STEP #2: SELF-EMPLOYED TO BUSINESS OWNER
Step number two is often the most difficult one. I like to say it is similar to letting go of the edge of the swimming pool. I remember when I was a child and began learning how to swim. I was finally there. I knew all the strokes to keep me afloat. I paid attention to my instructor while she spoke confidence in me. There was something inside that kept saying; YOU ARE GOING TO SINK! The fact is, I was scared to death to let go of the edge of the pool and take that first stroke.
Moving from being Self-Employed to a Business Owner is very similar. Remember, in the last article; we talked about how hard you work when you are self-employed. When you move into the realm of a Business Owner, you begin to get your time back. If you ever studied Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, you will remember that the theory summarizes the natural progression of our lives as we learn and grow?
While you were employed, you knocked out level one and most likely level two. First, you took care of your Physiological needs consisting of food, water, shelter, clothing, and other basic needs. You also took out the second level; Safety Needs consisting of health, security, employment, and property. Many teachers and coaches will tell you that you may have covered level three as well when you became self-employed. However, that is not totally true. If you are self-employed and sacrificing your time for money, then you do not have time to cultivate the relationships that are necessary to fulfill that need. Until you take the next step of developing yourself as a Business Owner you will never get past the first two levels.
The next step is to let go of the edge of the pool and become a Business Owner. This move is where you will move up to level three in Maslow’s diagram. Now let’s review Robert Kiasaki’s picture from the last article: moving from self-employed to a business owner.
Now it is time to let go of the edge of the pool and became a Business-Owner. You have people working in your business to make you money. The asset of time has returned to developing relationships and growing your business. You begin to build your inner circle. You understand that to improve the business, you must first improve the business owner.
You have worked hard. You owned a job and became Self-Employed. Now, as you transition into a Business Owner, you will begin to have time to work on your relationships, family time, self-esteem, and friendships. You will start to have a sense of connection. You will begin naturally to develop an inner circle of influence. Why, because you have time to build your business. Moreover, you will do this by improving yourself, the Business Owner.
As Christian Simpson, my coach and architect of the John Maxwell Method of Coaching, says over and over, your business will never outgrow the business owner. Before you can improve the business you must begin to develop yourself. You are the only obstacle in the way of transitioning from being self-employed to becoming a business owner. Once you make that first step as a business owner, you begin to become aware of deficiencies that are holding you back. Oddly enough most business owners have the same things in common. I like to call them limiting liabilities. Once you discover these limiting liabilities you will begin to understand how they can become growing assets. In the next article, we will talk about the process of developing the business owner. How far you want to go will depend on what you invest in yourself. You hold the key to unlocking your highest potential.
Stuart J. Dalrymple
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