Whether it’s time to wave goodbye to the 9 to 5 or to make better use of your skill set in a field of your choosing, there’s nothing quite as fulfilling or freeing as becoming your own boss.
If you’re blessed with a well-developed talent or a commitment to bettering yourself on your own terms, then becoming your own boss might be an excellent option for you. Although the thought of running a business and working for yourself might seem daunting, with a little self-discipline and a good set of skills to rely on, you’re well on the way to becoming your own boss.
In this article, we’ll take a look at how to become your own boss and what you’ll need to do to increase your chances of success.
Have a Plan in Place
As we expect, you’re likely in a 9 to 5 role already or at least have some type of employment that you’re looking to replace. That said, it’s imperative to have a plan in place that will give you the power to move into becoming your own boss without running the risk of losing your job, income and making your life harder.
From the start, we suggest up-skilling in the field you’re looking to become your own boss within. Whether this is with a course online or some in-person experience, it’s essential to have some sort of ‘value’ ready to utilize when you launch your business.
In short:
- Figure out which field you’d like to work within
- Save enough money to make the switch from full-time work to a business owner
- Work on skill-building and giving yourself a competitive edge
- Branch out to build connections and draw upon existing business partnerships
- Commit to growth and be prepared to work a little harder for more significant long-term rewards
A course in business management, marketing or financial management might be a good starter for you, in that these courses will give you a good foundation for ensuring your business is successful.
To add, without a solid plan, you run the risk of leaving your day job and being unsuccessful at being your own boss — a major problem.
Build Connections
Once you’ve worked on developing your skillset in preparation for becoming your own boss, it’s now time to work on getting your name out there and networking.
Utilise all of those workplace connections you’ve built over the years and begin sewing the seeds for business-to-business partnerships down the line. Whether this is offering services to those in your local community, or heading online to offer your skills to those across the world, it’s essential to build out a network.
A big tip here is to take on as much as you can from the very start — without going overboard, of course.
The more business you can handle and the more connections you can make in the short term, the better. These will come in handy in the months ahead, and if you’re a good partner in business, you’ll win a few referrals from these businesses too.
Migrate to a New Space and Routine
One key point to keep in mind when becoming your own boss is that your entire day-to-day will be transformed, so it’s crucial to build a routine.
As we’re sure you’re aware, nothing happens in business without a plan; so a relying heavily on your daily planner is essential here.
Work on:
- Setting up a new daily, productivity-focused routine
- Ensuring there is time for a break at least once a week
- Giving yourself a segment of the day or week dedicated to outreach or CRM
With these few essentials down pat, you’ll be primed to move on to the next stage of becoming your own boss.
Continue to Branch Out
After the first few months of being your own boss and running your business, you’ll then want to work on solidifying your existing business partners and growing further.
For this step, we suggest running your first campaign for your products or services. Why we're suggesting this a few months in, is because it is vital to have the groundwork for your business solidly in place before taking on any extra work.
Those first few months or year in building connections, getting into a routine and re-structuring your lifestyle to suit your new self-governed role will be imperative to help you take on the new work garnered from these campaigns.
One small tip here is to reach out to a marketing professional or business to assist in developing a campaign. It might be a little more costly than doing it on your own, but it will be more direct and successful when there are professionals behind it.
This article was originally published By Claire Hansen, swaay.com.
