Are you itching to ditch your job and join the ranks of the many employees that are making the transition to business owner? If you spend your days dreaming about the freedom and income potential that could come from being your own boss it might be time to make the leap. Making the leap to full-time entrepreneurship can be scary. While you are excited about being in control, the income potential and being able to style your life, you have just as much worry about the uncertainty that comes with being a business owner.
Before you make the transition from employee to owner here are some questions you should ask yourself:
Why do I want to leave my job?
The almighty WHY, you will hear coaches refer to it frequently. What is your why? When starting something new, take the time to figure out why you are doing it. Why is that important to you? Take a moment to reflect. The last time you started something and did not finish it, why did you allow yourself to quit? How many times have you tried to start a business but quit because things got tough? Why were you able to quit? When you're determining your why you truly have to get to the heart of the matter, the burning desire behind your dream. No matter the reason, it has to be something that is important to YOU. It has to be something that when you reach your breaking point and think about quitting it will rekindle the passion of why you got started.
What challenges do I face?
As you think about making the move from employee to business owner, being aware of the challenges that you will face will be of utmost importance. Knowing your challenges ahead of time will help you to plan for them. It may mean that you need to plan to work your business on the side for a while. The most common challenge that transitioners face are time, money, and know-how.
How will I overcome these challenges?
Now that you have identified your desired outcome, why it's important to you, and the obstacles you may have to overcome to achieve your goal, it's time to develop a strategy to reach your goal. It could mean that you leave your full-time position for a part-time position so that you have more time to work your business. The goal here is for you to identify the possibilities and then decide on a plan of action to make it happen.
Answering these three questions will help you decide whether or not the entrepreneurial itch is bad enough for you to go ahead and scratch it or let it be.