2. Evaluate your strengths and skills.
List the business skills that were required in your last role and the successes that you achieved.
Determine if your prior experiences qualify as hands on education to help you launch your next venture. Many of your skills should carry over to your new venture, so be sure to identify any additional professional areas of expertise that may be needed and seek counsel.
3. List your priorities.
Be clear about what’s important to you and what you value most.
Make sure that you can achieve your goals and objectives while maintaining work-life balance throughout your transition. Your business should work for you, and not against whatever equilibrium you create to ultimately make the transition manageable.
4. Clarify your vision.
Create a mission statement for your business.
Know your market’s demographics and how you will reach them. Immerse yourself in the industry you’ve set your sights on. Soak up as much knowledge as you can and form a professional network within that industry. Create your step-by-step action plan.
5. Mark it on your calendar.
Know when to take the plunge. Timing is everything.
Make sure that you plan (and accomplish) your exit strategy when transitioning. Keep in touch with your network and make sure that your transition is as seamless as possible. Ensure you understand the risk involved with changing roles or creating a new business. Know the downside and be comfortable taking the plunge without having all of the answers, but also be comfortable asking for help, the upside will outweigh your fears!
Connect with Lauren on Twitter.
Photo: Paul Stuart
Lauren Maillian Bias is the Founder and CEO of Luxury Market Branding, a strategic marketing and branding consultancy. Formerly, Lauren was the Founder and COO of Sugarleaf Vineyards, the only African-American owned and operated winery in Virginia. Lauren holds a B.S. in International Trade and Marketing, Magnum Cum Laude, from the Fashion Institute of Technology, a State University of New York. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, American Express OPEN Forum, UPTOWN Magazine, and Black Enterprise.
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