Is this the year to become your own boss?
The Covid pandemic led to over 114 million people losing their jobs worldwide. This means that the current job market is volatile, so now’s the best time to become an entrepreneur. After all, you can’t get fired when you don’t have a boss. There are also a lot of new opportunities for innovation.
There’s a lot you need to consider before you can succeed as your own boss.
But before we talk about the steps you need to take to succeed, let’s talk about the advantages and disadvantages of entrepreneurship.
Advantages of Being An Entrepreneur
Your Profits Are Yours
There is no limit on how much you can earn when you’re the person in charge of your business. Imagine not needing to rely on anyone for a promotion or beg a boss for a raise. When you succeed as your own boss, you get paid first, and your profits belong to you.
Doesn’t that sound good?
You own your schedule
If you’re someone who hates working 9-5, then becoming an entrepreneur could change your life. When you’re an entrepreneur, you choose your schedule, so you can pick the hours where you work the most efficiently. Are you a night owl? Start your own business, and you’ll be able to sleep as late as you want.
You are the creator
When you work for someone else, you follow their lead. You execute your job the way they want you to instead of how you feel best. For a lot of people, this suffocates their creativity. When you succeed as your own boss, you get to bring your vision to life.
So, you get to control your profits, build your schedule, and escape the soul-sucking repetitiveness of a 9-5.
What’s the downside? Well, there’re a few.
Disadvantages of Being An Entrepreneur
You Lose The Security Of A Scheduled Paycheck
The most significant disadvantage of being an entrepreneur is losing your steady paycheck. You have to be a risk-taker to succeed. Entrepreneurship is a risky business, and you won’t have a safety net. If you aren’t willing to give up the guarantee that you’ll receive money at a specific time monthly, then being a full-time entrepreneur isn’t for you.
Resilience is Key
Succeeding as your own boss requires a lot of dedication. You’ll have to do a lot yourself, even the grunt work. Getting your business off the ground can be a struggle when you’re just starting out. You’ll have to:
- Establish Your Business
- Build A Loyal Customer Network
- Design A Website
- Build A Portfolio
- And More
You have to be willing to tough it out if you want your business to succeed.
Everything Is Dependent On You
Entrepreneurship is a thrilling experience, especially when everything is going well.
The success of your business is entirely dependent on you. Work begins and ends when you want it to. Taking a sick day or going on a vacation means bringing everything to a halt. Hold yourself accountable to get your business off the ground. Procrastination can have devastating effects on your company’s productivity.
Steps To Succeed As Your Own Boss
Having weighed the pros and cons, is entrepreneurship for you?
If you’re ready to boss up, here are some steps you need to take to succeed as your own boss.
Develop Your Business Idea and Connect it to your Passion
What type of business do you want to start? It is always easier to do what you love.
If you already have a solid idea, great. If you don’t, no problem. You just need to do some research to help you develop the perfect idea to take the world by storm. This will require some soul searching.
Idea And Market Evaluation
Validating your business is the process of assessing if there’s a place for your business in the current market. You must analyze if your concept is viable and research the market you wish to join. So basically, ask yourself, can I do it? And if I did it, who would want it, who’s my customer?
If it doesn’t currently exist on the market, you need to figure out why that is. It’s not uncommon for a fantastic-sounding idea to be implausible.
Is your idea realistic, in-demand, and profitable?
If yes, then you may just have the next big thing.
Market Research
Market research is the process of learning about your potential customers and competitors. It helps:
- Define your customer personas,
- Define your target market,
- Understand the feasibility of your business.
When you know your customer’s challenges, needs, and current solutions, you’ll know the best way to serve them. That enables you to optimize your product or service.
Keep the Momentum Going
Inspiration is easy in the beginning and keeping it going long-term is necessary in order to succeed. This is why it is so important to understand “why” you chose the business and how you anchored it into your vision. Make a vision board and place it where you can easily see and visualize your success!
The Positive Change Group commits to helping business leaders and entrepreneurs like you to maximize their potential by teaching them to take a ‘wholistic’ approach. Our goal is to help you succeed on your own. For additional details on how to succeed in a new biz, and keeping the momentum going, check out our online course so you can learn more about how we can help you today!
