6 Powerful Lessons I Learned Early in EntrepreneurshipA half-dozen key takeaways after trading my corporate job for the messy, fulfilling and thrilling world of entrepreneurship.
ByMark Flynn•Originally published
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In October of 2020, I left the safety of a well-paid executive job for the unknown and exciting world of entrepreneurship. I can still remember my mother's shocked expression when I informed her that even though we were in the midst of a global pandemic and I had a second baby on the way, I was going to follow a life-long dream of setting out on my own.
The way I looked at it was that I had been preparing for this moment for the last 16 years. When I finished university, I took the traditional route and accepted a job with a successful global consulting organization, despite having the opportunity to break out on my own. "I need more experience," I would offer as an excuse, year after year, as I climbed the corporate ladder and ignored that call into the unknown. The older I got, the louder it became — so loud in the end that I had to take action. After engaging the services of a coach and building clarity on what I was passionate about, I set a timer for 365 days, then started working backward on what was needed to set up what became High Performance Coaching. At this writing just over seven months into that journey, I wanted to share with you some of the biggest things I've learned while moving from the comfort and security of a corporate job into the messy, fulfilling and thrilling world of entrepreneurship.
