Making the Transition from Employee to Entrepreneur

Are you thinking about starting your own business? Making the transition from employee to entrepreneur is a big step — and that’s putting it mildly. Rather than having someone tell you what to do and when to do, you’ll be 100% responsible for achieving your professional goals. So before telling your boss “I quit,” familiarize yourself with the following tips to make the transition a bit easier and more seamless.

Separate Your Business and Personal Life

One of the biggest hurdles faced by entrepreneurs who make the transition is separating their business and personal life. Upon embarking on a new venture, you’ll probably work at home, in which case you’ll have distractions present such as phone calls, doing laundry, chores, etc. This can easily veer you away from what really matters: your work. So, either rent an office or dedicate a room in your house specifically for work and only work.

Identify Short-Term and Long-Term Goals

Entrepreneurs should also identify both short-term and long-term goals. Perhaps a short-term goal is to incorporate your business into an LLC or S-Corp and score your first real client (who’s not a family member), whereas a long-term goal would be to generate X amount of profits in a year. Having these goals clearly displayed somewhere in your work space will allow you to keep your eyes on the prize.

Save Your Receipts

Whether you plan to run your business as a sole proprietor or any other legal structure, you need to save any and all receipts related to business expenses. While you should consult with a professional tax advisor or accountant for more information on what’s deductible and what’s not, you can typically deduct any expense that’s directly needed to run your business. But unless you have the appropriate receipts, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reject your claims. The bottom line is that you should always save your receipts when making the transition to an entrepreneur.

Create (and Follow) a Schedule

You should also create a schedule for each day’s work-related activities, allocating a specific amount of time for each activity. Without a boss telling you when to begin working and when to stop, you’ll have to maintain a high level of self-control. Rather than “winging” your work days, follow a schedule.

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