It may sound quite glamorous to be your own boss and ditch that corporate career, but transitioning from a corporate career to a thriving entrepreneur takes a long time if you are starting from the very beginning and here’s why.
Imposter Syndrome
Despite all your success in the corporate world, when you step out into the world of entrepreneurship, because it is such a different world, you might start to doubt yourself and all your accomplishments because now you actually have to find clients who will PAY you for your knowledge. Imposter Syndrome is real. When you are transitioning from a corporate career you might suffer from Imposter Syndrome.
Professor Maja, Sociologist at McMaster University and author of “Ladies Stop Apologizing” defines Imposter Syndrome as
An inability to own your success; you don’t feel “good enough.” You constantly undervalue yourself and feel like you don’t belong. It’s the belief that you’ve fooled people and you’ll be exposed as an imposter or fraud, as someone who doesn’t know enough or who isn’t smart enough. And when you do succeed, you don’t feel joyful, you’re relieved and then anxious about how you’ll recreate that initial success.
Feeling like an imposter is demoralizing and exhausting, but most of all, it chips away at our confidence and ability to step out of our comfort zones.
In their book “Good Enough” Amy Vodarek and Anne Day explore the stories of women entrepreneurs to show that we are good enough and it’s time to rinse away all that self doubt. On September 18, 2019, Amy will be our evening seminar leader to talk about unleashing our brilliance at our evening networking event. You can buy “Good Enough” on September 18th. It’s a great read.
Lack Of Confidence
When you are in a corporate career, unless you are in sales, you are defined by your specific role in the corporation. You are part of a team of peers, all with their own areas of expertise. When you take that leap into the entrepreneurial world, you suddenly have to master the basic skills of areas such as sales, marketing, financing, product development, website management etc. which may not be your area of expertise. All this can lead to a lack of confidence as the overwhelming challenges mount up. Not to mention the lack of confidence from a dose of “Imposter Syndrome”.
Perfectionism
Career go-getters tend to be over achievers who work hard and take pride in perfecting all the tasks they are assigned. But in the world of entrepreneurship absolutely nothing is perfect. And usually you don’t have a magical team to make it perfect. And really, why does perfectionism matter anyway? It’s usually all in our heads that we have to be perfect! In a non-perfect world, why do we need to be perfect? The answer is we don’t. If you are transitioning from a corporate career ditch perfectionism right out of the gate. Learn to live with the chaos of entrepreneurship.
Fear
Because entrepreneurship is full of unknowns, unlike in a corporate career, where expectations are a known quantity, you can get overwhelmed with fear. So what is the answer? Just take one small step at a time and don’t put unreal expectations upon yourself. You are not going to be an ‘overnight success’. Just ask successful entrepreneurs or watch episodes of the Dragons Den to see the number of years people have worked on their business before they even get to the ‘den’.
Some Ideas For Transitioning From A Corporate Career
- Find a mentor/coach
- Join a mastermind
- Listen to podcasts on platforms like Fabulous Fempreneurship for ideas
- Start your business as a side hussle before you leave the corporate world to test your ideas
- Find Your Tribe of supportive entrepreneurs who have your back and will recommend you
- Network with people in similar entrepreneurial businesses and learn how they got started
- Trust your gut, it’s usually right on!
For more help on transitioning from a corporate career to becoming a thriving entrepreneur, listen to this podcast with Laura Macdougall.