The Employee to Owner Shuffle
The shift from employee to business owner is both exciting and a little frightening. While many people are equipped with natural talents ranging from leadership skills to shrewd negotiation capabilities, it can be difficult to transition into an ownership role and best put those assets to work for yourself. Here are a few tips for shedding a worker mindset as you start your own business.
You’re the Boss. Also,You’re the Boss.
It’s challenging to land on the central line with the boss mindset. The ability to take a longer-than-normal lunch or scrap work for a day with your kid provides a giddy level of freedom, and that’s a good thing. At the same time, you’re the owner of the company, and the buck (and everything else) stops here.
Business owners don’t think in terms of PTO, whether or not they’re allowed to take a long lunch, or “making up time” to tick the 40-hour mark each week. But they also tend to work more hours, at least at first, than those employed by others. A New York Enterprise Report notes that 58 percent of small business owners said they worked 50 hours per week or more; a Gallup poll indicated similar results, with 39 percent of respondents stating they worked 60 hours or more each week. As a business owner, you have control of the time, but successful owners still managed to get it in.
Money Matters More Than Ever
Unless you worked for a very small business or in the accounting department, you likely didn’t have to concern yourself much with the financial aspect of the organization. As a new business owner, money is going to be a top concern. Do you have enough of it? Is there more coming? How can you save without sacrificing quality? These are questions you’ll have to answer almost every single day.
If you’re not good with numbers or comfortable with financial reporting, it can be a good idea to seek help from someone who is. At minimum, you or someone will need to cover some basic financial tasks on a regular basis.
You Can’t Do Everything Yourself
Finally, realize that you can’t do everything on your own. At some point, it’s important to delegate tasks so you can keep growing your business. As a worker, busy work was something you had to deal with. As a business owner, it’s something you can hire someone to do (once the money lines up, of course).
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