From employee to entrepreneur: behind the scenes without filter
Are you tired of the metro-work-sleep routine? The desire to start your own project has been tickling you for a while, but you don't really know what to expect? Granted, we often see success stories on LinkedIn, much less what happens behind the scenes to get there.
So, in this article, we decided to tell you the truth. This is what it really means to go from employee to entrepreneur, without filter, with the highs... and the stockings. 🎢
Saying goodbye to stability...
We're not going to hide it from you: leaving a permanent contract or a "stable" job to launch yourself into the unknown, it shakes you up... And not just your bank account or your organization.
As an employee, you know what to expect: a specific framework, a salary each month, defined hours, known missions. There is a form of security, sometimes comfortable, sometimes suffocating.
When you become an entrepreneur, this comfort fades away: you make your own decisions, without validation above you. You have to manage your budget, organize your agenda, manage your internal projects, prioritize your tasks, while ensuring the continuity of what you build. And it can be dizzying. It's no longer the company that charts your course, it's you who draws the plan, step by step.
But in this vagueness, there is also a form of freedom : that of creating in your own way, of testing, of reinventing. You leave a marked path to explore your own playground. And once the vertigo has passed, that's when it becomes fascinating. 🤩
Multi-hats, hello!
Welcome to the real life of entrepreneurship, where you go from writer to salesperson, then from accountant to customer relations manager in one day... And sometimes, all this before lunch. 🤭
Having a good idea is a great place to start... But you also have to learn how to make it a reality and bring it to life on a daily basis: create a website and update it, manage social networks, send quotes, follow up with partners, do your accounting, answer several emails...
It may seem like a marathon to you as you have the impression that you will have to run in all directions, but the added value is that each new hat makes you more agile, more lucid, more solid. You learn, you develop reflexes, you gain autonomy. You go from "I don't know how to do it" to "I'll figure out how"... And this switch changes everything.
Little by little, you also distinguish what you like, what you want to delegate, what you want to learn to master. But that's not all: these multiple hats also help you get to know yourself better. You discover what you really like to do, what exhausts you, what challenges you, what you want to learn to delegate... And that's when you start to lay the first real foundations of your business. Foundations that look like you.
Because at the end of the day, that's also what entrepreneurship is all about: building yourself by building your project.
The emotional roller coaster
One day, you land your first client or your first article in a media outlet. You jump everywhere, you're sure you're going to revolutionize the world. The next day, nothing works anymore, you receive a refusal, or your site bugs right on the day of a launch. And you end up asking if you made the right choice, if you shouldn't have remained an employee... 🤔
That's the real life of an entrepreneur. It's intense, unstable, sometimes brutal, but also incredibly alive! Your emotions are multiplied tenfold, because it's your project, your ideas, your energy that is put on the table.
The key is not to avoid fluctuations. It's learning to go through them without getting lost, not to let doubt take over and to celebrate every little victory, even discreet!
You develop a real resilience, an ability to bounce back, to trust the process even when nothing seems to be moving forward. And above all, you end up understanding that difficult moments are often the ones where you will learn the most.
And then one day, it takes shape!
At the beginning, everything is unclear. You explain your project with "I think", "I'd like to", "I don't know exactly yet". You doubt, you explore, you adapt.
And then one day, almost without realizing it... Your project exists. It has an identity, customers, the beginnings of balance. You do less things blindly, you feel that it starts to make sense. 🚀
You get positive feedback. You inspire people. You see what you've built, even if it's not perfect yet. And you realize that you've gone much further than you would have imagined a few months ago.
No, it's not all easy. Yes, there are still doubts. But you're on your way, and what you're doing is finally like you. And that's priceless.
At Meet My Job, we encourage you to dare!
We're not going to lie to you: entrepreneurship isn't for everyone (and that's ok). But if you feel like it's for you, don't wait until you've got everything planned to get started.
Talk about your idea, surround yourself, train yourself, test things. And above all, move at your own pace, according to your values. ✨
And if you want to meet other entrepreneurs, find partners, be inspired by committed journeys or even make your project known, Meet My Job, in collaboration with How I Met My Cofounders, is there for that.
Because the future of work is not built alone, and even less so in boxes.