Ep. 332 Stop starting over: Build a business with the skills you already have

In this week’s episode, Anna demystifies the transition from corporate life to independent business success. If you’re contemplating stepping out of the corporate world, or if you’ve already made the leap but are feeling overwhelmed, this episode is tailor-made for you. Discover how to harness your existing skills, network, and experience to create a fulfilling business without starting from scratch.

Key moments:

[00:00] Introduction to Episode and Overview

[01:14] Debunking the Myth of Reinvention

[02:05] Leveraging Existing Skills and Network

[03:28] Anna’s Personal Transition Story

[09:02] Mapping Your Corporate Experience to New Opportunities

[12:16] Embracing a Portfolio Career

Resources mentioned:

• The Business Accelerator Programme: Learn more about supporting your transition with this tailored programme and join the waitlist OneStepOutside.com/accelerate.
• Connect with Anna Lundberg: Reach out for personalised support on Instagram or LinkedIn.

Build a business using your existing skills

So many people I speak to, especially those thinking about leaving corporate, will say the same thing again and again. Right? I want to work for myself, but I feel like I’m going to have to start completely from scratch. I’m going to turn my back on all my experience and I have to suddenly build my brand an income and it just feels completely overwhelming. And this is one of the biggest myths I think about leaving corporate. And today I want to show you why that’s not true and also how you can actually leverage everything you’ve already built to create a business that works faster than you think. And this is not just for you. If you are just starting out because this kind of mindset block, I suppose, and strategic error can happen further down the line as well. In fact, as we’ve built a business in a particular way, perhaps because we were rebelling against our corporate background or perhaps because we really wanted to do something that was much more purpose driven and aligned with our values.

But in doing so, we’ve kind of thrown the baby out with a bath water. So first of all, I guess there’s this myth of reinvention and it’s a very romantic notion and I’ve talked about the chrysalis and the butterfly emerging and so on, which is actually, as I always now like to point out to people, a very painful, mushy, messy process. So it’s not the smooth transition that we perhaps were led to, to believe, but we feel like we need a whole new identity. You know, social media really plays into this, I think, because all the stories of these dramatic career pivots and burn it all down narratives, or becoming a success overnight, you know, that’s, that’s not very helpful because in reality, most successful independents don’t start from zero, they start from leverage. So you don’t need to erase your corporate career, you need to translate it into your next chapter. And I want to be clear, that doesn’t mean that you have to keep working on the exact same, same things with the exact same people. But if your urgency, I guess if your priority is to hit the ground running, earn money, perhaps the same or more as your existing corporate salary, then the smartest way to do that is to leverage your network, your skills, your credibility and so on from that past world. Just to throw in my own personal anecdote, I suppose I did exactly this.

So I was very smart, ahead of my time, not really knowing what I was doing, but nonetheless, I accidentally landed on my feet in that I had been heading up digital marketing at a big company and thanks to the network, thanks to those skills being in demand, thanks to my credibility, I was right away actually asked by a number of colleagues who’d moved on to different companies to come in and help with digital marketing strategy in those new organisations. And so that was an immediate, easy, if I can call it that transition, perhaps too easy, because it led me to falsely believe that, you know, it was not too difficult, this independent malarkey. But that gave me the freedom because I was working for myself, even though I was effectively kind of contracting out to certain companies, I had the flexibility. I would, yes, work full time and sometimes a lot of overtime in some of those roles, but then I would travel in between. I went to Malaysia, Australia and San Francisco, Hawaii, Hawaii, all sorts at the time. So I got that flexibility over time. I recognised that perhaps I wasn’t getting the fulfilment because I was basically doing the same work. But again, if your priority is a quick pivot and landing on your feet, immediate income, it’s, it’s a very smart idea to keep using what you’re already known for, you’re already good at, and you don’t have to carbon copy that, you don’t have to make it exactly what you were doing before, but but let’s look at what you are bringing with you.

So I’ve mentioned a few of these, right? These are your assets, first of all, your skills. I know I’m speaking to you as a highly experienced, competent, capable person. You’ve built deep expertise, lots of skills, and we talk about transferable skills, but they really are transferable. Communication, leadership, managing clients, negotiation, you know, coaching, in fact, your people, perhaps without explicitly doing that. And that’s a great example. If you start as a coach, people say, oh, I’ve just qualified as a coach. No, you’ve actually possibly probably been coaching people be informally or at least internally for years, maybe even decades. And it’s getting comfortable and confident with being able to weave that into a narrative and telling that story to build on your skills, to use those, again, not necessarily in the exact same thing, but bringing that into the new space.

Obviously, my marketing and branding expertise would have been a natural fit for another marketing role. And initially I was looking at head of digital roles in other companies. But those credentials also gave me credibility as I wanted to pivot more into working with startups and entrepreneurs. And so the fact that I had worked at this big marketing giant meant that I had the credibility to work with that new audience. So, you know, you can bring the same expertise to a new audience or industry, for example, that’s a really smart way to bring your skills, but to use them in a different area. Then the next thing is your network. I mentioned very openly how it really was my network and it wasn’t the people necessarily that you’d expect. It was certainly one close friend, somebody I’d worked tangentially with, another person who I barely knew, but it was just more by reputation, I suppose.

But you already know people who need what you do. In fact, I just talked to a colleague the other day who was saying how all his work the last couple of years, the first two years of his independent work now, has come from his existing network, from the big consulting firm where he was working. So, you know, if you want to, if you’re happy to leverage those people, and then the bridge between corporate and independent is usually much shorter than you think. I’ve had other clients who have, you know, and the obvious thing to do is sold their services back into the organisation. In fact, another example of someone who was working with a big corporate consulting firm, in fact, she pivoted into a very different area. Functional nutrition for people with autoimmune conditions. Women, actually, I think preconception nutrition, I think, is the direction in which she’s taken it now as well. And that was of course very different to the work she was doing consulting.

But initially she was, I think first for free, but then ultimately paid, selling those services back into the company. Right. So it doesn’t mean that you have to keep doing the same consulting. You can still leverage that network again to make that bridge a bit shorter. And then finally, of course, your credibility. My big drum that I keep banging about personal branding is that your personal brand lives above and beyond any specific businesses. So the brand you’ve built inside corporate doesn’t just vanish. Right.

You’re still the person people trusted and respected. And in fact, lots of people for me came out of the woodwork often again, people I didn’t know super well, who I might not even have gotten on with very much, very well in the office, would come out and say, oh, wow, you know, I really admire what you do and actually I have this side thing or this is what I’m doing and, and we really bonded over that. So, you know, your network is, is much broader than you think and your personal brand, how people see you and so on, exists certainly within the organisation now. Hopefully. If you’ve been listening to my podcast before, even if you haven’t left your job, then you have also been looking outside of your build your brand. I always say to people, you know, whether you’re looking for a new job or not looking for a new job, in fact, if I’m going to be perfectly honest, or trying to establish yourself and grow as an independent expert, having the visibility tangibly, let’s say, on LinkedIn or whatever that format takes, but LinkedIn is generally the professional platform will really stand you in good stead. As I said, whatever your goals are. So really networking and having that credibility outside of your immediate network, outside of the company, within the industry, perhaps in other industries, if you go to conferences and things, that will really help you.

So if you haven’t done that already, please do that now. But really the work is connecting the dots between your past work and your future clients. If you haven’t figured that out, of course that’s, that’s something to consider. But you don’t have to reinvent yourself into something completely different. And you know, again, we hear those radical examples of flipping from this thing to that thing, the financial services leader going in to become a yoga instructor, you know, by all means, that could be part of your portfolio maybe, but if you want, you know, again, a quicker, more commercially savvy and higher paid work, then probably you should start elsewhere. So just I’ve already shared a couple of examples there but, but just to imagine a few more scenarios let’s say and I’m thinking of specific people who I’ll try to anonymize them but, but someone left their strategy director role thinking she needed to become a business coach. You know, we, and I did too discover coaching and want to evangelise about it and go out and coach. But as it turns out, you know, that’s quite a still unfortunately sort of underrated skill.

And it is a skill. It’s one tool in your toolkit. You don’t have to be a coach just because you’ve trained and certified as a coach. Coaching is a hugely valuable skill. In fact, I work with a startup where we’re trying to get leaders to behave more like coaches. So it’s, it’s a tool we should all have in our toolkit. But in this case when we looked at her real value it was clear that it was more about her strategy, her strategic brain, both for a compelling narrative for the companies she was working with, but also for herself to keep using that kind of high level intellectual brain that she loved doing. So she could continue doing that strategy work but just in a more flexible package.

Right. So she’s now a fractional strategy lead for a few companies. So she does work she loves still without the full time contract. So that’s one option. Someone else I’m thinking left his corporate marketing convinced, you know, he has to niche down and it’s going to be this kind of online marketing specialty or maybe even AI now. Right. If that’s something you do have experience with. But when we looked at his corporate track record, his superpower I guess as you might call it, was really helping marketing teams get their internal strategy and stakeholder buy in.

Right. And that’s something that small business owners don’t really need, but his old peers desperately did. So now he consults directly to leadership teams and charges those higher corporate rates. And then you know, my own portfolio business really now and I know a lot of you aspire to and appreciate that kind of approach because we’re generalists and multi passionate renaissance men and women. And as I said, when I left corporate I landed on a very straightforward consulting business. But, but over time my interests changed, I discovered and I never really quite can pinpoint how but a part of my personal development led me to a coaching qualification and I broke free from I suppose this initial two year consulting because I wanted more fulfilment. As I said, I had the freedom I Had the flexibility and the financial security, but I wanted more, more fulfilment and I suppose more freedom to some degree. So I went into the digital nomad space and travelled while trying to make my work work fully online.

And then I landed back in London and met somebody romantically in London. So I ended up settling more into kind of a Monday to Friday rhythm again there and then. Now we have actually, I think four years now, been living on the coast, you know, with a young family. And so life has changed as well. Life, my personal preferences, practical parameters, ambitions have changed. And so I have come to realise, and I want you to understand too that the most sustainable path probably isn’t going to be just one or for one niche. If that’s something you’re happy to do, by all means. But for a lot of us a kind of version of a portfolio business is really the most fulfilling and sustainable.

So, you know, sometimes leaning more into coaching and sometimes more speaking, writing, consulting, advising, tied together in my case by a core message. So if you can find that umbrella message that sits above the different strings to your bow, you’ll still need to kind of tweak it to the different audiences and so on. And that can make life complicated with LinkedIn profiles and websites and so on. But speaking from my own and clients experience is definitely feasible. Most importantly, and this is again my drum I like to bang many times the most successful and meaningful transitions aren’t about copying someone else’s blueprint. It’s really about leveraging what you already have in a way that fits how you want to work now. So really ask yourself, and I’ve talked about this many times too, the push reasons for why you’re leaving and then the pull reasons for, for why you’re leaving. So what are the reasons you’re pulling away from the thing that you have been doing? And it could also be your old business, right? It doesn’t have to be necessarily a full time corporate role.

And is it just just the hours, is it the stress, is it the toxic work culture, is it the boss, is it the type of work? And you know, so really understanding the reasons that you’re trying to leave that world behind will help you to filter the things you want to bring with you. And it may be, and I see this again and again, that in the initial years you turn your back completely on corporate and then you come back to it later. And I’ve certainly kind of swung to and fro because my expertise, experience and network is in big fmcg. That has always been A natural fit. Also beauty, luxury, skincare, makeup, perfume. That’s kind of my world, even with some of my coaching and development work that I do now. But it’s also very possible, you know, to look at other audiences and, and to, yeah, to consider B2C, B2B and so on. Right.

So very much depending on how and what I suppose you’re pulling away from and what you’re pulling towards, and that can evolve. You might swing away, as I said, and then come back to it. So some practical tips to consider. You know, have a bit of, if you’re a bit of a journaler, writer, more visual, maybe a mind map kind of thing, grab a pen and paper, a whiteboard, whatever it is, and really reflect journal on, you know, what are the top skills and strengths that you have? You can start with just brain dump it, but then really think about what are the ones you want to be known for. So not just your whole cv, but the skills that make you stand out and make you kind of unique and distinctive, but also the ones that you, as I said, want to be known for, meaning the ones you want to keep using. If you’re amazing at something but hate it, that might not be the best thing to bring with you. Right, because you’re just then creating something, something that’s, that’s as bad or worse as what you were doing before. Next, map out your warmest network contacts.

You could list people by all means, and, but even just say, you know, colleagues from this company who do you know in this new industry you’re moving to, family, friends, and it’s not about being icky and pushy and so on. It’s just potentially identifying people who you could have a coffee with, who could introduce you to someone you know, and that’s, that’s really powerful. And most of your initial clients are always going to come from those kind of warm initial contacts when you’re ready. And obviously I’m speaking to you all different types of the stages of the process, but it’s definitely worth doing. And again, whether you’re new or if you’re pivoting, perhaps just drafting a little message to let them know, hey, this is what I do now. This is the kind of work I’m doing. If you know someone who, then please, you know, let me know and I’d be happy to chat with them. So you’re not saying, hey, you’re a really rubbish leader and I want to coach you on it, or you’re not saying, you know, the classic like, hey, you need to lose Weight to work with me as your PT or nutritionist.

Right. You’re very transparently saying what you do and then saying, hey, do you know someone? And very possibly they will come back and say, yeah, oh my gosh, this is me, let me talk to you. But really, you’re not selling to strangers here, right? That’s a longer piece of work, building your brand and building your thought leadership and audience immediately. Now you want to be reconnecting with people who already value your work and it’s a no brainer. Okay, so look, if you’re in this phase of figuring out how to leave or you’ve already left, but you’re feeling a little bit lost in translation, this is exactly the kind of work that I do. We have the business accelerator, which is really around designing a business that fits you, both your bank account and your life and your values and your purpose and whatever else you want to bring into that. So we do that leveraging what you’ve already built, what you already have, as I said, in terms of your skills, network credibility, rather than forcing you to necessarily start from scratch. So if you go to onestepoutside.com accelerate onestepoutside.com accelerate, you can apply to the wait list there because we’re not opening until June now.

But in the meantime you can book a call with me just to have a chat about it to see if it’s the right thing or not. And you know what, if you want my personal feedback on how to position your skills and experience for the next chapter, then just perhaps DM me on Instagram. If we’re connected there, message me on LinkedIn. I’m always happy to help. And we can of course jump on a call as well. So I hope this is reassuring and perhaps nudges you in the direction to think, hey, actually this is perhaps more feasible than I thought. We don’t have to burn everything down, throw the baby out with a bath, water, whatever other metaphors and analogies we can think of, and I look forward to chatting to you perhaps, and of course seeing you next week. Have a wonderful week.

Bye for now.

Alright, so if any of this resonates and you’re ready to build a business that truly works for you without the overwhelm, without the hustle, all that constant second guessing, then I’d love for you to join us in the business accelerator.

Bringing together a small group of like minded experts, coaches, consultants, solopreneurs who want that personalised support, clear action steps and above all, real accountability. If you want to get in early. Then head on over to OneStepOutside.com/accelerate to register your interest or join the waiting list.

Let’s create the business and the life that you have always wanted. Can’t wait to see you inside.

WORK WITH ANNA

Let us help you design a business and a life that gives you freedom from the 9 to 5. There are several options for how you can work with us. Choose the programme that’s right for you.

The Outsiders Business Accelerator

A mastermind for service-based business owners, freelancers and online entrepreneurs who are ready to achieve success on their own terms. onestepoutside.com/accelerate

The Outsiders Business Academy

A self-paced course for you to work through in your own time, to learn – and implement – the foundations of building a profitable business that lets you escape the 9 to 5. onestepoutside.com/course

1:1 Coaching & Mentoring

If you’re looking for one-to-one support to help you achieve your specific life and business goals, Anna has a limited number of spots for individual coaching and mentoring. onestepoutside.com/coaching