This is the fifth post in the Transitioning to Entrepreneurship and what to expect or employee to entrepreneur series.

Photo Attribution: Creativity is not confined by ChrisM70

One of the key challenges in transition from employee to entrepreneur is being free of the 9 to 5. While this sounds exhilarating and shedding the shackles of cubedom equals true freedom it ain’t necessarily so. There is a bit of an adjustment period required to settle into life beyond the cube farm particularly early on when your office and home are the same place.

If you don’t want to work you don’t have to. Many people really struggle with this aspect of running their own business. Having your own business requires a certain level of discipline to make sure you work when you have to and achieve results. The good part is you have the freedom to decide when to work … the bad part is no matter what the stuff that needs doing has to get done.

Within a few months of running your business from home you quickly develop cabin fever and want to get out … which usually results in going to the local coffee shop to work. You can also develop conjunctive pajama-itis. You really do need to get out of the house and build some sort of separation of work and home … having work and home as the same place often doesn’t work out.

On that note if you do want to get out of the house we have had two start-ups either outgrow the space or their students returned to France. We currently have a couple of hot desks available for immediate rental. Guaranteed to provide that separation of work and home.

“Not 9 to 5” means focusing on “results and adapting” to changing circumstance. It is less about the amount of time you put in and more about getting the job done.

Ian Graham

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CocoaHeads

CocoaHeads Ottawa/Gatineau is growing! If you have any interest in MacOSX, iPhone or web development, come and join our group!. Meetings are scheduled from 19:00 to 21:00 on the second Thursday of every month.

We try to have at least one presenter per meeting, see the schedule below to get an idea of the topics we are covering. We also have a mailing list on Google Groups which we encourage you to join, so you can get notifications about meetings and other programming-related topics in Ottawa.

More information here.

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True story.

I went to retrieve my car key from the parking lot attendant yesterday. As I reached to get my key he said to me;

“if you won $25,000,000 what would be the first thing you thought of?”

Photo Attribution: NG035S20 World Bank by World Bank Photo Collection’s photostream

Almost immediately I said “pay off my debt” what next he asked “travel” I said … why do you ask?

Apparently his first cousin in Atlanta won $25,000,000 in the lottery. Both he and his cousin are from a small village in North East Africa. There is no water in their village and they have to walk a day and a half to the closest water hole.

His cousins first thought after winning the lottery … now I can get water for the village.

Made me reflect on what a wonderful country Canada and helped put life into perspective.

Ian Graham

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This is the fourth post in the Transitioning to Entrepreneurship and what to expect or employee to entrepreneur series.

Photo Attribution: HA1-000674 by Highways Agency

If you find spending time in long boring meetings uninspired, would rather do something tangible than write a 40 page report or prefer to be accountable for the results you achieve rather than constantly deferring decisions to a higher authority. You may want to consider entrepreneurship and doing your own thing.

Like most things in life “being the boss” is a double edge sword which cuts both ways. If you thought being the boss meant you are only accountable to yourself you will probably be wrong. Every boss has a boss; President to board, board member to chair and chair to shareholders.

Making decisions is a bit like traveling with work for the first time. In the beginning it is a fun filled adventure, travel excitement and lots of fun. After a while the novelty wears off and travel (while still fun) becomes more like work. Long line ups at the airport, delayed or cancelled flights, lots of time away from the family, all while living out of a suite case. Making decisions as “the boss” is a lot like that. In the beginning freedom to make decisions is exhilarating … then after a while having someone to bounce ideas off and that sober second thought of a third party become more important. Even if you are in business by yourself having advisers, mentors or a peer group is essential.

The great thing about being the boss in your own business is the freedom to get stuff done. While every boss has a boss you still set the strategy and deliver the results. If you are action oriented and results driven being the boss is more empowering than being an employee.

On that note we’ll have more details on our Government to Startup program to announce next week. Please feel free to email me ian[at]thecodefactory[dot]ca for more information.

“You are the boss” means making difficult decisions in a timely fashion, being accountable and getting results.”

Ian Graham

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This is the third post in the Transitioning to Entrepreneurship and what to expect or employee to entrepreneur series.

Photo Attribution: climbing in red rocks silhouette by lastbeats

It really is all about attitude with respect to almost anything and certainly with respect to starting a business. The absolute key mental outlook that anyone and particularly someone transitioning from employee to entrepreneur must have is “All In”. Let me clarify a bit what that means …

“All in” definitely is NOT about risking everything on a single roll of the dice … far from it. “All in” is pragmatic risk taking. Be very deliberate and thoughtful when you start your business, what can you afford to lose and what you hold dear and would not risk. Understanding what sacrifices are you prepared to make; financially, personally, physically and be prepared to make them. There was recently a great post on StartupNorth regarding work life balance … well worth a read.

All in is all about your commitment to the start-up and the proper allocation of time and resources to achieve success. “All in” is really more about being committed to the project to persist through the difficult times. If you don’t have that commitment it is too easy to walk away when things get tough … and you can be reasonably certain there will be difficult times. Starting something is easy … making it work can be really challenging … you absolutely must have that “all in” outlook. People that are good at continuously starting new things are not necessarily the best at persevering through to success.

“All in” means having the desire to start the climb and persisting until reaching the top of the mountain or perish in the attempt.

My two favorite stories on “All in” mentality come from:
- Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich –Chapter 2 Desire – The Spur that drives to riches” and
- Robert Herjavec’s book “Driven – Chapter 21 – When necessary burn the ships”.

“All in” means sometimes you have to “burn your boat” to succeed.

Ian Graham

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