How Do I Move From Being An Employee To Being A Business Owner?

To make the move from corporate employee to entrepreneur, you need to develop a new mindset. Here are six steps to help ease the transition:

#1 Read the fine print on your corporate employment agreement.

When leaving a company to start your own, closely review your written employment agreement.

Some companies will include confidentiality and non compete provisions that hinders you from disclosing their proprietary information and from working in a certain market or geographic radius for a period of time.

Just because such restrictions are in writing, doesn't mean they're valid or that you can't change them.In such cases, professional legal help is advisable. "The last thing you want is your former employer threatening to sue you when you are starting your [company],".

#2. Be prepared to put in even longer hours.

Often, people want to become their own boss because they're tired of the long thankless hours in a corporate job. But be wary. "If you are making this change because you are fed up with the corporate world and no longer want to work 12 hours a day…. you might be in for a shock,"  "You're going to be doing a lot of stuff on your own."

#3. Look outside for help. 

Because you no longer have vast corporate resources at your disposal, everything falls on your shoulders in a small business. That means it's important to seek outside help and expertise.

"We can be faster and have a lot higher quality when we are willing to team with others to bring things to market,".

Making outside connections also means leaving the office and picking up the phone more often than you did in your corporate job.

You could go from somebody who people were calling all day to [making] a hundred phone calls a day.

#4. Choose a target market wisely.

In a large corporation, it's easy to think in terms of capturing very large markets, but as a small-business owner, you'll probably need to zero in on a specific consumer segment.

"In the corporate world… you really have the power to get the entire market,"

"As a start-up you are going to get a subset of the entire market."

Choosing that subset may require some trial and error.

#5. Risks are Unavoidable.

In large corporate organisations, major decisions are seldom made in a hurry.

But as an entrepreneur, be ready to take more risks and make more decisions on the fly.

"When you are building a start up. . . you need to be more aggressive about taking risks to build your brand,"

All in all if you feel and know the time is right- GO FOR IT.

HOW TO MOTIVATE YOUR EMPLOYEES?

The foundation of employee motivation is trust. In order for an employee to be motivated at all, they must first have faith in the employer and the company they work for, believing that upper management and the owners will follow through on their promises.

Once you have established trust with your staff, you can then do other things to improve your staff’s motivation.

Let's look at ways on how to motivate your employees.

1. Empowering your staff

What this means is that,let them do their jobs. You hired them to work. Don't micromanage and take away all their decision-making authority.

What if someone was looking over your shoulder at everything you did? Or what if you had to get approval on every step before you took action? Not only is that mentally and physically draining, but treating an employee like that makes them feel useless instead of an intelligent human being which you hired.

2.Respect and Appreciation goes a long way.

Hopefully having done your homework and you have developed superstar employees that surpass your expectations. Now it’s time you treat them like talented individuals they are.

If you don’t show respect or appreciation, you will be the reason why your top talent leaves your company.

According to a study,three reasons why employees leave an organisation are:Productivity,Attitude and Motivation.You have a huge influence over this areas of your staff.

How can you show respect or appreciation? Speak positively about them to others, write thank-you notes after a project ends, buy them lunch during the height of busy season—the ways to do this are endless.

Be creative, and remember that small gestures make the largest difference.

3.Have a built in system for promotion and growth.

A lack of growth is another top reason why people leave their jobs.

Why would an employee work harder if there is no opportunity for a raise, better title, or more responsibility?

With no chance of moving up the ladder, the employee will come to work and go through the motions because there’s no chance of changing the status -quo and no chance to grow as a person.

People need incentives, goals, and rewards.

Business success depends on employees

Your staff will determine the level of success your business achieves. You cant do it without them. If you want to create, grow, and maintain a successful business, you need to empower your staff, treat them with respect, and create an opportunity for personal growth, recognition, and promotions.

Having a strong staff that can do their work without you is important, especially if you are considering ever growing your business.

One key area that investors closely examine before investing in a business is the stability and diversity of the employee base.

Your staff must be able to stand on their own without you because that is the only way, in the long run, that your business will survive and thrive.

As an employee,leave a comment on what other areas you expect motivation from your employer.

5 WAYS TO BUILDING YOUR INTEGRITY.

Building Integrity

Make sure every wall is insulated and windows are caulked to keep drafts from coming in and heat from going out. Replace old windows with double- or triple-paned glass. Strategically placed window films can block incoming light and lower cooling costs. And check exterior doors: If you see light underneath, put in a door sweep.

Setting a lifestyle of authenticity can affect everything about you,your personal sphere as well as your family and business obligations.

Resolving to have a lifestyle of integrity is a decision that will affect all aspects of your daily dealings, your activities on a personal level as well as on behalf of your family and business.

It all starts with the desire to take a self-inventory to discover needs you're not currently fulfilling in your life and then deciding to take actions to change this.

Firstly, this process involves declaring an intention that you follow through on with appropriate commitments and actions. Here are some steps to help build your Integrity:

1. Keeping to the Promises You Made.

A promise is the first part of a decision, a responsibility that you have chosen to take on. When you do not follow through on your promises, you have lost focus and may fail at fulfilling your responsibilities. Be sensible in maintaining and fulfilling your obligations in a timely manner.

Also remember that there is enough time for you devote moments for yourself and to spend occasions with family and loved ones. Enjoy life before overcommitting to tasks that take you away from how you would like to enjoy your life.

2.Honesty in your communications.

Practising integrity in your communications means saying what you are going to do and then doing so. People understand that life is filled with challenges. When you provide honest communication to others about your obligations and why something can (or can’t) happen in the time frame promised, they will most likely understand.

Try not to overcommit to please others. This will lead to a loss of integrity and failed relationships.

3. Keep yourself and your environment clean and organized.

This begins with the recognition that you are the core of your business. It’s difficult to exercise influence in the other areas of your life if you don’t make the time every day to be self-aware of your environment.

Do the little things that you have been meaning to do for yourself. When is the last time that you made time to read a book? What happened to that project you started three years ago and never finished? What's the fate of the one thing you're passionate about but have been too busy to do while making a living?

Organize the clutter and clear your slate by getting rid of the things around you that detract from your focus. Look at the papers around your desk, mail on the table and tidy up (and discard) the extra things scattered in your home that you have always thought to rid yourself of.

4. Stay focused.

Have you ever noticed when your personal care vanishes that everything around you starts to slip as well?

Finding the balance in your life to maintain yourself, your household and your business is difficult. I have found that making lists and setting alarms on my phone or online calendar keep me on track even when the clock tries to get the best of me. Notifying people important to you (friends, family and colleagues) of your commitments will help keep you accountable.

5. Allow for the proper

influences.

To increase your integrity, surround yourself with people you admire. If you don’t feel you can engage personally with people of influence, read books or listen to motivational seminars to help raise your awareness in the right direction. What you feed your mind affects what you project outward. Your integrity in life is affected by your inputs.

The intention here is for you to build self-awareness but not for undue self-scrutiny or judgment.

You don’t need to be perfect and it is OK to make mistakes. Commit to make decisions to set things right or just start over again.

 Decide to make these commitments in these small ways and you’ll find yourself building your integrity and strengthening relationships.

THE POWER OF CASUAL MEETING.

 Don't Underestimate the Casual Meeting,with every person you meet, there is the potential for a golden opportunity.

Building a strong network can be quite important, one that is often built over years of trial and error, largely resulting in learning through many mistakes.

There is an abundance of opportunities to gather help, connections and support from many of the people around you or that you have the chance to casually meet.

You just need to open your eyes and learn to step outside your comfort zone to take advantage of these opportunities.

This is the way it works:

You have absolutely no idea who the person that you just met and are casually talking to knows or to where their experiences may lead to.

For example, I recently had a casual meeting with a friend that brought another friend along that happened to live near me. There wasn’t a real purpose or premise for the meeting aside from we live close by and should just know each other.

1.Keep Quiet and listen.

 It turned out, after an hour or so of listening -- note that I didn’t say talking -- I learned he’s been outrageously successful, having built and sold multiple  companies.

I had no idea prior to having breakfast with him. Who do you think he knows or is connected to, aside from everyone you could imagine?

It’s a good idea to treat everyone that you meet as if they’re the most important person ever.

Yes, there are major social benefits to this mentality, but remember that you only get one chance at a first impression.

2.Look local.

Whether you’re building a new business or working inside one that is already moving along, you have no idea how many people you are connected to through people that you see and interact with constantly, largely because they’re casual interactions.

Are you in medical sales and trying to land that top doctor? I bet one of your neighbors knows him or her personally and you have no idea because you’ve never cultivated the relationship or, even more simply, just asked.

I’m not suggesting that you go door to door through your neighborhood and pester your neighbors for their contacts, but spend the time to better know those that you see and interact with regularly.

If you have a solid relationship with them, don’t be afraid to ask for help or connections. Good people have a natural tendency to want to help other good people.

3.Earn respect.

It’s also important to reiterate that you can’t ask someone for help or a connection that you don’t have a relationship with. Well, let me rephrase that -- you can but it won’t work and you’ll permanently burn that bridge. It’s really one of the most common mistakes new networkers make.

You must build trust and connection with the person first, because you need them to want to help you and trust that you’re not going to embarrass them when they introduce you to someone.

If you are, however, focused on creating real relationships that are built on respect and have the potential to benefit both parties -- even if that’s just enjoying the interaction or from helping you -- you’ll be amazed at where your relationships can take you.

Leave a comment and share your thoughts on what you have gained from Casual Meeting.