for yourself: Take responsibility for the work.

Once you are ready to recognize your own responsibility (yay alliteration), the next step is to Research. What does this mean exactly? Well for one, there are going to be many details you’ll need to take care of before opening. I recommend finding the answers to some of these key questions before opening:

• What is it that I am offering people and is this something people will pay for in my area?
• What opportunities do I have to network and build my business?
• What resources or tools do I have at my disposal to make this easier?
• What have others said about my particular type of business?
• Can I learn from others’ experience?
• How much money can I invest in myself for starting up my business?
  

While I am not a financial advisor, I have gone through enough financial trainings and read enough financing books to know that this last question is a big one and a third step in the starting your own business plan: Budget! It is very easy for expenses to compound until you’ve put way more into your business than you can afford.

When you are starting out, it’s ok if you don’t have all the bells and whistles for your business. Clients/Customers will understand this. If you feel you need to accommodate for this, start your product pricing out at a competitively lower cost than others on the market. Many times, sales you make on any product can be traced back to “free stuff.” So don’t be afraid to promote your product by giving some content away for free.

So then, back to one of my original questions: How do you know if working for yourself is for you? Let me ask you this: How do you feel when you consider the amount of work it will take to start? Are you anxious? Excited? Tired? Energized? Depending on your answer, you may already know if this is the right step.

If you’re really uncertain, I would encourage you to set up a trial period of some kind, decide what you can invest/commit to in that time frame, and have a goal. Use SMART goal setting especially for something like this. For example, maybe you decide to run a podcast for 6 months (which may cost you less than $100). And in doing so, you hope to increase your listeners by 50% at the end of 6 months. Then, invest and evaluate at the end of the 6 months. Was it worth it? Do you feel energized or drained? For most business start-up goals, I would recommend setting them for no more than 1 year at a time.

Working for yourself is not for everyone. And that’s okay! It’s also okay if you set out to work on your own and change your mind in a year. As you consider the next best steps for yourself, remember that you are on a journey and observation and evaluation is a constant part of that process.

If you want to have deeper conversations about exploring entrepreneurship, I would love to talk with you. Reach out to me through my website to learn how you can receive a free, no-obligation 20-minute consultation.