Every college graduate stands at a crossroads where they have to take a life-altering decision.
Choosing between a 9-to-5 job and becoming one’s own boss is a critical step because your future hinges upon it.
And always remember that entrepreneurship is not for everyone. You might be better off at a 9-to-5 job.
But if your intuition tells you that your idea is unique and exciting, it’s safe to go all in because deep down you know that you’ll sail through.
For the bold, risk-takers, we have five tips to help you get off on the right foot and improve your chances of success.
Keep your day job
A majority of aspiring entrepreneurs quit their day job and start to work full-time for their dream project. This approach is ideal only if you have an angel investor to take care of your company’s expenses, such as infrastructure, marketing and other collaterals.
However, if you don’t have capital investment, you must find a day job and keep it until you build a sustainable startup. Your day job will help you pay your bills and manage everyday expenses so that your comfort zone remains intact. It’s true that great things happen outside your comfort zone, but with an empty bank account, you can only go so far.
Develop High-Income skills
Unless you have graduated from one of the Ivy League colleges, it’s going to be really challenging for you to start something of your own. It is important to develop high-income skills before you go on your own.
What are high-income skills? Why do you need them? How can you develop high-income skills?
You want to set up a digital marketing firm, for instance, and you want to do that right after college. You know all the tricks in the book, and after attending a couple of seminars, you are all charged up and ready to take on challenges – until reality knocks you down to the dirt.
High-income skills are important and can be developed over time by gaining knowledge of the field and working under someone who has already gotten where you want to be a couple of years down the line.
And to sum it up, you know you have developed high-income skills when you are able to make double the money you earn with your day job.
Develop People Skills
An entrepreneur is not someone who sits in isolation and does all the backend work. An entrepreneur has to be outgoing, dynamic and a team player. All these qualities have one thing in common – people skills.
If you have a way with people, you can quickly close deals, build partnerships and utilize others’ time and money to build your life’s work.
You Don’t Need an Office Space
Office space is a liability at the initial stage of your entrepreneurial journey. And the first rule of business is to build assets and reduce liabilities.
In today’s technology-driven world, you don’t necessarily need your team in the same room. Each member can work remotely and still implement everything that a physical office space allows.
For instance, if you’d like to brainstorm with your team members, you can use a digital whiteboard to facilitate smooth, focused and result-led team meetings. Agencies like HuddleBoard have been advancing new features into the software to make user-experience a lot better and smoother than before.
Be Authentic
As an entrepreneur, you meet a lot of potential clients, investors and partners along your journey. You cannot always wear a mask and put up a happy face. Be authentic and Stay true to your passion. People who believe what you believe will automatically connect with you. And these are the kind of people you will want to work and build your life’s work with.