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5 Ways for Entrepreneurs to Make the Most of a Corporate Job (Even if You Hate It!)

Many young entrepreneurs are itching to start their own ventures but find themselves biding time in the corporate world in the meantime. If you feel like you are wasting time, then you must change your perspective and attitude. Every experience you have in Corporate America has the potential to be a learning experience for you to gain and develop skills that will become invaluable assets when you’re ready to start your own business. Below are 5 ways to make the most of your corporate job…even if you hate it!

The Best Education is Real-World Education

You may currently be in a job that you hate, dislike or even tolerate, but you know it’s not what you want to be doing in five years. You must approach this job with the attitude and perspective that it’s on-the-job training for the business that you will one day create and lead. Be on the lookout for opportunities to develop vital financial skills, making sure you understand how to read profit and loss statements, balance sheets and cash flow reports. You can also seek out an opportunity to learn how product decisions are made. Within this opportunity, you can gain a tremendous vantage point to learn how to identify customer needs, competitive advantages, costs, ROI models and a product’s lifecycle. Lastly, market positioning, brand-building and the value of a customer (present, future and lifetime) are additional skills that always help, no matter the stage of the business.

Network, Network, Network

Corporations have larger staffs as well as larger customer bases. All young entrepreneurs can and need to utilize these groups to network and learn more about their target demographics. The key here is relationship-building. Success in life and business centers on the depth and strength of relationships. One great way to build those relationships is to ask questions that acknowledge their expertise. How did you get to this position? How do you make key decisions? Why do you buy “X” product?  If you were me, how might you excel in my position? Who else do you think I should get to know? Finally, strive to do something for someone else along the way. Be known as a person who’s interested, not as someone who only cares about being interesting.

Be a Doer

Don’t just bide your time (are you noticing a theme?). No matter what job you may have in life, from dishwasher to vice president of a major corporation, you should strive to be the best. In order to be the best at your job, you must push yourself by volunteering for projects, putting in extra effort when none is required of you, and always striving to exceed expectations.

Look for the Solutions, Not Just the Problems

It is easy to find flaws and problems within any organization. Doing what’s easy doesn’t teach you anything or move you the slightest bit forward. In order to learn, you do have to identify problems, but you must go further. Be solution-oriented; identify challenges and suggest ways to eliminate the problems and improve the business. When you improve a business, you help the bottom line. This, in turn, will catch your boss’s eye and strengthen the network you should be building.

Avoid Burnout and Build a Strong Reputation

Remember that this job is not the end game for you. When you take initiative, don’t worry about who gets the credit. It is your education and your on-the-job training. Consider the experience to be similar to a Ph.D. program. If you keep this attitude and perspective, work hard, and use every experience as a learning experience, one day you will graduate!

Being a “suit” may be not how you envisioned starting your career, but a corporate job is not a death sentence. Work hard, get to know people, and put forth your best effort. Learning everything you can from the situation will help you manage a well-run, strategic company in the future. If nothing else, a corporate job will teach you what not to do!

James K. McPartland is the Principal and Chief Inspiration Officer of the JMac Performance Group, a specialized management consulting firm focused on realizing the importance of the human potential in business. He is an entrepreneur, author, international speaker and TV/Radio Host with an upcoming novel, Unopened Gifts: One Man’s Journey to Gratitude. For more information, contact James here.

 

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