Today I want to talk to you about why entrepreneurs are leaving the online business world and heading back into the workforce. We’re seeing them head back to corporate, back to remote jobs and opting to be an employee instead of business owner. I want to talk about the top four reasons in my opinion, why I think this is happening. And this will also double as a warning for current entrepreneurs.
No one is completely immune to having those feelings of “wouldn’t it just be easier if…”. And if easier is your only goal, I do think that going back to work or going back to traditional work is exactly that, and we’ll dive deeper into that later. I created this episode not intended to belittle people that have decided to ditch entrepreneurship for corporate life. But just to help you safeguard your business from feeling like it’s your only choice.
Reason #1: Running your own business is emotionally difficult.
Building your own business, and running your own business is a lot of responsibility. Especially when it comes to putting yourself out there over and over and over again. There are a lot of people that just stay in the season where it just feels like it’s not going to get easier. So, they always feel like it’s such an emotional roller coaster and they want off the roller coaster. There is a choice to be made. Let me just work for someone else, let someone tell me what to do. Let me go in, clock in, clock out, get back to my life, and compartmentalize, go back to corporate because that is easier. It doesn’t necessarily make it the most fulfilling route, but it is easier in so many ways to work for somebody else because emotionally it’s less work.
Personal development is needed in order to sustain your business in this online space because there’s so much mental work that comes into play. You’ve got to take care of you, you’ve got to create strength of mind and body. It’s difficult to run a business if you are unhealthy in your body, mind, or soul, because it’s just going to be another burden added to an already strained life.
Reason #2: People don’t like selling or marketing
You’ve got to sell, market, and put yourself out there because it’s required in order to keep your business profitable, and in order to continue bringing clients in the doors. A lot of people started their business because they have a specialty. You have something that you can offer, you have a skill and you’re like, “I can sell this”. And then you realize pretty quickly that people need to know that you exist in order for you to sell this. I need to continually put myself and my offers out there, create really good content, and connect with people in order to continually bring in clients. This is almost like a second job on top of the job that I’m doing when I get the clients and that can be really crushing.
I think mentally, if you don’t really like social media, you don’t really like putting yourself out there, especially if maybe you’re an introvert, that can be a real struggle. And then there’s just like the time factor of “I need to be able to carve out five to eight hours a week to prioritize my money-making activities”. I’ve actually seen people comment that they are getting out to corporate because they just do not want to be a marketer anymore.
Reason #3: They’re not completely aligned with their offers
You need to have a strong vision or purpose. You can have a skill that you can easily sell, but you might not be passionate about it. And you really do need to be passionate about it. Your work should be fulfilling, where you really truly enjoy it. It’s hard to keep that discipline when you’re not really passionate about what you are doing, what you are selling, and the offers that you’re putting out. The sustainability and that longevity of the business, need that passion behind it for that long-term success.
Reason #4: Working more hours and making less money
They were doing all the things. Wearing all the hats and they were working more hours and making less money than they did when they were at their previous job. They feel like they could go out and get a traditional corporate position. Make double the money and have half of the stress. And so, of course, it’s attractive in that way. But the problem is that they started a business with the main focus being bringing in clients, but they never set themselves up for sustainability. So the business isn’t simple. They don’t have systems, they probably don’t have team members. They don’t have a system for marketing that continually brings in leads. And then they’re doing a lot of things manually, they’re overworked and underpaid.
So let’s talk solutions really quick because I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, because there ARE solutions here. I think probably 75% of the people in the industry have considered at one point in time going back to corporate. But let’s talk about some safeguards that you can put in place right now.
Solution #1: Personal Development
Take care of yourself, body, mind, soul. Hire a coach, go to therapy, go to the gym, whatever works for you. That is so important. This entrepreneur journey is not supposed to feel like you’re in a corporate setting or you’re an employee. It’s totally different. Things are shifting and moving all the time. And so you have to remain flexible. You need to go into it with this attitude of curiosity and excitement about what’s around the corner. You have to enjoy it or you have to figure out a way to enjoy it.
Solution #2: Have a solid marketing strategy
Have a solid marketing strategy that will stand the test of time. There’s adjustments we need to take to the approach of marketing as things shift in the industry. But you need to have a three step system for marketing that will always work. You’re constantly bringing new leads in. You’re constantly nurturing and connecting. And you’re always selling or promoting your offers.
Solution #3: You are required to sell
You are required to market and create content, nurture and connect. Your face is needed, your voice is needed, video content is needed from you. Learn a system that you actually love and learn some new skills and practice those skills. You can’t skip that part until you are a multimillion-dollar company where you’ve got trained sales reps. We need to be willing to put in that work, even if it’s uncomfortable.
Solution #4: Take a step back and figure out what is it that you love
What are the passions that you have? What could you monetize that feels like “I enjoy doing this.” Find that one thing that is something you have passion for and it’s so fulfilling. Something that you could do all day that you truly would feel like there’s a hole if you weren’t doing this. If that’s not how you would feel, we need to look at that; because that has to be a driving force for you or at the very least, you need to have this vision in mind. Head toward your North Star, so that it can sustain you throughout all the tough times that will inevitably come.
This is what I help my clients do. Build simple, sustainable and scalable businesses so that they can maintain six figures in revenue every year, and work 20-25 hours a week. Grow Business and Marketing Academy is created for you. It’s life-changing. Click here if you’re interested. And if you want to chat with me about it, DM me, email me. Book a call with me, and let’s create a business that you’re in complete control of and you never feel like you don’t have options.
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