Should You Leave Your Job to Start Off on Your Own?
Here is the relevant hierarchy of the PassionPreneur Mastery Levels (to be read bottom-up):
6. Enterprise Mastery
5. Entrepreneur Mastery
4. Business Mastery (Solopreneur)
3. Professional Mastery (Employee / Intrapreneur)
2. Relationship Mastery
1. Personal Mastery
As you can see, an employee has a choice to grow into an intrapreneur in the existing organization before moving out to be either a solopreneur or an entrepreneur. So, let’s consider these 3 options.
Option 1: INTRAPRENEUR
An intrapreneur is an employee-entrepreneur inside an organization. It is not a status s/he gets, but a position s/he earns by being visionary, self-driven and crafting a business model that firmly links Organizational Growth with Social Transformation and National Economic Upliftment.
You can do this either in your existing set-up or become part of another entrepreneurial team that shares the same passion and purpose.
Why must the team share the same passion? Because shared passion is the hub that holds everybody together. In times of hardship, perseverance is possible only when you follow your passion.
Why same purpose? Because an inspiring purpose dramatically raises the game and shrinks the ego. The focus is on collective contribution.
As an intrapreneur, with either option, you are still operating on salary and with an “employee mind-set”. Emotionally and financially, you need the security of that monthly pay check.
Option 2: SOLOPRENEUR
A solopreneur is a self-employed professional or businessperson.
As an employee,
• S/he worked in a job, now s/he owns her job.
• S/he got a monthly salary, now s/he pays self after everyone is paid – provided there is something left!
• S/he was held accountable for productivity and results, now s/he does what s/he pleases; productivity and results plummet.
Most solopreneurs who do not get their act together end up in busy-ness; rather than owning a profitable business.
The other serious limitation of a solopreneur is being the most intelligent person in the business and being the System herself / himself it becomes very difficult to breakout from comfortable independence and become interdependently accountable to a team as an entrepreneur.
What brings you here, keeps you here. Most persons who leave a job to start off on their own
• Either get back to a job (and that monthly secure paycheck)
• Some who don’t get a job, remain idle.
• Some continue tinkering with their busy-ness, as long as it is letting them and their family, survive.
• Some realize they need to reinvent themselves and begin searching for help, normally on the internet (keeping to anonymity and continuing to hold on to their all-important-independence)
• A few go all-out to seek competent, professional help
Option 3: ENTREPRENEUR
There are 2 models in entrepreneurship:
• Professional Entrepreneurship is resource-based; built around expertise, networking and values.
• Vocational Wealth Creation is resourcefulness-based; built around your God-given Passions, God-given Talent for a God-given Purpose.
The 2 models are completely different paradigms:
Professional entrepreneurship lends itself well to building scalable, commercial enterprises. This model is a continuation from the industrial and management era of the past 150 years.
Vocational Wealth Creation lends itself effectively to building scalable, contributory social enterprises. This model is a current millennium model. It has moved beyond the industrial and information ages to the new eras of Connection (Facebook, Linkedin et al) and to the Age of Consciousness. It is an integrated, holistic model that seamlessly weaves together our humanness with our entrepreneurial spirit. The most celebrated proponent of this model is Roger James Hamilton, Founder of Wealth Dynamics, Wealth Profile Test and The Genius Test.
So which is the best option for you: Solopreneur, Intrapreneur, Entrepreneur? I don’t know; however, I could help you discern what is in your best interest.
Personal Disclosure: Be careful when you call, because I am a missionary – for Vocational Entrepreneurship.
I just may ignite your fire.
Till date nobody has regretted His calling.
