Making The Shift From An Employee To A Business Owner

Becoming a business owner isn’t the same as taking a new job at a different company. If there’s a comparison out there, it’s more like going from being a full-time student to working your very first job. It’s a different way to live your life every day and it demands new and different things from you.

It demands that you change your mindset about how you work and what you do.

By recognizing this and embracing the shift from employee to business owner, you can capitalize on the changes and make them work in the best way for your business and your life.

The Benefits to Becoming a Business Owner

Changing your life and your entire mindset about work is a difficult thing to do. It requires a mental leap. And that kind of change is uncomfortable, scary even.

“Everything you’ve ever wanted is sitting on the other side of fear.” George Adair

If there wasn’t this mental barrier, if it didn’t require a leap of faith to become successful, then everyone would do it.

For those who make it to the other side, the benefits are worth it. Benefits include…

    • Independence. There is a pride that comes with standing on your own.
    • Creative Freedom. You have the freedom to choose what you want to work on and what is most important to you.
    • Lifestyle. You choose how you want to live your life every day.
    • You’ll always be learning. Your job will never be boring again. You’ll always be learning about new things with your business.
    • Satisfaction. There’s nothing like knowing you did something that so many think is impossible.

Things People Don’t Know About Owning a Business

    • It never stops. When you become a business owner, your mind is always half at work.
    • It’s harder to make sure you prioritize spending time with your family and friends. It’s up to you to develop a routine that recognizes that priority and schedules time for the important relationships in your life.
    • Mistakes are part of the journey. They are inevitable. They also really are learning opportunities and a necessary part of the road.
    • You no longer have time for things that don’t matter. Your priorities shift and your time becomes more valuable.

Becoming the Entrepreneur You Always Wanted To Be

It’s never easy, but it’s always thrilling. As your business journey takes off, your mindset will shift and change. Sometimes it happens slow and sometimes it feels like things are going a million miles an hour. Embrace it all and learn from the changes that are happening to ensure you’re taking in the lessons and letting them turn you into the entrepreneur you want to be.

Question How Things Are Done

When you think like an employee, you may question certain things, but ultimately, there is always someone above you who is in control of the decision. When you’re a business owner, you are now the person in charge of the questions. Now you create plans for how things are done. You decide what goals your company is going after. And you say no to the things that don’t fit in line with your vision for your company. Embrace this mindset shift early on and steer your company where you want to go.

Make Friends With People On Your Same Journey

Surrounding yourself with other people on the same track as you can be immensely helpful. When you’re starting a business, a lot of what you’re going through is a mindset shift. It is very likely that the people you have surrounded yourself with years reflect your old mindset, and will say discouraging things to hold you back along the way. Most people don’t mean to do this in a mean way. They think they’re being helpful in their own way. But other people on your same journey will better understand what you’re trying to do and know how to encourage you.

When Tim Ferriss talks about how to start a business, he also stressed this. He also mentions the possibility of moving somewhere there are more entrepreneurs if that will help you find your tribe of people who will support you on your journey.

Successful Business Owners Have Routines

Another bit of wisdom to be gained from Tim Ferriss is through his book Tools of Titans. This book is massive. It isn’t intended to be a book you sit and read through in one sitting. You can flip it open and read a brief section where he highlights the routines and habits of different world icons he has interviewed in the past.

A theme from this book that is most helpful for the new business owner is that you need to develop a routine! This book is full of successful people and all of them have their own routines and personal tricks to improve their own productivity. They do things to keep their bodies in top shape like exercise, get up early, eat healthy, and keep a consistent sleep schedule. Many of them have a meditation practice and/or keep a journal. Keeping your body and mind sharp is an essential part of running a business and developing these routines early on will help you avoid burning out.

There are many successful people featured in the book who have successful routines. One of the most famous is Casey Neistat’s routine. His days are intense and no one thinks you have to go that far to be successful. But his is one of the most intense routines out there, and he still focuses on keeping his day to day life the same. It’s a simple idea, but difficult to keep yourself to. The benefits are that it keeps his day easily controlled so that his mind is on his business, not stressing about what to eat today.

Don’t Let Fear Stop You

Some days it might seem impossible, but you will become someone who is used to being a business owner some day and then you’ll wonder how you ever did anything else. There is a trick to making this happen: you just do it.

As Robert Kiyosaki said, the secret to entrepreneurial success is “simply doing entrepreneurship”. As you push forward and brave the work, you “build the entrepreneurial muscle” and learn how to do it.

This will become normal someday.

Making the Shift to Business Owner Happens In Its Own Time

Remember that as you take this journey, you need to be patient with yourself. Take one thing at a time and focus on that. If you changing your routine, change one thing, like the time you wake up, and then once you’ve made that shift, add another new thing. You aren’t just doing this for a week or two, you are changing your life and the way you think about it. You want to give yourself time for these changes to stick.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that things will always be changing. Your mindset, your routine, your social circles, and the way you work will all evolve as your business develops over the years. The more willing you are to adapt and grow with your business the greater chances for success.

I am part of a community where I learned key digital, mindset and online business skills that have set me on my journey to creating a sustainable online business. If you are interested in starting an online business and eventually make the shift from an employee to business owner, then click here to learn more.

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