Written by: Samantha Touchais, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Have you ever thought about leaving your 9-to-5 and starting your own business?
It is a thought that over the last two years has been crossing more and more minds. It is a thought I had five years ago that took me from a long and very successful career in marketing to launching my own business. I even ended up launching four!
So what is it that would make someone leave behind a steady salary, and potentially a bonus scheme and health insurance, to go into the unknown and start all over again? I loved my corporate career. It lasted for 22 years and suited me perfectly… until the day it didn’t anymore. And this is usually the catalyst. Life changes and often what we find used to suit us no longer does. And yet many of us resist change and try to keep going as things were before. The corporate world is fantastic and comes with many perks. Some of my closest friends have come from the teams of people I worked with and some of my fondest memories I can relate to my career. But working long hours and traveling the globe did not suit my family situation and after many years of pushing myself to make it work, I finally had to face the fact that life needed to change. While my story is not unusual it represents only one of many reasons people are leaving behind the 9-to-5 and moving into entrepreneurship. And over the last several years as a business coach, I have helped a number of people do just that. Here are the top five reasons I see for people choosing to make this transition.
1. Finding a new purpose – when I first left university to join a graduate program at a major international company, I wasn’t focusing on my purpose in life. I was 100% focused on how fast I could climb the career ladder and how much I could learn and absorb from the two years of rotations I was about to experience across the sales and marketing teams, both in Australia and overseas. I had landed myself a golden career ticket and I was determined to make the most of it. If you had asked me what my purpose was at the time it was to become General Manager of a major market and eventually CEO.
Fast-forward 22 years and my purpose had completely changed. Life had thrown many challenges at me, and I had faced several devastating and tragic circumstances, and my purpose was now completely different. I was now focused on wanting to help people live more conscious lives and I was in the midst of trying to figure out how to translate that into my own business.
The two businesses I now run do this beautifully, but I needed to do some soul-searching first. I am so grateful that I put that time and thought in as today I am in a wonderful position of being able to help people live lives of meaning and supporting them to take the action needed to do so.
Have you thought about your true purpose in life? Are you currently meeting it?
2. Being their own boss – Some people love to be guided and are doers. Others prefer to make their own decisions, take risks and reap their own rewards. Now that I have made the leap to entrepreneurship there are moments where I realise just how great it is to have a team around you, other brains to bounce ideas off, and a boss to steer the ship. At other times I am so happy to make a decision and just do it, without having to go through months of presentations and meetings to get the go-ahead from higher up.
While being my own boss was not the main motivator for me to start my own business, I can see how satisfying it is for some of my clients and this is a very common motivator for people to make the transition.
How comfortable do you feel making key business decisions? Keep in mind that you don’t have to go it alone. This is where having a business coach or mentor and joining supportive online communities can really help.
3. Making more money – Early on in my career, I remember standing in the carpark at work as one of the department heads drove up in his brand-new BMW. I cheekily commented that he obviously got paid too much (he had a good sense of humour) and he said that it was his property development business that paid for his wheels and not his salaried job. This was the first time I had considered that to advance financially in life may involve something other than a corporate job. I dismissed that concept for nearly another two decades until one day I came to a realisation; the sky’s the limit when it comes to earning potential as an entrepreneur.
Saying that, when leaving a secure salary behind to start your own venture it is important to have some money put aside to get you through the first 12 months. Some people start making money immediately but for most people it takes a good 12 months to really establish themselves, build awareness of their brand and products or services and to start to build a steady stream of clients and customers.
To speed this process up, I always recommend seeking out a business coach as we can guide you through well-trodden steps to help you avoid the pitfalls that many new business owners make initially, and to help you build the reach you will need for a successful and sustainable business.
4. Finding better balance in their life – this was the main reason that I left my corporate life behind me and started down the rocky road of entrepreneurship. Having a young family, commuting long distances and travelling internationally for my job just didn’t go together in a sustainable way. A few wake-up calls in life also nudged me down the path of running my own business. We were moving country every few years for both of our jobs and something had to give. I thought back to the conversation with the BMW-driving colleague and decided that I would start exploring how to make the entrepreneurial life work for me. I ended up hiring a coach and getting my brand built and established as quickly as I could so that I could still contribute to the family finances while also having time with the children and for working on my own personal development. It turned out to be the perfect balance for me and for the family.
Balance is not always about children, however. Some of my longest-standing clients don’t have a family, but they have interests and needs that were being totally neglected as they worked longer hours than the title 9-to-5 implies. Health is often stated as a reason for leaving a job behind and seeking new ventures.
What balance are you seeking in your life? Do you feel you currently have the balance you need or is it time to stop making sacrifices and start creating the life you really deserve and desire?
5. Leaving a legacy – in the last 12 months more and more clients are saying to me that they want to leave a legacy behind when they die. They feel that they want to do something amazing with their lives and are finally finding the courage to move forward with the idea of creating something that will endure long past them. They also want to make a difference in the world and feel that the best way to do this is through creating a heart-based business. There is a great satisfaction that comes from seeing the direct effect you are having on someone else’s life which is not always possible working in a corporate environment.
Does this resonate with you? If so, it is something worth thinking about.
I have used the phrase ‘secure salary’ several times throughout this article, but just as there are no guarantees that running your own business will be a financial success, there are no guarantees that your salaried job will always be there. This is why it is worth taking the time before making the decision to leave your corporate life and ensure you do so for the right reasons. Never make this type of decision through fear. Do so with purpose and intention and then seek the help you need. With guidance and the right foundations, success can be yours.
If you are considering a change and would like to talk to an experienced professional about how to go about it and the next steps to take, then please reach out to me via my website or social media and we can set up a time for an obligation-free chat. Sometimes airing your thoughts to an unbiased third-party can help you achieve the answers you are seeking and will help you move forward with purpose and clarity.
Samantha Touchais, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Samantha Touchais is a Business and Mindset Coach helping women create a safe and secure path to launching their dream business by providing them with the support and tools to make it a success. She has over 20 years of marketing and strategy experience working for large international companies worldwide. Her love of how the mind works and how to create the right mindset for success led her into coaching. She lives and breathes marketing and mindset and loves sharing her learnings with others. Author of four books and the creator of the Well Being Series (a collection of apps and books that provide meditations and affirmations for well-being based on the latest neuro-science), she loves exploring Europe, where she has been for the last 14 years but misses the beaches of her native Australia.
