There has been a fast-increasing trend over the last few years that involves more and more employees leaving behind comfortable corporate jobs for the sake of entrepreneurial dreams. 

The tendency is mostly driven by seeking independence as well as flexibility in scheduling and controlling the career path, a tendency accelerated with rising optimism about the economy. Entrepreneurship is a highly fashionable alternative for workers who not only achieve a better work-life balance but look forward to more meaningful work. However, the entrepreneurial route is fraught with risks and challenges.

Why are workers leaving corporate jobs

For many, corporate life no longer offers the same appeal it once did. Office politics, limited control over career advancement, and declining benefits are just some of the frustrations that push employees to consider life outside the traditional workplace.  In many ways, the corporate environment fails to offer loyalty and tends to not offer deep job satisfaction, thereby leading people to question whether the trade-off is worthwhile for stability.

It provides an opportunity that can be referred to as personal fulfilment, flexibility, and fulfilling passions into a well-performing career for such workers. It is not that one should run from a toxic work environment but something that at a glance appears to hold more purpose and reflection of individual values.

 Longing for independence and flexibility

These are the two biggest drivers of change. Firstly, independence- corporate jobs are pretty rigid in terms of schedules with little autonomy and plenty of oversight. It's very stifling to people who want to forge their way. The pandemic really amplified these sentiments as many workers found the freedom offered by remote work and realised the power of flexible schedules.

Being an entrepreneur allows the flexibility of designing your day according to personal priorities instead of according to corporate dictations. It is no more punching a time clock but achieving work-life integration in the lifestyle and aspiration.

Purpose in the workplace

One of the primary reasons that compelling people to leave corporate jobs involves searching for meaning, according to Korn Ferry. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused most workers to take a look at their lives and careers; two-thirds of employees question their purpose. Millennials are three times more likely to question their jobs than everyone else and are the first resistors leading the charge to find meaningful work.

In general, connected workers who work toward a higher sense of purpose in their role tend to be more engaged, productive, and loyal to their companies. Truth be known, though, most corporate environments fail to deliver a deep sense of purpose. Thus, many workers leave to go out on their own and create a business through which they can align work with values.

How corporate life falls short in fostering purpose

The "purpose hierarchy gap" is the distance between the fact that employee personal values and corporation values do not match. In a 2019 survey report titled Help Your Employees Find Purpose—or Watch Them Leave it was found that 85% percent of the executives believed they had a well-defined purpose for work, and on the other side, 15 percent of the frontline employees also felt the same. The gap results in job satisfaction as more superior executives have higher engagement and more fulfilment levels than the lower-positioned ones.

The lack of purpose in the corporate world can have negative effects on both employees and organizations. These are workers who understand and genuinely believe that there is no sense in what they are doing. This destroys not only job satisfaction but also engagement, resulting in higher turnover rates and lower levels of productivity. These employees are likely to have better work and life outcomes, like higher rates of energy, resilience, and generalized happiness.

Establish a meaningful work environment

To retain talent and bridge the purpose gap, companies must take intentional steps to foster a sense of purpose at work. The leaders must ensure that the overall mission of the company resonates with the values of the individuals and illustrates how purpose is reflected in each decision made by the organization. Managers can also stimulate personal reflection by helping employees connect their purpose to day-to-day work.

Meaningful work opportunities are, the feeling an employee has that his or her role is doing something bigger than just churning out output, that can make the difference. Most of them find purpose and motivation in career satisfaction. And when corporations do not provide it for them, entrepreneurship comes in as an alternative: making work that matters.

Steps to transition from corporate life to entrepreneurship

A departure from the corporate job to entrepreneurship is something that cannot be taken lightly. One should immensely evaluate job satisfaction, readiness in terms of finances, and personal motives before landing on such a call. Providing a financial cushion paying off debt, and building savings are some of the best steps at derisking finances while starting any kind of new business.

Networking also comes into play when it comes to entrepreneurship. Reaching out to connections in the industry, developing some of the skill sets that will be required, and becoming familiar with the nitty-gritty of how businesses operate; all these are things a person should do before making the leap full-time. For those not ready to throw in the towel on their full-time job, an entrepreneurial side hustle can be used as a dry run to make sure the waters are friendly for entrepreneurship.

A major obstacle the entrepreneur has to overcome is losing a steady paycheck. There is no guaranteed income, and uncertainty in its financial constitution is what discourages a lot of people from making that jump. In addition to the fear of failure, the pushback from friends and family members will also be much fiercer to drive back.

In reality, the only way to tackle all this is through preparation. Running a side hustle as one works their main job builds up the process steadily, which consequently reduces the burden on personal finances. It allows an entrepreneur to have a buffer of finance and plan for alternatives, so there is a transition with minimal risk involved.

Preparation for taking the Leap: finding financial security

Organisations such as Benetrends, and Startup India are giving nascent entrepreneurs the power to beat the entry-level capital hurdles into the entrepreneurial world. I mean, essentially arming the employees with resources such as Small Business Administration loans and retirement account options, help the employees with the financial architecture to make the dream business possible, and thus empower the employee to bridge the divide between a lucrative corporate job and the uncertainty of being an entrepreneur.

It has increasingly become a trend that the worker joins a large corporation and after some time, he leaves his job to be an entrepreneur. That becomes a reflection of a much bigger change in society. 

More and more workers are no longer seeking jobs as just ways to earn a paycheck but seeking jobs with passion and a sense of fulfillment that transforms the world. Entrepreneurial activity is daunting, but for most it presents the potential for freedom, adaptability, and sometimes even purpose. The new business ownership era is beginning to dawn on more people who have come to realize their dream: through fulfillment and purpose more than through monetary security.