From Employee to Entrepreneur: Key Mindset Shifts for Success

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According to a Shopify-Gallup Entrepreneurship study, more than six in ten U.S. adults (62%) prefer to be independent and run their businesses instead of working for others.

In addition, over half of those who want to be their own boss (52%) say they would be willing to accept at least a fair amount of financial risk. The percentage of those who are risk tolerant is even higher, 70%, among aspiring entrepreneurs who are seriously considering starting a business.

I am one of the many business owners who transitioned from employee to entrepreneur and started my coaching and consulting business, leveraging the experiences I gained in the corporate world and other competencies and skills I built while I was still employed full-time.

What I learned facing my career transition and supporting others as a coach in similar journeys is that desiring to be your own boss and having a business idea is not enough. Many people who reach retirement age are still willing and, in some cases, regret not pursuing their dreams to the fullest and taking the risk of such a significant change.

Giving up the security of a full-time job and starting your business requires reframing your professional identity and approach to work, money, and life.

From my experiences, there are three key mindset shifts when transitioning from a standard 9 to 5 job to an entrepreneurial journey. The sooner we make those shifts, the more we prepare to leave the employed work and become our own boss.

From dreaming to visioning

Indulging yourself in fantasy about your life if you leave your company and launch your business is a dream. Even visualizing yourself in that future, although it is a good exercise to help depict what you want, is not enough until you start doing something to make it happen.

The difference between a dream and a vision is that a vision entitles an effort, a price to pay, while dreaming is free. You convert your dream into a vision when you start trading off something for it.

We “pay this price” in different ways: money and time are the first things we put on the plate. But it could be more. Reading the stories of famous entrepreneurs, you will notice they not only invested their free time and savings in the venture but often gave up on career opportunities or personal life accomplishments.

Shifting from dreaming to visioning means taking concrete actions to build your vision. In particular, it entails taking financial, reputational, and personal risks to leave a secure career path for the entrepreneur’s uncertain and sometimes unpredictable life.

Some individuals make this shift quickly when forced to leave their employer due to a layoff or relocation. For others, creating a strategy and converting a vision into a dream takes years.

If you want to know if someone has made this shift, check if their actions follow their intentions and pay attention to the words they use when discussing their entrepreneurial ideas. If they mostly use phrases like “I wish” or “I should,” they are still “in the dream.” If they confidently adopt “I will” or “I plan,” they probably have already developed a proactive mindset and commitment to their vision.

From motivation to consistency

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” (J. Rohn)

Most people fail to pursue their entrepreneurship ventures because they lack consistency and self-discipline. They love the business idea and are motivated to pursue it, but tend to abandon it when they don’t see the expected results or face challenging times.

Having a talent or a great business idea is not enough if you don’t have the consistency to keep working on it, even when you are tired or demotivated, when circumstances are unfavorable, or when something unexpected happens.

Motivation propels us to start doing something shortly, but consistency enables us to persist in our efforts and eventually attain anything.

Both of these attitudes are essential for employees and entrepreneurs. However, as employees, we often experience things getting done even when we are not consistent because we are part of a system that keeps going even when one or some components function correctly.

When you embark on the entrepreneurship journey, you soon realize that your business idea starts and ends with you, especially in the initial phases.

You are fully responsible for the venture’s success, even if you partner with others. You cannot allow procrastination, distractions, and personal problems to interfere with your plan. For this reason, your mind needs to develop self-discipline and stick with your commitment regardless of the circumstances.

From external validation to self-confidence

In most cases, transitioning from employee to entrepreneur means moving from an environment where we share responsibilities, can rely on the support of colleagues and managers, and feel recognized for our accomplishments to a new situation where we work alone.

If you began your career as an employee, you might experience a lack of emotional and practical support when starting your business.

The more your employee career was founded on the validation of others when making critical decisions, prioritizing your tasks, or assessing the quality and effectiveness of your work, the more difficult it would be for you to adapt to the entrepreneur role.
Therefore, it is fundamental to cultivate self-confidence and learn to trust one’s abilities, capacities, and judgments when facing daily challenges.

As a career coach, I have found this is the most challenging mindset shift for many employees who embrace entrepreneurship, except those who worked in the corporate world as solo contributors.

The real challenge is that some people climb the corporate ladder to satisfy their need to feel accomplished and recognized. Titles and ranks significantly impact their image of who they are and their self-esteem. So, although they feel attracted by launching their business and being independent, they struggle to give up that external validation system, as it is strictly related to their identity.

Transitioning from an employee to an entrepreneur career demands a strong embrace of new beliefs and behaviors. This journey involves significant personal and professional transformation beyond the three mindset shifts described in this article.
However, they are crucial milestones that enable you to overcome most challenges and internal conflicts when making this difficult decision.

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