If you thought it was the competition that you should worry about, you may be wrong. The exact strengths that helped you leave the rat race may become the controversial factor that causes one of your employees to leave the company and start up their own — within your niche.
According to SmartCompany, a new survey of 500 people by StartupSmart indicates that business owners need to keep an eye out for three types of employees: those who seek a new challenge, believe they’re better than the boss, and have always had a desire to launch their own business. The survey also indicates that potential entrepreneurs are better prepared to make that leap.
Just under half believe they have the savings to support their business, 53% say they’ve got the marketing skills to get their business off the ground and almost 60% say they know how the launch a website (which puts them a fair way ahead of the pack, based on yesterday’s news that 65% of companies don’t have a site).
Now, I can almost hear the seasoned entrepreneur out there saying “those wannabes don’t know what they are getting intoâ€. And it’s true – entrepreneurs in the stages of planning a business to tend to underestimate things like the amount of capital needed to get a business of the ground, the enormity of the marketing effort required and the complexity of web strategy.
But employers should realise this is not a movement of young start-up entrepreneurs setting out with no more than a business plan and some dreams – these are seasoned professionals with high levels of industry knowledge, a strong understanding of what it takes to get a business of the ground and an appreciation that savings are required to sustain a entrepreneur in the early days.
Photo by Kevin Dooley