Career-enhancing perks of entrepreneurship

Dominik Loncar, CYBF Entrepreneur-in-Residence, dloncar@cybf.ca

Developing entrepreneurial skills not only makes good economic sense but helps your career. Regardless of the outcome of a business, being an entrepreneur allows for transferable skills in whatever you choose to do in life. In honour of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) Canada (November 12-18, 2012) I have listed transferable traits you develop working for yourself:

Learning to connect with others

Entrepreneurs can’t work in a vacuum, even if they have an online business. Connecting, networking and developing a contact base of customers, peers and suppliers is an essential part of owning a business.

General business skills

You quickly learn that you can’t pass off cash flow or marketing to someone else. You need to know the basics in all areas of business if you want to succeed. Like it or not, you appreciate the importance of selling, customer service and cash flow, otherwise your business won’t survive.

Results-oriented

Working for a company or organization means you get paid based on activity (unless you’re on commission). At the end of the week, regardless of any outcome, the company owes you a paycheque. Running a business means that you have money coming in only when you produce results – namely when you get a sale and they pay you.

Taking full responsibility

When things aren’t working out in the company or organization you work for it’s easy to blame someone else for the misfortune. Working for yourself means you are fully in charge and you tend to dig deeper to find a solution.

Adapting to situations

Almost all entrepreneurs experience failure or a series of failures when they start out. These setbacks are part of the process. If you learn to adjust and adapt you are more likely to succeed. This attitude will serve you in whatever you choose to do.

This is just a short list and there are probably more “benefits” in developing entrepreneurial skills. Can you think of any you’d like to add?

Make sure to visit an event during GEW Canada and get inspired!