How To Transition From A Regular 9–5 Job To Self-Employment (5 Tips)
I used to work up to 16h per day when I was consulting for Fortune 500 Companies. My clients were very demanding, and frankly, I loved my job. But then an accident happened and I was forced to reinvent myself. I do have a lot of experience with building businesses. I am currently building a third one.
Today, it is extremely easy to start a business as we live in a world of endless possibilities. On the other hand, it’s extremely challenging as we get bombarded with ‘get rich fast’ ads with no substantial results.
So here is my advice to the young generation of entrepreneurs:
The first time I transitioned out of employment and to build a company:
- I was extremely well prepared,
- I had the skills & the know-how,
- There was a big market for my services,
- I was proficient at the core pieces that would drive my business (sales and service delivery),
- I had big savings.
In the beginning, I was shocked to find out that reality did not match my expectations and I was spending $15k per month with no revenue coming in and this was gut wrenching! I was able to get up the final steps in the learning curve and make the right adjustments BEFORE I ran out of cash (the great difference maker). After this, I was off to the races, making money and living my dreams.
The best entrepreneurs are EXTERMELY good risk managers while having a wonderful blend of optimism and skepticism about the opportunities they encounter. They are clear thinkers, this allows them to pick successful paths and navigate them each step of the way. They are extremely good learners and generally work very hard (I only personally know one that doesn’t).
All businesses are learning curves. Primarily in the areas of value generation, understanding and connecting with the market, risk and cost management. Prepare by mastering these areas in the space of your passion.
Working on an online course about goals & willpower with my wife in Sopot, Poland.
Building a business is a great feeling of accomplishment. Also, I must say… so is coming home with a fat corporate paycheck and turning of the brain off to enjoy time with family, friends, or go take off somewhere for the weekend. The idea in both is to become extremely valuable to others. A job can be seen as a business with a single customer.
Ok, so you feel you are prepared, then what?… Then it is about overcoming your fears and building the right mindset. The first time, I felt like I was jumping off of a cliff! Once you do, you must embrace the battle and the scramble to become profitable.
At this moment the attitude, mindset, and learning on the fly are all key. If you can maintain a good attitude, and learn from your mistakes fast enough and cheaply enough you will break into a new life.
If you do not and you fail, there is no shame in going back to a job. Personally, I admire people who made the attempt. The journey must be rewarding in itself. Jobs are always being created and can be found. Wisdom gained.
Some people find side gigs that they transition to full-time or hobbies that they suddenly find themselves getting paid for. I have met several of these types of people.
Photo by Alexy Almond from Pexels
Specific examples include a friend that is a computer programmer that started teaching Pilates for fun…she started giving free online lessons and her Pilates studio (that she was teaching at out of passion) fired her because they thought this would eat into their profits. I encouraged her to keep going, she did and her network grew, now she has studios wanting to contract her because of her network, and more requests for personal sessions than she can handle. She now must decide if she wants to transition to teaching Pilates full-time. I can see her having the option to open her own studio one day in the not too distant future.
Another example is someone I know that loves to make healthy food dishes and turn them into works of art. She started posting and sharing photos and recipes of how she does it in the early days of Instagram, and now restaurants hire her to create and design dishes for them. When I met her, she was contemplating how to generate more income from the wonderful position she was in… it started with a hobby.
Photo by Jusper Mwangi
A hobby can be an unprofitable business too. I have a close friend that made the most beautiful cakes that I have EVER seen… stunning in detail and creativity. People were over the moon with these cakes but… she could only sell them for a few hundred dollars each and so for the time spent and her cost of living, it just wasn’t a business she could be in. Instead, she went on to become a multi-level marketer for essential oils, a product that she found personally helpful and extremely interesting. She learned how to market and began educating others, worked very hard at it, her network grew, and she is now extremely successful… I mean retirement successful.
There are many paths in life and many transitions one can make. I hope my message has helped to give you some insight to help you on your journey. Wishing you much success in all that you do!
…and don’t forget to share this article!
In life, Tim has gone from being crippled by polio to championship athlete, from stockboy to Fortune 500 Executive and Transformation Leader, and from being hit by a truck to Researcher, Course Creator, and helping others live their best lives.
Originally published at https://www.timjoshi.com.
