Questionable reasons to become an entrepreneur #7 – My company makes all the money from my efforts

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You have been told time and again that you are VERY important to your organization. You have received awards for your service and every year you get a raise way higher than your peers. So the company actually backs you by words and deeds. You are happy with all the attention you are getting and the company is happy that you are happy.

However, recently you started looking at this more “logically” and realize that the company makes a LOT MORE than what you are actually receiving. You may really be short-changed you think.  Rather than working hard for your company you could have worked hard for yourself and made ALL the money for yourself.

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Thinking about this some more you realize that you pretty much operate autonomously today with little support from your company on all projects. So when you start on your own, you will not miss much.

Finally, you make a decision to become an entrepreneur.

But wait!

Before you take the next step, please know that there is a flaw in the above logic. While it may seem like the company is not supporting much, in reality, it does support you a lot. Here are some things that the company brings today (these become invisible over a period of time) and you may be taking them for granted:

1. Your company brand: Do you have the same power without being associated with your current company? May be or may be not.

2. Your company’s support system: Be it operations or human resources when you need them they are there.

3. Your company’s existing relationships: While you may be thinking that you are doing your job autonomously, there are other people within your company who have relationships with your customers. Everything matters

4. Your company’s history: When you launch your company, there is no history for it. But your current company has a history and if it is good, it matters!

5. Personal brands for key people in your company: Currently the personal brands of key people within your company makes a difference (individually and collectively). When you launch your own company, initially all you have is your personal brand.

In summary, there are many more things to consider before you conclude how much your company is making from your services. You should also consider that all these “invisible” things are not available to you in your own new venture immediately.