The Entrepreneur’s Source: Want To Get Off The Corporate Highway?
The Entrepreneur’s Source: Want To Get Off The Corporate Highway? Why Entrepreneurship Could Be Your Best Exit Strategy
When you take one of life’s exit ramps will you be ready for the change? Andrew Brown says he wasn’t.
Brown had worked for 15 years in the world of corporate finance when he made his sudden exit. “You have this great corporate job. You’re on easy street. But I was really in the wrong place at the wrong time. I had no control over my own destiny,” Brown said. He wasn’t ready for the changes and didn’t have a plan, but what Andrew did have was an epiphany. “I thought: I can keep applying for these jobs in an industry that I know, but I realized I was kind of bored with that. The reality is, we (he and his wife, Jennifer) were interested in trying something new.”
Entrepreneurship wasn’t something he felt totally prepared for, but Andrew Brown had someone to guide him in the right direction. Jan Claesson is an Alternative Career Coach with The Entrepreneur’s Source® (TES). He understood a little something about taking life’s exit ramps because he took one himself in 2016. That’s when he started working his TES career transition coaching business. “I had an outstanding role model with Jeff Levy as my coach.”
“After years of exploring different business models, while working, I told my coach that I actually knew what it was that I should be doing: I should be doing what you’re doing — coaching people.” Claesson has always been a people person. He enjoys working with people and learning about their drive and goals.
“My motivation has always been people and business. Trying to understand them and create environments where they can flourish and perform above their expectations,” says Claesson. “It is a privilege to work with people, get to know them a little bit and eventually leave them with clarity and an open mind that will get them on a path of education, awareness, and discovery.” That made working for The Entrepreneur’s Source® the perfect model for him. It also made him a good fit as a Career Ownership Coach for Andrew Brown.
“Andrew has the drive and determination,” Claesson found. “He also has the ability to analyze information and make decisions. When Claesson put a fitness franchise before Andrew and Jennifer, they were initially not interested! “An irony in our process is that, while we are both fit people, we had never really had more than a “Y” membership. Certainly, we had no boxing experience,” Brown said.
But, looking more closely at the franchise, the Browns realized that it offered the best path to achieving their personal Income, Lifestyle, Wealth, and Equity goals. They felt it offered the best combination of brand strategy and franchise leadership. Approximately three months after they first met with Claesson, the Browns decided on their future.
“We went in keeping an open mind . I would say that it’s a good idea to go into the education process with your eyes wide open and to not be held back by your pre-conceived notions.”
Brown says franchising was a better choice for him than starting a business from the ground up. “I have a good sense of how things should run and customer service. I tend not to be strong on the sales side and frankly, I am not the stereotypical idea-man.” Franchising just seemed like the best choice for him. “A franchise is giving you the playbook, and you have a product. In my mind a lot of the basics have been built, I just need to follow the proven system. That fits my personality better.”
Brown says he’s working more now than ever before, but that’s okay. “I also have a sense of joy and ownership that comes with that hard work. I am probably more energized than when I just did the corporate gig.”
Claesson doesn’t doubt Brown for a second. “He’ll be successful because of his unyielding determination. He has a strong sense of urgency that moves him through obstacles. Plus, he has a great sense of humor!”
As for Brown, when friends are approaching those exit ramps in life, he tells them about his experience with Jan Claesson and The Entrepreneur’s Source®. “I make the introduction to Jan, and tell them to have a willingness and curiosity to ask questions. They need to realize that they’re smarter than they think they are and that they have a lot of transferable skills, regardless of where they come from.”