Currently, after a year and a half in pandemic circumstances, many people decided to become entrepreneurs due to different reasons and circumstances in their lives. They are at different levels in this journey – some of them are still at their current jobs but have a hobby that they want to transform into a business, others had dived directly into the entrepreneurship. Some of them are freelancers (working on projects). Others had become solopreneurs (having a bigger vision for their contribution to the world). And others have already created partnerships with some people or even have hired their first employee, striving for something even bigger – they have entered the phase of entrepreneurship. For the purpose of this article, I will call all these people entrepreneurs because all of them started to take actions that are different from the actions we usually do when we are employees.
So the question is “How from an employee to become a successful entrepreneur?”
In this article, I share some important elements according to my experience, which can help you in your journey from an employee to become a successful entrepreneur. I have been an employee for 15 years. I am an entrepreneur for 10 years. And as a coach, I help new entrepreneurs and Start-up business owners, emerge from difficult situations and elevate their business and life to the next level. More about me you can learn at the end of the article or on this website. And if you face challenges in your entrepreneurship journey, here you could find some answers that will help you move forward.
First, let’s talk about what “a successful entrepreneur” means.
- I invite you to stop for a while and think about what it means for you.
The word “success” has a different meaning for each person.
- What does “a successful entrepreneur” mean for you?
Pause for a while to have some answers before continue reading…
Did you get your answers? You can share with me in the comments below. Thank you! Your opinion is valuable!
Now is my turn: for me a successful entrepreneur means to follow your dreams, to cope with the challenges you face, and even in the moments when you don’t generate enough money to keep the faith and to have the strengths to continue. To be persistent and to look for new ways how to do it although the difficulties, to seek support and help when you need it, and to grow internally.
The inner growth helps us grow our business. We grow together with our business. There is no need to wait to grow enough. The inner growth happens with the challenges we overcome, with the risks we take, and the way we find solutions. We grow together with other people, our clients, or business partners. We cannot grow alone. When we stay alone, we stay at one place. Development happens in actions, in interactions with others, in challenges, and in the things we try to do.
The other element of success is to have a vision. We can create in the reality only the things that we can imagine and the things we believe we can do. But sometimes we cannot dream big, because our mindset, our belief system doesn’t allow it. Or sometimes we dream of something so big that we are not ready for it. Then we need to step on the ground and find the proper steps, patience, and accept that this is a long journey. This is also part of the growth.
But in every aspect of our growth, our mindset is important to be tuned to success in order to support us achieve what we dream for.
So we came to the most important element about how to become a successful entrepreneur, and it is
- To tune your mindset from an employee to an entrepreneur.
This is a journey. It does not happen over a night. This is a persistent effort and willingness to grow from within. It never stops. Once you tune it to “a propper vibe” then the doors of the abundance open. You still have to do work, but abundance means that everything happens with ease, with joy, with love. The next growth comes with time. You just enter in the flow.
Each level of growth has its own challenges. They are different.
- And as we said above, in challenges we grow, we extend ourselves, we learn new things and develop.
People usually face different challenges, but the most common ones are fears and beliefs that underestimate their confidence at the beginning phase of the entrepreneurship journey:
- Can I cope with this?
- Am I good enough?
- What if I fail?
- Or I feel too small. Or it is too big for me.
- Or fears of success – yes, it happens often, and this fear is as paralyzing as the fear of failure.
- Fears of showing up, for talking about yourself to other people, even fears to talk with people.
- Fears of taking action.
- Or the sensation – I need to believe in myself, but there is something inside that makes me doubt, etc.
The more actions we need to take the more inner barriers we reveal. But every challenge can be solved by dissociation from the emotions we have about it and getting a new point of view. This is one of the ways I help people solve their inner barriers and move ahead.
The other challenge people face when they become entrepreneurs is their attitude about work.
The attitude is so important. It reflects in every action we do or lack of actions.
- Think about what is your attitude about work?
The answers you will get most probably will be from your conscious mind. Maybe you will get some reasonable answers as – it provides living, it helps me pay my bills, etc.
But when I coach people, very often another type of answer comes from their unconscious mind. We need to shift this internal attitude to a more supportive one in order to succeed in entrepreneurship. And very often people find their game-changers as experiences of freedom.
And the other very important element for becoming a successful entrepreneur is your motivation – to know your WHY, to have a cause, to do your business not because to have more money, rather because you want to leave a mark in the world, to contribute to people and money follows the contribution.
I invite you to take some time and think about:
- Why do you want to have a business?
- Why do you want to become an entrepreneur?
- What is your real why?
- What do you really want to achieve and why?
Very often it is hidden among many things. Your real motivation is not obvious. It is something much deeper. And this is what will help you overcome all challenges you face in your journey from an employee to a successful entrepreneur. And I can help you find it and to cope with your challenges and create the business you dream about.
If you feel you need support for any of the elements we talk hear in this article, connect with me here.
I will answer all of your questions within 2 working days.
I wish you much success in your journey from an employee to a successful entrepreneur!
Ivet Pavlova,
NLP & Somatic, Business, Leadership, and Life-balance coach and trainer.
I help New Entrepreneurs and Start-Up Business Owners emerge from difficult situations and elevate their business and life with more joy, love, and happiness, creating a positive environment where people blossom.
About the author – Ivet Pavlova
I have graduated University of national and World Economy in 1995, in Sofia, Bulgaria. My major is Finance. I have been working in the banking system in Bulgaria for about 15 years, exploring in details banking and finance, development of banking and another type of businesses in different sectors. I had been appointed as a chief expert in the project of the reorganization and expansion of a large Bulgarian bank after its privatization. I had participated in many investment analyses for investing in higher-risk business projects. After my son was born my priorities changed and I started to explore topics in the area of children psychology, communication, wellness, and life balance, where I had found the answers to my questions about what makes some people successful, and other people fail. Finding coaching I had found my inner calling to help business leaders and their teams to emerge from difficult situations and to elevate their business and life with more joy, love, and happiness creating an environment where people blossom. I got my certification as an NLP coach in the Academy of Leadership Coaching and NLP in San Francisco in 2014. Since then, I have added additional qualifications and methodologies in my coaching and training practice, creating a holistic approach for solving business and leadership challenges. I am an entrepreneur for more than 10 years and everything that I work with my clients I have done it for myself first. I have passed through a huge spiritual transformation, integrating it into my programs successfully. This makes my coaching and training deeper, giving a huge and fast transformation for people in their businesses, leadership styles, and life.
