As from today I will start sharing some top line learnings and tips from my Journey as I moved from working for a Corporate company to owning my own business - The MAD Guru
From
Corporate to Entrepreneur – sharing my story & learnings
1)
The Big Decision:
A couple of years ago
I had the opportunity to take the big jump, to move from working for a
Corporate company to owning and managing my own Business – what a giant leap! And
after almost 3 years I must say it is All worth it!
After more than 22
years working for Corporate companies I had an opportunity to opt for a
voluntary retrenchment package … this was a huge decision and step to consider.
The FIRST STEP when
facing such an important opportunity is to ensure you do your homework well.
Look at the different options, inspect them all and ask as many questions as possible.
Speak to people who previously did this … listen with an open ear and remember
you cannot compare some-one else’s experience with the one you are about to
have, however it gives you some background.
Speak with your
financial adviser. Check the Tax implications as you will be amazed as to how
much of your package will be disappearing due to tax deductions. Also bear in
mind how much of your income from your own business in future will be allocated
to Tax
MOST IMPORTANT speak
to your spouse / partner, discuss the various options in depth. Be brutally
honest, discuss and find out the facts around what will cost what, discuss your
options. Discuss it and discuss it again, look at all angles. Remember you do
not have to make a decision over night … this is a Huge step you are taking and
this involves and impacts not only yourself.
NEXT STEP what are you
going to do once you have taken that voluntary package and stop working? We
decided I will start my own Training Company as this is my passion and skills,
however in the meantime, as it takes time to start and set up a Training
Company, question was what am I going to do to stay busy? With my personality
type it was important that I stayed busy. We searched around for businesses for
sale … and decided a small coffee shop was a great option! We made the sums and
found out the details checked the lease agreement and added up all the numbers,
checked it and discussed whether this is what I wanted to do.
IMPORTANT TIP: it is always a great idea when you decide to
start a business check the following 3 key aspects: is this in line with your
Passion / your Purpose, is this in Line with your Capabilities / what you are trained
on, and is this in line with your Skills / things you can do really well. For
me both the Training Company and the Coffee Shop was a great fit
Once you and your
spouse / partner is 100% happy with the way forward actively pursue the option
to take the voluntary retirement package. Be serious about it and go for it
Set out and decide on guiding
principles for the big step and the way forward … for example, for us the
following was important: we were going to ensure that we save the Provident
Fund savings by placing it in a Preservation fund (minimizing the tax impact) and also
save the Package money. We decided to purchase a small coffee shop (where the
key was to ensure I use it as a learning school and an opportunity to make a
difference.) It was okay if worst happens and things did not go well and it did
not make a lot of money as long as it did not cost us anything … in other words
the business should at the minimum break even. The Training company was in the
early planning and set up phase, and I knew exactly where and what my focus
will be for the Training Company.
IMPORTANT TIP: Do not
cash out your Provident Fund as this will be gone sooner than you think you are
going to need this money later more than you need it now. If at all possible do
not use all your money from the package pay out to purchase a business. Rather
Start smaller and build and expand the business. Important you will need cash
flow when starting businesses.
After all of this we felt comfortable enough
and “ready” to take this giant leap of faith … for me to move from corporate to
entrepreneur
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