How to start a business within your 9-5

The other day, I approached my supervisor at the warehouse where I work and pitched him an idea.

“Hey Joe,” I said, “I was thinking about how to improve the effectiveness in the warehouse.”

“How so?” My supervisor asked with curiosity and slight suspicion. 

“Well, I realized in our daily meetings, we don’t have enough topics about developing our strengths as employees,”  I continued, fumbling over my ideas. “So I thought that maybe on top of discussing a safety topic every week, we could have a personal development topic every week as well.”

“An example of a topic would be…?” he inquired with even more curiosity. 

“Oh, things like professionalism, customer service, maybe some interpersonal communication advice,” I said 

“You know, I actually think that’s a great Idea, Logan.” He said, “It would allow us to bring up problems in the warehouse as we go and not have it be as awkward. I'll think more about it and come up with some ideas. Would you be willing to be in charge of these topics?”

“Yeah, of course I think it would be fun.”

Just with that short conversation with my supervisor, I became the head of my own department at my work. (Technically speaking)

This story emphasizes the Idea of being an intrapreneur. In other words, it means starting a business within the umbrella of the company you work for.

What is an intrapreneur?

Many businesses are run by the people who started them in the 1990s. Because of this, these businesses often lack the current trends and automations of the 20 first century.

I mean, the warehouse I work for is still on the same paper system that they used in the 1990s

Many times, individuals are focused on starting a business and providing solutions as a side hustle, or even quitting their job to pursue being an entrepreneur full time.

However, they never consider that there are problems in their workplace that could use their innovation and skills to develop the business they work for. 

This is the key idea of becoming an intrapreneur.

There are many benefits to becoming an intrapreneur over becoming an entrepreneur. Such as:

• Security in developing an already established business.

• Develop an entrepreneurial mindset and skills that can lead to starting a business.

• Less intimidating to pitch to an employer that you already have a connection with 

• Depending on the trust your employer has in you, convincing them to create a department can be easier.

• Easier to find funding for starting

However, there are also many downsides to becoming an intrapreneur:

• Less freedom to make decisions because decisions will go through upper management.

• Will have to deal with upper management 

• Will have guidelines.

• It could affect a long-term career if it fails.

Despite these downsides, if you are self-motivated and find answers to questions naturally, you should go for it.

Businesses should be, and most of the time are, looking for ways to innovate and stay above the competition.

How to get started 

First, you have to consider the work environment that you work in. Consider some of the following questions.

• How does management view employees? As equals or as an inferior

• How are radical ideas taken in the workplace? With respect or not?

• How well do your coworkers adapt to change?

• Do they consistently make goals to make the workplace innovative?

If your response to these questions is negative, convincing management to take a risk might be more challenging.

It could also significantly affect the future success of the endeavor if you can get started. 

The second step involves a lot of observation and problem-solving.

In this step, observe day-to-day operations during your typical work day and throughout the week, and consider ways your work line can be more effective.

 Whether developing leads, ensuring customers have a positive company experience, retaining customers, etc, there are many ways to ensure the business runs smoothly and more effectively. 

Your role is to find one of these pain points and devise a solution to solve a pain point. 

Third comes naturally as you think of solutions- naturally, the next step will be to pitch this idea to management.

When successful at convincing your boss to fund you in these endeavors, you can run your department as an intrapreneur.

How to pitch to your boss 

Arguably, the most significant step you will take is convincing your boss that whatever idea you came up with would benefit the company.

This can be scary because there are many times when radical ideas like this could be rejected.

However, there are a couple of ways to approach this conversation that will lead to a higher chance of success. 

1. Be prepared: Come with your entire plan for how this project will work. What is your vision, and what would your goals be in the project?

2. Come with the mindset to be a solution to something that the business lacks.

3. Be ready to explain how your idea aligns with your company’s brand, values, and goals.

4. Consider possible objections or questions your manager might pose and how to answer them.

5. Find a time when they can talk for a little while, maybe consider setting an appointment.

6. Be brief and confident in your pitch.

Here is a framework for how bringing up the topic in conversation might go:

“Hey _____, I have been thinking about ways to improve ______ because I know this is an essential value to the company. So I thought that if ______ were to happen, we could expect the outcome of _____. If you believe this is a good idea, I would love to take charge of this.”

Now, there are many ways that a manager might respond to this inquiry. However, if you use the standard principles of negotiation, you'll be able to lead the conversation to where you want it to go. 

Conclusion 

Understand that becoming an entrepreneur might not necessarily be for you. Becoming an intrapreneur might be.

If this aligns with your goals and values in life. 

You should go for it.

It might not be everyone's first idea of the dream, but it should be for many people.

Thanks for reading