This article from ChangingCourse.com was just too good not to post. The step-by-step advice Brian provides for branching out on your own is spot on. Enjoy!

-meb

By Brian Kurth

The realization you’re in the wrong career does not hit like a lightening bolt. Rather, it festers within you for a long time, slowly worming its way into your consciousness, until one day you realize you’ve known it all along. For years, I sat in a ninety-minute-each-way commute in Chicago rush hour traffic to/from my telecom job in product management. I dreaded every Monday. It never occurred to me I could start over. It never occurred to me I might be an entrepreneur at heart, and I could create my own destiny. However, after the dot-com bubble burst left me on my own, the thought of another position in my field was finally too much to bear. I left my career and my horrible commute behind, and embarked on a new journey filled with questions, uncertainty… and elation.

It’s romantic to think the heavens will offer up a sign letting you know when the time is right to unleash your entrepreneurial spirit and start your dream business. Unfortunately, reality often doesn’t work that way. Launching a business is risky, and those risks can easily overwhelm your senses and weaken your confidence. The fear of failure pervades your psyche, and when the safety and security of your family is on the line, happiness seems like a selfish luxury you can’t afford to indulge.

Many people live their entire lives this way. For others, their work frustration grows a little every day until they realize their need for happiness is suddenly greater than the fear that comes with making that change. Once fear can be overcome – or at least overwhelmed – that’s when great things can happen.

However, merely conquering your fears is not nearly enough to ensure success in starting your own business. You might have all the desire and motivation in the world, but there are still many steps that need to be taken, and many questions that need to be answered. So once the desire outweighs the fear… then what?

1. Start Researching

Starting a new business demands acquiring a vast amount of information that literally no one can figure out entirely on his or her own. Luckily, our modern world is packed with resources and assistance for dedicated and passionate entrepreneurs. If you’re willing to take the time, you’ll find the facts you need.

The Internet – As recently as ten years ago, compiling information on a given topic would mean an exhaustive process of scouring books in a library and talking to strangers on the phone. Luckily for entrepreneurs, the Internet has blown it all wide open. It is the entrepreneur’s best friend.

The business you are considering might be new to you, but it’s important to realize that it’s not for others. Get on the Internet and find everything you possibly can on your newly chosen field. Read it all, take notes, and write down questions that arise. Any piece of information you can get is one tiny step closer to being ready for your big change. But don’t get stuck in online analysis paralysis. At some point, it’s time to take the next step toward becoming an entrepreneur.

A Mentor – There are people who work in your dream business who are willing to help you on your journey. You may need to find them in another city and may even have to sign off on a non-compete clause to get their advice, but they’re there for you. Find several people who work in your newly chosen field, and initiate discussions with them. Tell them you admire what they do, and ask if you could learn from them as you look to make a career change. When someone agrees to be a mentor, schedule a visit to their workplace where you can observe the process in action, take copious notes on all you see and hear, and ask a ton of questions. When starting a new business, there are absolutely no better lessons than those taught from someone within the field. They’ll tell you everything you want to know, plus much more you need to know.

2. Raise Money

One of the reasons why people so often fail to leave unpleasant work situations is the money; they simply earn too much in the job they hate, and fear a dream business of their own wouldn’t provide the same level of security. This is a legitimate fear, but there are things that can be done to mitigate the risk until the income matches the level of happiness and desired lifestyle.

Save Up – Change doesn’t have to happen all at once. Merely planning for the switch can improve the situation in the short term. Put money aside out of every paycheck so you’ll have a nest egg for when you finally decide to take the plunge.

Find Outside Funding – No matter how much money you’re able to save, it might not be enough to get a business off the ground. Luckily, there are other avenues for raising the needed capital. Look into finding government grants, private investors, or even bank loans to help you get started.

Set Some Limits – No matter how strongly you believe in your new business and your ability to make it work, you don’t want to throw all your eggs into that basket. Be careful about putting up your personal assets as collateral. Keep some of your assets – be it your home, your pension, your 401K, etc. – off the table. Don’t invest your entire net worth into your business. In the event that something goes wrong, it will be a HUGE comfort to know some of your assets are protected.

3. Get to Work

Once the research is done and the money is raised, it’s time to get to work. New businesses take an extraordinary amount of time and effort if they’re going to make it. Don’t be afraid of the hours, and don’t shy away from the commitment. Remember: eighty hours in a job you love is still FAR more rewarding than forty in one you hate.

There will, of course, be obstacles along the way, but with enough passion, dedication and foresight, anything can be overcome. Keep reminding yourself you deserve to be happy, and your dream business is ultimately worth the time and effort it takes to get there. And once you do, you’ll never dread a Monday again… and as I like to say, everyday is a Friday!

About the Author

Brian Kurth, a former “Dilbert,” worked for the phone company in Chicago. After realizing there was more to life than telecom calling plans, he founded VocationVacations (ChangingCourse.com/recommends/vocationvacations). He is the author of “Test-Drive Your Dream Job – A Step-By-Step Guide to Finding and Creating the Work You Love” (Hachette, 2008) and is a sought-after speaker on how to pursue and attain one’s dream job and lifestyle. He has shared his wit and wisdom in appearances on NBC’s TODAY Show, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and FOX News, and has been featured in articles in O, The Oprah Magazine, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine and many more. Kurth co-executive produced “This Job’s A Trip” for the Travel Channel in 2006. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Kurth lives in Portland, Oregon.

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When you think of the word job search what words come to mind? Are they words like exciting, fulfilling, more money and more work-life balance? Or are they words like agonizing, frustrating, depressing and overwhelming? And if your thoughts turn to the second set of words and phrases, how might that be affecting you and subtly impressing upon those you talk with in your job interviews?

You see, how you feel about your job search is intrinsically connected to its outcome. So, it’s in your best interest to set up simple strategies that make your job transition easier, faster and more effective. Here are a few common mistakes job seekers make and how to avoid them.

Mistake #1 – Hope the perfect job will “come to you”

This is an easy though fatal mistake to make. It will leave you helpless to do anything but sift through your emails and surf dozens of job boards hoping and waiting to see that dream job you are really excited about. When you finally find it (add insult to injury if you don’t really know what you dream job looks like but you will “know it when you see it”.), you will invest a big wave of energy focusing on creating and sending off the perfect resume… What you might not know is that by competing on job boards for positions – your unseen competition could be in the hundreds or thousands of applicants, many of which might be more qualified than you.

“Hoping” to find the perfect job is not a strategy. Successful people don’t reach their goals by waiting for things to fall into their lap. So, brainstorm on what you are looking for and what motivates you – and write it all down! Get crystal clear and check to make sure it harmonizes with others in your life that your choices will affect. Then learn some job search strategies other than surfing job boards. Your success rate using job boards will be somewhere between 1 and 3 percent. Just those odds alone are sufficient to depress any job seeker…tempting them to believe they are as lackluster as their results would lead them to believe.

Mistake #2 – Wish for someone to “place” you in a job

This is almost the same idea as number one but with slightly different elements. I hear this more from executives that they are hoping to find someone who will “place them” in a job. But let’s give this just a little thought. Do you really want to be just “placed” in a job?

The bottom line is, you will never find a person to bring you enough possible job openings (and then place you in one of them) for you to be happy and satisfied with their service to you. Why? Because no one knows what you are looking for like you! Add to this that even if such a person existed – the majority of us wouldn’t be able to afford to hire them!

 It’s good to have a contact in a few companies – that can introduce you around. After all, we hear that most jobs are found through networking right? Well here is an inside tip: the best “networking” is not done through one or two people that might be able to send your resume to an HR department with their endorsement – in fact that is what I would call a very poor networking experience with very little benefit to you!

No, good networking is when YOU take the initiative to go after what you want vs. being what I call a “passive receiver” in your job search. When we think in terms of someone placing us we are giving away our power.  And if that is your mindset in your job search you will indubitably set yourself up for disappointment.

The solution is to simply commit to taking action and initiative in your job search. Map out a plan to find and connect with your market(s) of choice. Give yourself a timeline if you can that doesn’t put undue pressure on you. Learn proven marketing methods for getting potential employers attention and talk with recruiters, resume writers and career coaches as needed. Know though your ultimate success (and satisfaction with the outcome) will come from your commitment to taking positive action.

Mistake #3 – Don’t ask for help

The opposite of expecting someone else to manage your career transition for you is to try to do everything yourself. In my business there are lots of things to do. And as a business owner I naturally want to control each and every component. But I know in order for my business to thrive I must delegate tasks to others. I have to plan. If I do not I will quickly become overworked, stressed out and that absolutely does not honor or benefit my clients. A job search is no different. If you are struggling or feeling stuck – consult an expert to help you so you can free yourself up to focus on your success. The alternative is to give up or avoid those strategies you don’t know how to do (which might otherwise work brilliantly for your situation!). Neither are good options.

Most people will fall back on what they know when doing it right or better just seems too hard. Fortunately, the career choices we are talking about here are easy to learn and your choice of resources are abundant! What you will gain from investing in yourself (and your career change) will not only help you with your next career move (more interviews, better positions, more money etc.) but will support your entire career! Don’t risk feeling depressed and anxious when you are worth so much more than that. By following these simple steps you will be on the right track to success.  

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Certainly you have seen wildly successful people who achieved a great deal in their careers – all the while making it look easy. Do you ever wonder how they really got to where they are? Perhaps you think they just had that special something or were super-incredibly dedicated or especially gifted and talented which effortlessly raised them to great heights.

The truth is more often than not high achievers and people that reach their personal and professional goals have a plan and a simple strategy for doing it.

If you have dreamed about changing careers or industries but have held onto that dream for so long and done nothing about it, then I have good news for you. It doesn’t have to be this way!

Here are a few tips to begin to make the shift from dreaming to action:

Tip One: Don’t Push – Be Pulled

To break that inertia that has held your dreams hostage for so long begin thinking and operating from the place you want to be. Accept and embrace that you want to move forward in the direction of your goals. In other words, picture your dream job in your mind, and give yourself permission to step into this world. This will automatically pull you forwards, closer towards your goals.

This can start with something as small as a magazine subscription relating to your new industry, purchasing a book, taking a class or finding and talking to an industry mentor.

Tip Two:  Surround Yourself with Experts

If you put your focus on getting closer to people who are already successful in your industry of choice you will move forward fast! These are the people who have the answers to your questions and if you have ever reached for a goal before, you know that mentoring only has to result in just one idea that changes everything (in a good way!).

Step out of that place of uncertainty and wondering if things really could work and into a place where you can empower yourself by being educated, mentored and empowered by others! The best place to do this is a trade association, social networking group or a group of people in a company who are willing to mentor you.

Tip Three: Invest In Yourself

Do you know why business owners have business coaches or why corporate executives have performance coaches? Because they know that an objective opinion – help from someone who has been there and done that – will help them to easily and quickly solve their professional problems and overcome whatever obstacles are in their way. No one would do it if it didn’t work!

And here is something else they don’t do: they don’t wait until they are ready. They move more often well before they feel or think they are ready! So invest in yourself, in a coach, an expert you need, a seminar or a class to keep yourself always learning and being the best you can be as it relates to your professional goals!

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