Pamela Slim
In two recent posts (here and here) I wrote about the business incubator Succeed on Purpose, which coaches corporate layoff victims who want to start their own businesses. The incubator taps into the desire to be your own boss, common among both downsized workers and valued employees. But years of working for someone else can make the prospect of self-employment daunting. To gather insight, I spoke with Pamela Slim, author of “Escape from Cubicle Nation” (Portfolio, 2009) and a coach who helps would-be defectors through the transition. An edited version of our conversation follows.
Q: Success as an entrepreneur requires different strengths than success as an employee.
Ms. Slim: Yes. As an employee, it’s really not safe to fail. There’s immediate judgment — one bad performance during a meeting can affect your review. Employees learn to hedge their bets, be careful about their output, and worry about what people think. That won’t work as an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs have to look at the results of their efforts as a scientist would, with a focus on learning in order to improve results. Let’s say I offer a class and no one signs up. My mindset has to be, ‘That’s interesting — I wonder why,’ and not, ‘I’m a failure.’
Q. What do you recommend for longtime employees who want out but lack direction?
Ms. Slim: People often think of beginning the process by reading books or scouring the Internet. But after years in corporate America, it’s often more effective to thaw out by engaging in activities that bring you joy and help you remember who you are. If you love musicals, go see one. Visit museums, paint, get used to what your inner voice is telling you.
Q. Once you’ve got a business idea, how do you proceed?
Ms. Slim: Don’t make all-or-nothing, dramatic moves like quitting your job. Instead, do small tests and experiments. For a client with a skincare line, this meant cooking the stuff up in her kitchen (she had a chemistry background) and creating a small test set of products to take to one local spa. See if they go for it. If so, broaden your test by taking the products to another outlet to ensure your success wasn’t a fluke. You’ll either confirm your hypothesis, or realize you have to return to the drawing board. It’s also important to ask yourself if you’re enjoying this process as you experience it.
Q. What must an entrepreneur have in addition to a marketable product or service?
Ms. Slim: The ability to sell yourself and your idea even if you hate sales. Often this means changing your idea of what a salesperson is. In corporate America, you think sales and imagine the salesperson on your team — the extrovert with the classic sales personality. But find another model — maybe you’re an introverted software engineer. There are people like you who effectively sell their ideas. Recognize that you’re not trying to force yourself on anyone. If you love your product, you’re just talking to people about how it can help them. And if you can’t stand behind your product, you’re selling the wrong thing.
Q. How should a beginning entrepreneur handle tasks outside her area of expertise?
Ms. Slim: Know what you need in areas like accounting, tax planning and technology. But don’t spend hours researching. Instead, hire someone for an hour — for example, talk to a C.P.A. about your business structure. And be aware of the many ways to inexpensively hire people to handle small tasks. Through organizations like VANetworking or AssistU, you can hire a virtual assistant who might in two hours be able to handle something that would have taken you 10. If your needs are more complex, you might try OnlineBusinessManager, which provides services similar to that of a C.O.O. I also encourage people to seek out owners who are successfully running businesses similar to theirs. Ask them how they got started. You might learn, for example, that they all use QuickBooks.
Q. Where can corporate types meet entrepreneurs?
Ms. Slim: Look for watering holes where entrepreneurs gather, either online — for example, StartupNation — or in person, through groups like the Small Business Administration or Meetup.
Q. Is there a quick, painless way to determine whether you’re cut out for entrepreneurship?
Ms. Slim: Mitigate risk by starting a small side hustle instead of quitting your job. I’ve seen people from all types of backgrounds succeed, or fail. When deciding whether entrepreneurship is right for you, all that matters is, have you tried it and did you like it?
Q: What’s the most important lesson for the employee-turned-entrepreneur to learn?
Ms. Slim: The number one thing to master as an entrepreneur is the ability to formulate a hypothesis — about, for example, the type of product or service the market wants — and relentlessly test it. You then evaluate the results of each small test, focused on learning what to tweak. That’s how you start a business. It’s also how established companies stay in business.
You can follow Adriana Gardella on Twitter.