5 Essential Steps To Take Before Making The Leap From the Corporate World to Entrepreneur
Yes.
It can be ridiculously incredibly tempting to walk out of that unfulfilling, boring or stressful 9-5 and start pursuing your entrepreneurial dreams when you’re having a particularly bad day. but before you do make sure you follow these 5 Steps before you take the leap and quit your 9-5
5 Essential Steps To Take Before Making The Leap From the Corporate World to Entrepreneur
It can be ridiculously incredibly tempting to walk out of that unfulfilling, boring or stressful 9-5 and start pursuing your entrepreneurial dreams when you’re having a particularly bad day.
Especially when you’re overwhelmed with demands that never seem to leave your inbox.
Or when someone spilled coffee all over those important documents AGAIN.
Or when you’re stuck in the office doing overtime when everyone else is out there having fun and you KNOW you’re chained to your desk until late, AGAIN. It’s enough to drive you crazy!
But don’t do it. Not yet.
Don’t quit your corporate job until you’ve worked through the five essential steps I’m about to share with you today.
Because, as you already know, the path to becoming an entrepreneur isn’t an easy one.
It takes focus. It takes time and dedication. It takes grit to keep pushing through towards your business goals even when it doesn’t seem to be going as planned.
That’s when you can start fulfilling your potential and living your dream. But none of this happens overnight.
Read through the following five steps I’m about to share, and make sure you take action on each one. It’s important.
Step 1. Know your ‘why’
Before you even think about resigning from your job, you first need to think carefully about what motivates you to make this change.
What is your ‘why’?
Your answer to this simple question will guide you towards making the right choices for your business, your happiness and your sense of fulfillment. It will help you tune into that inner ‘gut wisdom’ that can make the difference between entrepreneurial success and failure.
And if you keep your ‘why’ at the very front of your mind, you’ll also be able to make that leap from the safety of the 9-5 with more confidence. You’ll also find it much easier to stay focused on your end goal, even if the going gets tough.
How to find your why
Start by watching this short 5 minute TEDTalk by Simon Sinek[1] , called ‘Start with Why’.
Next, pull out your journal, set the timer on your phone for 20 minutes and start writing about your why. Why do you want to leave your corporate job? Why do you want your business idea (if you already have one), to become a reality?
Your ‘why’ might include one of the following:
I want to become my own boss
I want to enjoy more freedom
I want to spend more time with my kids
I want to pursue my passions
I want to work from anywhere you like
I want to ditch that horrible commute
Once you’ve come up with an answer, I want you to take it a step further and ask yourself again, ‘But why?’
Why do you want more freedom? Why do you want to work from anywhere? What is it that makes you want to make this dream a reality?
Be honest- no one is judging you for your answers!
Then when you’ve outlined your ‘why’, I want you to use it!
Write it down on your vision board or create a big poster carrying these powerful words. Display it over your desk and look at it often. Or even scribble it on a ton of sticky notes and display them all over your home! It all works.
Step 2. Set strong goals
Goals are a vital part of any business, and in my opinion, they’re also a great framework to apply to your entire life.
With goals, you’ll know exactly where you’re heading, instead of just having a vague direction in mind.
You’ll feel like you’re taking back the control over your life, and feel much more confident that you won’t be trapped in the daily grind forever. The future will look much brighter and sticking with the corporate job for just a tiny bit longer will seem more bearable than it was before.
Use your goals to help you transition from where you are right now to where you want to be. I promise you, it will all be worth it.
How to set effective goals
When you create your goals, make sure you do it in a way that empowers you to push through your fears and move towards where you want to go.
However, it can be quite a balancing act because you don’t ever want to feel overwhelmed, or lost or like you’ve been working far too long to make your dreams happen without making much progress.
That’s why I love the SMART goals framework. If you’ve been in business circles for a while, you’ll know that this is an acronym which we can break down as follows:
Specific – Get crystal-clear about what you want to achieve. Where exactly would you like to take your business?
Measurable – Make sure that your goal can be measured so that you know when you’ve achieved it!
Achievable - Can you actually make this goal happen? Do you have enough time to make it work? How about money? Be honest.
Relevant - Make sure your goal is pushing you in the direction you want to head. Seems obvious but it can easy to forget.
Timely - Set a deadline for achieving the goal. Again, be realistic.
Now it’s over to you. What goals could you set yourself for the coming few months, year or even couple of years?
Be specific, really drill down to what is important and make sure they fit within the SMART goals framework.
Step 3. Take action
I know from experience that it’s far too easy to get lost doing background research, especially when you’re not feeling entirely confident in your ability to make your business work. It feels much safer to stay behind your computer, asking questions, trying to suss out the market before you take the leap.
It’s easier to daydream about things like answering your emails in your pyjamas, taking a mid-afternoon break to go to Yoga class, or eating almond butter straight from the jar as you sort through your finances, than actually doing something to make it real.
It’s safer. You don’t have to face any risks.
But please don’t make this mistake.
I’ve seen far too many women give up on some truly fantastic business dreams, simply because they were too scared to take action, or felt like they needed to know it all before they took the leap into their new career, or it just wasn’t ‘the right time’.
The truth is, you’ll never have all the answers.
There’s no such thing as the right time. You’ll never be able to research your fears away, or be 100% sure that you can make your business idea work. There are no guarantees in this entrepreneur life.
There comes a point when you have to place your toes on the edge of that cliff and take that leap. Take action. Make it happen.
Because, what’s the alternative? That you keep struggling through that daily grind for the rest of your life? That you just have to swallow your pride and sacrifice your dreams because you were too scared?
What kind of life do you think you’d live then? What kind of life do you want to live?
I know what my answer would be.
Step 4. Tap into your network
You already have a huge network of people who can help make your entrepreneurial dreams become a reality, I’m pretty certain of it. All you need to do is ask and the magic will happen.
Yes, I know that the thought of reaching out and asking for help like this can be scary.
What if they think you’re rude for asking for help? What if they laugh in your face?
What if you’re just kidding yourself and you’re not really good enough to make your business idea work? What if you just make a fool of yourself?
First let me tell you that you’re not alone in feeling like this. No one likes to ask other people for help, especially when they’re first starting out in business. We like to think we already have all the answers, that we know what we’re doing, and we can build our empire alone.
But I’d really encourage you to reach out and contact the people that you believe could help you.
They can provide really useful advice and guidance that can help you get started, they might be able to throw exciting opportunities your way, and they might even be full of ideas that can help drive you in a lucrative new direction. Besides, you’ve already built some kind of a relationship with them, so they’ll be much more willing to go the extra mile to help you out.
So don’t let the threat of rejection put an end to your dreams. Don’t be limited by that little negative voice in your head that tries to sabotage your life. You can do this.
Be brave. Go ask these people.
Step 5. Get a coach
Making changes to your life can be scary, especially when there’s so much at stake. It’s far too easy to get overwhelmed, lose direction, and let those doubts and worries come through to run the show. That’s why I’d highly advise you get yourself a coach if you’re serious about making your dreams become a reality.
They can help you make sense of where you are in life right now, help you understand yourself better and help you move through challenges like fear and lack of confidence and self belief.
They can also highlight areas that need more work, help you make sense of your business goals and guide you through making the leap from the corporate world to entrepreneurship with more confidence. Contact me if you’d like to hear how I can support you.
So before you make the leap from your 9-5 and start making your business dreams a reality, make sure you do some prep work first.
Outline your ‘why’, set yourself some SMART goals, take action (however small), use your network and don’t forget to find yourself a coach to help you transition more smoothly, without the usual obstacles getting in the way.
Hey, I'm Tasmin! I'm a Mindset & Business Confidence Coach for new and aspiring female entrepreneurs. I help overcome their fears and ramp up their confidence so that they can escape the corporate drudgery and create a life and business on their terms.
Want to chat about how I can help you? Apply for a Free Session with me here. I'm excited to talk to you :-)
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4 Business Blocks Stopping You From Starting Your Service Based Business
Do you want to be a successful female entrepreneur running your own freedom-based service business? Are you looking to finally say goodbye to your nine-to-five corporate job, but somehow you can’t get yourself to do it? This post explores 4 Business Bocks Stopping You From Starting Your Service-Based Business and How to Overcome Them.
4 Business Blocks Stopping You From Starting Your Service-Based Business
Yes.
Do you want to be a successful female entrepreneur running your own freedom-based service business? Are you looking to finally say goodbye to your nine-to-five corporate job, but somehow you can’t get yourself to do it?
I was once just like you. I had a “successful” corporate career, the money was good, but I just found no fulfillment. Inside I was slowly dying. I knew I had to get rid of the life-sapping nine-to-five experience, with all the office politics and long hours.
I knew there was much more inside of me, but I didn’t know how to get it out into the world. And I was afraid to take action. It was only after much soul-searching, lots of reading, and lots of time spent with myself that I learned that it didn’t have to be this way.
The truth is that the world needs more female entrepreneurs – more women who unleash their potential and live life on their own terms. You have so much talent stuck inside of you, it's really a pity to let it go to waste. Stuck inside a corporate cubicle, working a job that maybe pays well but keeps you in a cage – that's missing out on life.
Life can be much more than that. In this short article, I'll go over what's holding you back and how you can set yourself free. I’ve done it, and so can you!
So let’s get to it!
What’s Holding You Back?
The first step towards starting your own business lies in figuring what’s holding you back. You have to ask yourself, why aren’t you doing it yet? What are you waiting for? More money, more experience, a better financial position, a better idea, certainty?
As you take stock of your reasons, you will come across four key areas that hold back every woman who desires to be a successful female entrepreneur. We can break these four areas into:
Limiting beliefs;
Fears;
Cultural conditioning and,
Lack of knowledge.
Once we understand what these factors are, and how they influence us, we can stop letting them control us. In understanding them, we will also understand how to set ourselves free. This is how I first did it, and how you can do it too! We’ll now go through each factor individually.
Ready?
1. Limiting Beliefs
Do you know that nagging voice in your head that always tells you that you’re not good enough? That you can’t do it? That you’re not ready? That you don’t have enough experience?
Every time you decide to take action, that voice comes back to you. And those limiting beliefs keep assaulting your mind, until you lose all faith in yourself.
These beliefs undermine your confidence and keep sabotaging you at every step of the way. Even if you appear outwardly confident, in the background these beliefs still function to hold you chained. In fact, low self-confidence is killing female entrepreneurship.
So how can you start breaking the chains? The first step to take is to start questioning your limiting beliefs. Is it really true that you don’t have enough experience? Haven’t there been thousands of people who went into business with little to no experience whatsoever, some straight out of college? If they did it. So can you.
In any case, it’s likely that you have a lot more experience than you are giving yourself credit for. A brief glimpse back over your previous job roles and responsibilities, your education etc, will reaffirm just how much experience you actually do have.
The more you question your limiting beliefs, the weaker they will become, until one day, you will break free and take the leap, just like I did!
2. Fears
Your fears are those dreaded scenarios that enter your mind every time you’re about to take action on your dream. For example, all those doubts that don't leave you alone at night. All those thoughts which make your vision seem impossible.
The most common fears women entrepreneurs experience are:
Fear of failure
Dreading success
Fear of being judged
Fear of upsetting others
To succeed, you have to free yourself from your fears. Research shows that removing these self-doubts removes a HUGE barrier to business success.
And let me tell you… you will only get your dream business when you become your DREAM YOU! Professional growth is not possible without personal growth. So the first thing is to work on YOURSELF.
The secret to overcoming fear is learning to accept and live with the risks. After all, risk and being vulnerable are parts of life. If we close ourselves in, trying to be invulnerable, we stop living. We are as good as dead. It is only by embracing life, with all its uncertainties, that we can achieve our real potential, personally and professionally.
3. Cultural Conditioning
Depending on your background, different cultural conditioning may also affect you. Research shows that this is one of the most significant factors that stops women from starting a business.
Many of us are led to believe that entrepreneurship is a male-centric activity, and women just cannot succeed. But nothing can be further from the truth. And what I discovered through my own journey, is that not only can you succeed. But you can succeed by being who you are.
Cultural conditioning is unique to every woman, so it’s important to find a mentor who has walked the same path you want to walk. They can show you how your conditioning undermines you, and what you can do about it.
4. Lack of Knowledge
The next significant factor that holds you back is lack of business knowledge. Without the right understanding of what you have to do to start, run and manage your business, you cannot succeed.
And unless you come from an entrepreneurial family, or you have already been an entrepreneur, it's difficult to gain this knowledge by yourself. And so either you dedicate an inordinate amount of time to reading, studying and making mistakes, or you cut the time it takes to learn what you need by having a mentor.
Consequently, 48% of female entrepreneurs report that one of their most significant roadblocks is lacking a mentor. It is essential to seek out someone who has already walked the path, who has been in your shoes, and who can show you the way.
Learning the nuts and bolts of running a business can be intimidating at first, especially in what is still a male-dominated industry. This guidance can be indispensable to your success.
Learn How To Unleash Your Potential Today
Now that you have an overview of the factors holding you back, it’s time to understand how they apply to you as a person. Then you can start taking action to start your business and quit your 9-5!
I'm accepting applications for my 1-1 Coaching Program from women that are powerful on the inside & are ready to rise up and be seen.
Applications are open and you can book your call here.
Hey, I'm Tasmin! I'm a Mindset & Business Confidence Coach for new and aspiring female entrepreneurs. I help overcome their fears and ramp up their confidence so that they can escape the corporate drudgery and create a life and business on their terms.
Want to chat about how I can help you? Apply for a Free Session with me here. I'm excited to talk to you :-)
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What the Pyramids of Egypt Taught Me About Business
I've come to realise that travel is a form of self love. I'm never as energised and alive as when I am travelling to some place new.
What the pyramids of Egypt taught me about business
I've come to realize that travel is a form of self-love. I'm never as energized and alive as when I am traveling to someplace new. Whilst each place I visit leaves an impact on me there are some places that stir me deeply in my soul and deliver profound lessons in both business and life.
For my latest post for She Owns It, I reflected on my recent trip to Egypt and the lessons I learned about Business whilst there. You can read the full post here.
If you’re ready to overcome your fears and mindset blocks and create your dream business, then go ahead and join my free Facebook Community for free resources, trainings and sisterhood and support on your business journey.
Hey, I'm Tasmin! I'm a Mindset & Business Confidence Coach for new and aspiring female entrepreneurs. I help overcome their fears and ramp up their confidence so that they can escape the corporate drudgery and create a life and business on their terms.
Want to chat about how I can help you? Apply for a Free Session with me here. I'm excited to talk to you :-)
Sharing is caring!
How to Find the Confidence to Start and Run Your Business Without Fear
Are you struggling to find the confidence to turn your dream business into a reality?
How to Find the Confidence to Start and Run Your Business Without Fear
Are you struggling to find the confidence to turn your dream business into a reality?
Would you love to start your business but are feeling blocked be fears, limiting beliefs and insecurities?
If you’re ready to overcome your fears and mindset blocks and create your dream business, then go ahead and join my free Facebook Community for free resources, trainings and sisterhood and support on your business journey.
Hey, I'm Tasmin! I'm a Mindset & Business Confidence Coach for new and aspiring female entrepreneurs. I help overcome their fears and ramp up their confidence so that they can escape the corporate drudgery and create a life and business on their terms.
Want to chat about how I can help you? Apply for a Free Session with me here. I'm excited to talk to you :-)
Sharing is caring!
3 Steps to Get Out Of Your Own Way and Set Yourself Up For Success
A couple of years ago I was at a business Mastermind.
I was running my physical products business at the time and we all had turns in the "hot seat" discussing our products and strategies for generating more sales.
🌟3 steps to get out of your own way and set yourself up for sucess🌟
A couple of years ago I was at a business Mastermind.
I was running my physical products business at the time and we all had turns in the "hot seat" discussing our products and strategies for generating more sales.
There was a fellow entrepreneur who was flying in her business which she had established a few years earlier.
When it was her turn in the hotseat, she was told by the Coach how amazing her business was and how it was prepped for huge growth with the potential to go "nuclear". He ended by saying that the only thing that could stop her is herself.
She replied calmly "I'll just get out of my own way then won't ?I".
It really struck me how firmly and categorically she said that.
Like it was the simplest thing in the world.
I asked her about it after and she told me that she wasn't always like that and she had to do a huge amount of mindset work to get to that stage.
In other words, for a long time, she had very much been in her own way.
This got me thinking how so many times we can get in our own way even when we really want something deep down. I've seen this in myself and the women I work with.
So, if you've ever got in your own way when it comes to making things happen in your business, my latest post for She Owns It sets out 3 Steps To Get Out of Your Own Way and Set Yourself Up for Success.
You can read the post here
If you’re ready to overcome your fears and mindset blocks and create your dream business, then go ahead and download the Ultimate Confidence Toolkit and Free Audio Training
Hey, I'm Tasmin! I'm a Mindset & Business Confidence Coach for new and aspiring female entrepreneurs. I help overcome their fears and ramp up their confidence so that they can escape the corporate drudgery and create a life and business on their terms.
Want to chat about how I can help you? Apply for a Free Session with me here. I'm excited to talk to you :-)
Sharing is caring!