Leaving a stable environment to open a business requires faith, time, money, energy, and investment to become successful. But you’ve done the research. You’ve studied the market. Put together a viable business plan and have secured funding. Now the time has come for you to make the leap from being an employee to an employer. Thankfully, there are lessons, skills, and experience you gained as an employee that you will be able to utilize as an employer. Below, we discuss going from employee to employer and the top transferable skills for your success.
Employee vs Employer
It’s important to understand how you have switched roles and the responsibilities that come with each position. The relationship between an employee and employer is a transactional one.
The Employee
As an employee, you work under a contract to render a service and perform tasks and services for the employer. There are pros to being an employee:
- Guaranteed income
- Set working hours
- Work-life balance
The Employer
Oversees these tasks and is the entity responsible for paying for these services. They also ensure that the business stays afloat. It has its perks:
- Independence
- Full creative freedom
- Financial growth
However, when you run a business, it’s natural to want to do certain things yourself. But this is not always possible because others have skills you don’t possess, and your focus is on the management of the business, while you entrust them to run the operational side of things. Unless your business is a one-man-army, you need a team to help your business be all you envision it to be.
How to Make an Easy Transition From Employee to Employer
By now, you’ve been working for years and are comfortable as an employee. Life as an employer is different. The last thing you want to do is allow your experience as an employee to dictate how you will run your business and operate as an employer. It’s time to leave the employee mindset and adopt a business owner mindset.
Here are a few tips to help you make the transition:
- Transition gradually
The transition period will look different if you’re keeping your fulltime job and growing your business on the side. Alternatively, if you decide to go at being an employer full time, you’ll have to plan time and finances fully. Finding this balance is crucial to your success and not burning out before you’re fully into it. Whatever your approach, being fully organised and prepared are key.
- Set up a schedule
As an employer, you’re no longer bound by the 8-4 working hours. You’re in charge of your own schedule. With it, comes a lot of freedom that need self-discipline and proper time management to ensure you get everything done. Luckily, as the employer, you can adjust your schedule to what suits you and meets your daily objectives.
- Prioritise
You don’t have a manager or supervisor who assigns you tasks or projects as you would have as an employee. The ball is in your court to decide what needs to be done and when. Decide what’s important, what needs to be done, and the time needed to complete the task. Software tools and to-do lists are handy aids to ensure you are productive.
- Shoulder the responsibility
The success or failure of your business falls on you as the owner and employer. This reality can be overwhelming if you aren’t psychologically prepared and aware of the responsibility of the position. When things go right, it’s a pat on the back for you. Equally, when things go wrong, it’s on your shoulders. Therefore, it’s essential to know your skills, strengths and be able to carry the differences that come with moving from employee to employer.
What Are Transferable Skills?
Transferable skills, also known as “portable skills,” are the abilities or expertise you have that can be utilised in any role or occupation. These skills are not limited to the workplace. They can be useful in different spheres of life like at school and in your social life.
Jobs have certain requirements and a skillset. You have hard skills, which are easy to quantify. There are also soft skills, which aren’t as quantifiable but are often more important in certain roles than hard skills.
Why Transferable Skills Are Important
Digital technology and automation are the driving forces changing the job market and the ever-growing demand for transferable skills. In the past, people stayed with their employer for long stretches or until retirement. That landscape has changed, and people are changing jobs more often and many others, leaving jobs to start their own businesses.
This breeds a need for continuous learning and skills development and knowledge to not only keep up but stay ahead of the game as an employer. Going from employee to business demands this learning and constant refreshing of skills to succeed.
Top 7 Skills You Need To Succeed
- Communication
- Creativity and innovation
- Problem-solving
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Critical thinking
- Organisation and time management
- Leadership
Knowing your transferable skills is not just important as an employee, but more so as an employer. As an employer, you not only know what yours are, you also know which to look for in your future employees. Skills that would enrich your company.
How Do I Find My Transferable Skills?
You’ve seen the list of the top critical and transferable skills. But you’re not quite sure if you have any of these nor your strengths and weaker areas for them. Alison has a comprehensive tool that can help you identify your skills and propose free courses on our platform that will develop and enhance these skills.
Employee or an employer, each role has its pros and cons. They require different skills, but when you’re the employer, there’s an extra level of responsibility that is on you to ensure your success. Set yourself for the win by listening to others, taking advice, appreciating the lessons, and continually working on your transferable skills.
