To succeed in transitioning from
full-timer to entrepreneur, everyone must work feverishly and make huge
sacrifices. Yet some are more cut out than others to take the plunge. Are you
proactive, fearless, and organized enough to make a go of it? Here are four
signs that you already have what it takes to clock out for good and achieve
financial independence:
1. You have a track record of
networking with total strangers.
Are you
connected to people you barely know on LinkedIn ? Solid start. Communicate with them
regularly? Even better. Happily make cold calls and in-person visits to drum up
business for your company? Well, that merits a gold star. Social
courage isn’t taught in school, but it should be. It’s
absolutely essential for every aspect of successfully hanging your own shingle,
from enrolling potential investors in your vision, to turning hot prospects
into long-term clients.
Entrepreneurs who define their network strictly by the people
they know — and the connections of those connections — are seriously limiting
themselves. Forget six degrees of separation. Many times there is no traceable
path between you and the people you need most and the establishment of a
relationship will rest squarely on the shoulders of your own chutzpah and
icebreaking skills.
2. You work all the time, but never
talk about how much you work.
People who enjoy what they do don’t
feel the need to play the martyr. And if you plan to shed blood, sweat, and
tears to start your own business, you better love it! Plus, no client wants to
hear their independent contractors complaining about working through the
weekend.
So if your hard labor requires an
audience, you should forget any thoughts of freelancing. Along with office
politics, face time is one of the first things that evaporate when striking out
on your own. Take a look at your own reputation and if there’s any chance that
your success is even partly dependent on your boss hearing about your
exhausting schedule, you best stay put.
3. You understand the details of your
401k, health insurance, and pay stubs.
Being your own boss means being your
own professional caretaker. You must have full command over all the pesky
details that your company takes care of now. Filling out your weekly timesheets
will seem like a breeze when confronted with issues of incorporation, billing,
past-due invoices and the tracking of tax-deductible expenses. If you’re the
kind of person who has full command of your compensation and benefit package,
you’re more than up to the challenge.
4. You take so much vacation time that
some of it is unpaid.
To the un-enterprising eye, this may
sound like a negative. However, taking the time off you need proves you value
freedom over money and love new experiences. These are both important qualities
in any successful entrepreneur.
With the ability to make their own
schedule and work wherever they are, freelancers are emancipated from the
predetermined, and often miniscule, allotment of vacation time that has become
the norm. If you’ve already broken beyond those bounds, and happily accepted
the consequence of a reduced paycheck, then you’ve already begun the transition
to working independently.
Make no
mistake, becoming your own boss is a promotion. And as anyone who has
successfully climbed a corporate ladder can tell you, promotions are only
granted to people who already proved they can do the job. Are you qualified to
be your own boss? If you fearlessly network, truly enjoy hard work, stay on top
of a world of details, and value your freedom, then you’re already acting like
a successful entrepreneur. Meaning your leap to freedom won’t be nearly as
risky as you think. So what’s stopping you? Your boss’s pink slip is waiting.
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