Are you a soldier or a general ?

What have I learnt from the last three years?

It sells a business and becomes part of a business with over one thousand employees with its headquarters and owners based in Mid West America.

I was having worked for nearly 20 years. To say it was a shock to the system working for someone else is not an understatement. I went into it with my eyes wide open and the mentality that I wanted it to work. Having read some of the reviews of the business and the culture filled me with even more trepidation.

The day you sell your business is not what I thought it was going to be. I felt regret and anti-climax. I built it up with my wife over year's and speaking to her; she felt the same emotions. I was the one in the future taking it forward. 

What was the fundamental difference between being in a small company to going working in one much larger? The first thing I will say is that the processes were the same. The main difference was the outlook of the employees. There is an obsession in the corporate world for being in charge and what your job title is. I’ve always felt that all this is an illusion. My job title was “sales director.” I never really gave it any thought; I just did the job as if it was my own company and money. Every decision I made over the two years I did the position was based on that. One thing I will say about the owners is that they did back me financially and allowed me the freedom to make decisions about the day-to-day running of the business. It was very challenging as we had to change the company to remote working. It was very hard at first and needed many hours, but we managed to do it as a group. 

During Covid, we managed to grow the revenues fifteen to twenty per cent. Ironically this is where the difference between working your businesses and working for someone else started. At first, it begins with you need to start doing things as we do in the United States. That then develops into corporate gameplay. I always said to myself that I would continue to do the business as long as I enjoyed it and that I could continue to make day to day judgments on what needed doing. 

The biggest take on the whole situation is that when you're employed, your there to implement the business plans of the owners. I lost sight of that, and you always should discuss what they want to hire you for. At this point, it made me realise that I couldn't go forward if I weren't the person making the decisions. 

A few people have commented that it was easy for me to resign because I'm financially secure. This highlights the difference in mentality between workers and entrepreneurs. Many times in my life, I’ve walked away from things that I felt were not working out. Fundamentally this is why I've been relatively prosperous. 

If you want to sustain the status quo and don't like change, the being employed route is probably the best route for you.

Could I work as part of a large organisation again? Yes, I could, but I would need to have a conversation with the owners. I did enjoy the collaboration and being part of a team, and helping people develop their skills.

For me now on to my next set of challenges, I can't wait to see what I can achieve. This last few years has been brilliant and I've learnt so many new skills I can't wait to implement them in my next business.