When an entrepreneur decides to enter the workforce, they need to ask themselves many questions in order to determine if they are going to be a solid fit in joining a company. Here are some questions all entrepreneurs need to ask themselves. If they answer yes to over 50% of the questions, they could be ready to start working for someone else.
All entrepreneurs
Can you work for a manager?
In other words, are you ready to be managed? Are you ready for someone else to give you work instructions and for you to follow them? Previously as an entrepreneur, you were the one that had people waiting for your instructions – now it’s the other way around.
Are you ready to have less creative freedom?
While at your new job, your role/vision will be important and you will be involved in the creative process – but you will lose the ability to “veto” other creative decisions and realize that the final word belongs to someone else.
Are you ready to be involved in one specific area of business?
As an entrepreneur, you dabbled in all roles – you may have helped with 401k administration, you may have helped hire an accountant – all while also focusing your time on delivering strategy and helping the business succeed. As an employee, you’ll be focused on what you were hired to do – if you are running marketing, the company won’t be needing your advice on who the next accountant will be.
How do you feel not wearing multiple hats?
Similar to the above item, are you ready to be responsible for one or two focused roles, instead of wearing multiple hats and handling 10-15 items?
How do you feel not being involved in all strategic decisions?
This is more of an ego blow than anything else – are you prepared for crucial strategic decisions to be made at your company without your opinion – or even further, are you prepared to not even be aware of many of these decisions? When you were an entrepreneur, you were involved in every decision – no matter how big or small.
How do you feel having others being involved in more higher level parts of the business?
Similar to the above item – how do you feel that others are being involved in these decisions? Normally, you would have hired these people to be involved in these decisions – so you are familiar with their track record and philosophy. How do you feel that people you didn’t bring on are being involved in decisions you might have little or no say in? You need to be prepared for this to happen on a regular basis.
Author:
Ben Cathers is a young entrepreneur and author who successfully built three different internet startups before he was 19. Ben is the author of Conversations with Teen Entrepreneurs and was named in 2005 by CNN as a member of “America’s Bright Future.” Ben has been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, FOX News, ABC News, CBS News, Yahoo! Internet Life, The London Sunday Times and in over 40 different publications. Ben maintains a blog on social media and entrepreneurship at BenCathers.com and is on the advisory board of BranchR.com, ZepFrog Corp and iGot2Know LLC.
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So true! The problem of marginalization — or perceived marginalization — pertains to the entire startup team. Initiating companies are filled with so much “promise” that it’s impossible to avoid to breaking most of them, leading to morale problems. Promises concerning the company, and promises concerning individuals’ impact and potential takeaways. Overt promises, and inferred or imagined ones. Managing morale becomes slightly easier if new managers or executives brought in listen and create a “we” mentality; honor and dignify the contributions and struggles of the early team during the onboarding weeks; NOT arrive ready to proclaim some variation of: “I’m here to save you novices, here’s how we did things at Oracle!” Also, members of the startup team can be helped to realize that, even though their slice of the pie (so to speak) narrows as their roles differentiate and become more compartmentalized, the company itself is growing or poised for growth. Hence, the “volume” of the slice grows accordingly, and becomes progressively more complex. Providing the startup team member(s) don’t panic or polarize. The Founder can play the key leadership role in steadying the team through such transitions, including by his/her example. Bernie Daina, Ph.D, Consulting Organizational Psychologist
Bernie Daina, Ph.D.
Management and Organizational Psychology