10 Signs You Should Quit Your Corporate Job and Become an Entrepreneur

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Grass

Today, you may have a comfortable corporate job in a company that you like. You have good colleagues and you’ve climbed your way up the ladder. You are usually considered a high performer, always taking the initiative to drive projects. People trust you to deliver.

Despite all this, you may feel disillusioned and unfulfilled. If you have experienced any of the following signs, then you may have an entrepreneurial temperament that needs exploring. In other words: It may be time for you to start your own company.

1. You Crave Something New

After a few years at the same job, many people start craving for something new and different. They want to learn new things, face new challenges, and/or discover new roles.

If you feel you already know all there is to know about your current job, it may be time to move on.

2. You Feel You Could Do More Than Your Job Allows You to Do

When you start a new job, you feel exhilarated at first. But then, you begin to feel that it’s not enough – that you could do more. The company sees that, too, and gives you more responsibilities. The work becomes fulfilling again – until you outgrow these new responsibilities, too.

3. You Bring Passion and Conviction to Everything You Do

You have oodles of energy and enthusiasm. When you are convinced of something, you have no trouble selling your ideas to those around you.

The basic ingredient for entrepreneurial success is passion. If you have a lot of it, you may just be an entrepreneur at heart.

4. You Have So Many Ideas You Don’t Know What to Do With Them All

You initiate projects, you submit business cases – dozens of them – but your efforts go unappreciated. Many of your projects are not approved because the company doesn’t have the budget or the project doesn’t totally align with the company’s strategy.

You thrive on making things happen. When corporate red tape gets in the way, you get frustrated.

5. Your Feelings About Authority Are Mixed

BeachSure, you respect the people that represent authority, but unlike your colleagues, you believe that these people can and should be challenged from time to time. You don’t believe the C-suite is always right, and you want the freedom to express your own opinions.

Needless to say, this doesn’t play well in the corporate environment.

6. You Thrive on Variety

You get a kick of adrenaline when change comes. You love it when your days do not resemble one other. You’re even happy to have new projects thrust upon you unexpectedly. In fact, you love variety so much that when you are asked to cover two jobs following a restructuring, you actually enjoy it!

7. You Love Both Working on Teams and Going It Alone

You are happy to have colleagues around you. You enjoy discussing ideas with them and exchanging information. You derive real pleasure from interacting with your team members – but you also don’t mind solitude. In fact, you enjoy having time to reflect on things by yourself just as much as you enjoy working with a team.

8. You Really Value Transparency

Sure, you believe in the company, relate to its products or services, and have faith in the strategy and the leadership team – but you also keep your critical eye open. You look beneath official communications to find the real heart of the matter. You expect the leadership team to be transparent with you at all times.

9. You Don’t Feel the Company Allows You to Reach Your Full Potential

Despite all the success you enjoy in your company, you feel that your full potential goes untapped. You have a sense that you are destined for something more, that you are capable of doing a lot more, and that, were it not for the corporate hierarchy, you’d be doing things very differently.

10. Your Job Isn’t Fun Anymore

You’d rather be out doing something more fun. Honestly, it’s the money and security that keep you coming back to work every day – not the job itself. Furthermore, the higher you climb in the organization, the less able you are to have fun. Instead, you are expected to uphold the status quo at all times.

When you have to put aside your own desire, ideas, and convictions “for the good of the company,” a deep frustration begins to grow.

These signs may start out as small annoyances, but over time, they’ll grow to consume you. At that point, everything that kept you at your job – the paycheck, the title, the stability – will become irrelevant. You’ll feel the need to do something meaningful with your life – and that is when you’ll know it’s time to let your entrepreneur flag fly.

By Sapna Rema Hari