The Transition from Employee to Entrepreneur

Ready to take the leap of faith from cubicle-dwelling employee to corner-office entrepreneur? Starting a business, whether large or small requires know-how, courage and preparation. Before you lease the office space and order your business cards, here are three tips that will save you time and effort as you transition from employee to entrepreneur.

Unlike a salary, an entrepreneur's money doesn't grow on trees.

As you transition from employee to entrepreneur, pretend you are a farmer planting a great business seed into the soil. Would you expect to fertilize and water the seed and 1 week later expect a multi-million dollar harvest? If a new business venture is your seed to wealth you can't look for immediate bi-weekly cash. A new business is an investment in your future, not a salaried venture. Don't waste time planting a money tree. Get a part time job instead.

Employee to Entrepreneur Tip #1 - Save up at least 3 months worth of living expenses before you start a new business. Worrying about bills, food and shelter is a major distraction to the creativity and innovation you'll need in the first few months of launching your new idea.

What goes around comes around.

New entrepreneurs seem to have workplace amnesia when looking for employees to work for them. Were you always late to work? Did you take pride in deliberately taking a few much needed supplies to furnish your home office? Karma has a way of repaying your efforts and bringing similar thieving employees or stellar superstars to your entrepreneurial doorstep. Pretend that you are the entrepreneur instead of the employee within your current position. Act like the employee you would want to hire.

Employee to Entrepreneur Tip #2 - Start looking for your employees the moment you create your idea. Tell friends and family that you are looking to hire the best people for your venture. Don't wait until you have the money. High salaries are a major killer to cash flow and a drain on capital. Some people will believe in your idea so passionately, that they will work for equity or stock options in exchange for their efforts.

The employee to entrepreneur transition requires the mastery of many skills.

When I was an employee, I mastered three business tasks. I was either responsible for sales, administrative tasks or marketing. As an entrepreneur you must have a reasonable knowledge of those three tasks...and then some. From bookkeeping, contract law and marketing to customer service, human resources, sales and innovation, a wise entrepreneur must understand these business core competencies to oversee the growth of the business. Prepare to be a jack or jill of all trades as you transition from employee to entrepreneurs.

Employee to Entrepreneur Tip #3 - Hire consultants with tons of slashes. Hire a webmaster/graphic designer/videographer to manage your marketing tasks. Use an administrative assistant who also functions as a bookkeeper. A new business needs a group of risk takers who are familiar with the entrepreneurial ebb and flow to support the up-and-coming idea. Employ a team of multi-tasking entrepreneurs instead of freelancers with only one skill set.

Employees can make incredible entrepreneurs. As a bright eyed entrepreneur with dreams of money and success, I wish someone had told me these simple truths seven years ago. These tips would have made my transition from employee to entrepreneur a little less costly and a whole lot smoother.