15 Tips to making the Transition from Employee to Business Owner – Part 3

The is part three of the three part series on Making the transition from employee to business owner. Here are the 5 five tips for this final week:

1. Network the evenings – as a full-time employee it’s challenging to network as most options are during the day. So use your evenings to network, attend any and all evening events. Create an evening event that others can attend and finally use your evenings to meet new people. Whether it’s attending a dinner party or going to the bookstore. Small talk can make for big business.
2. Use your salary to invest in your business – one of the positive aspects of working while starting a business is the inflow of dollars that could create a small budget for your business. By using a small portion of your income (5% or less for a VA business) for you business keeps debt low.
3. Include your family, friends and colleagues – share your new business with those around you. Host a “business launch” presentation and invite them all over to hear the great news.  Hand out your business cards so they can share your services with their network
4. Hire the family – hire family members as voluteers to help you with your business. They can run errands for you, put together packets, stamp envelopes and help you brainstorm.
5. Enjoy the Ride – while stressful, tiring and even fustrating at times remember why you started your business and enjoy the ride. Don’t sweat the small stuff and don’t let it get you down. Keep the end in mind and enjoy the ride.

I hope these tips are helpful and if you have some of your own please add them.