It’s time and you’re ready. You’ve spent years working in a corporate environment and you’re ready to branch out on your own. Maybe you’re feeling the effects of the global pandemic. Perhaps you’re feeling burnt out. You’re ready to try something new. Whatever the reason, you’re ready for a change. You’ve made the decision to work toward leaving your corporate job and embark on something of your own. Here is how to use and leverage your corporate knowledge to start your own business.

Why Use Your Corporate Knowledge to Start Your Own Business? 

There is so much that goes into starting a business. From the research phase to the start-up and implementation, you’ll likely spend a large portion of your time ‘getting started’ before launching your business. Because of this, any opportunity or shortcut you can take will help immeasurably. If you’ve worked in a corporate environment for any length of time, chances are you’ve built up a strong toolbox of resources, methods, and knowledge.

Use and leverage that corporate knowledge when you start your own business. Rather than recreating the wheel, use what you’ve learned to ensure you start on the right foot. Use your corporate knowledge to help you start your own business and you’ve already conquered half of the battle. 

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Figure Out What is Missing in Your Industry

If you’ve finally reached that point of your career where you know you want to be doing something for yourself, but you’re not sure what, consider what’s missing from your industry. Of course, this will only be helpful if you enjoy the industry you’re currently working within. If that is the case, really take stock of what your clients or customers are saying. Are there any specific pain points they have that your company is unable to address? What are our strengths? If your strengths align with a solution to what may be missing in your industry, it may be time to consider working to solve that problem.

Listen to your clients and get to know them. Talk to them and figure out where they’re struggling. The goal is not to ‘steal clients from your company. What you’re doing is looking for solutions to problems that exist. Answers that are not being addressed. If you have the bandwidth, capacity, and knowledge to fix those problems for clients like the ones you currently have, that may be a business venture you might want to pursue. 

Build Lasting Relationships by Nurturing Your Network 

It’s the big challenge of corporate life, do you take your contacts with you when you leave the company. Well, if you’re going to work for a competitor, that is a 100% solid ‘no.’ If you’re embarking on your own venture, however, it’s common to keep your network close. In the old days, that would mean carrying around business cards or rifling through your Rolodex, but today, many of us network and connect virtually on sites like Linkedin.

What’s great about this option is that it’s a neutral space for you to build your network and develop relationships with people vs. the company they represent. Use your Linkedin account to connect before, during, and after your employment. If you see an article that a connection may find interesting, share it with them.  Keep the lines of communication open. This provides a pool of neutral acquaintances to network with. When you launch your business, update your Linkedin page and reach out to just say hello. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, your connections will even send the first messages, congratulating you on your new venture. 

Expect and Anticipate Minor Issues Before They Become Big Problems 

Rules implemented after a problem arises can have a profound negative impact on company morale. We’ve all been in a situation where something goes wrong within the department and as a result, supervisors implement a new rule or procedure that feels more like a punishment than a solution.

As a business owner, whether you have employees or not, having procedures in place can significantly reduce larger problems down the line. Nothing puts a damper on all the good that your team is doing than to have to backtrack and reevaluate standard operation procedures. Anticipate what could go wrong and have a plan in place to avoid issues. Having a proactive approach to your business rather than a reactive one will go a long way.  

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To Start Your Own Business You Must Understand that Change is Good 

In the corporate environment, company culture gets too caught up in the process. The “it’s just how we do it” and the “we’ve always done it that way” attitude.  Unfortunately, this often leads to a corporation becoming stagnant. They fall behind a curve. Ultimately they’re overrun by their competition who are doing it the ‘new way.’ Many of us have seen it in companies we’ve worked in, resistance to change can be what actually does the company in.

As an entrepreneur, be aware if something isn’t working. If you’re presented with a better way of going about a task, by all means, take it. The last thing you want is to get left behind because of stubbornness. If a new idea is presented, entertain it. Don’t get caught up in the ‘we don’t do it like that.” Entertain the idea and give it a go. Growth stems from change.

Whether you’ve got some time before you make the leap to your own business or you’re ready to get started tomorrow, working in a corporate environment provides a wide range of opportunities and situations. It is these circumstances and experiences that will help you start your own business. What you’ve learned over the years will serve you well as a business owner. You’ve acquired communication, interpersonal and technological skills. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Apart from all of that, if you’re even considering starting a business, the confidence, strength, self-awareness, and power you’ve harnessed over the years has set you on this path, and that is something to be commended. Not everyone is cut out for entrepreneurship. So, if you’re even entertaining the idea of owning your own business, you’re already miles ahead of the game.