Life After Corporate America

On February 13, 2019 I tendered my letter of resignation from a six-figure Oil and Gas career. I had worked in the industry for the last fourteen years with two of the majors. Working in this industry was very demanding yet rewarding. I learned and contributed so much. I didn’t leave out of frustration or the pressures that comes with such a demanding job. Nor did I wake up one day and leave without a business plan or a client in place. My decision to leave Corporate America was driven by my lifelong desire to become an entrepreneur. This was a methodical exit strategy that spanned almost two years. 

I attribute my humble beginnings, one of poverty and limited opportunities with my desire to be better than my circumstances. The humility in it molded my high-risk tolerance and created the “going all in” mentality within me. When you grow up without much it is easy to disregard the need for unnecessary material things. I believe there are many people stuck in jobs they hate or jobs that don't aligned with their ultimate goals simply because they have unnecessary bills to pay for stuff they really don’t need. 

Why now? I felt that making the leap in my mid 40's was the right time. This is the “now or never” era of my life and I never wanted to go into my 60’s or 70’s beating myself up for never acting on a dream. I also believe if things didn’t go as planned, mid forties is not to old to recover and re-enter the corporate world if I needed to.  

There is absolutely nothing wrong with working in Corporate America. I have much respect for those who do and are happy doing what they love. I really enjoyed the companies I worked for but mostly I enjoyed the people. I worked with some really brilliant people who were problem solvers making critical decisions in the most intense environments. My decision to leave Corporate America was inevitable and now on my one year anniversary since leaving I want to share my top ten observations since moving in to the entrepreneur space: 

1. The support of your spouse or significant other is key.

My wife was very supportive and on the same page with my goals. We both understood sacrifice and knew that if I sacrificed hard work, taking on most of the domestic responsibilities with our kids, bills etc. while she was in nursing school it would be a huge benefit to our collective ultimate goal. We also understood that at some point she would make a similar sacrifice while I build the business.  My wife would later complete her nursing degree and land an excellent position as an L&D Nurse. Her new career and income was a key to the Corporate America exit strategy. Her early retirement and desire to relocate to Costa Rica will be the reciprocated gift to her.

2. Reduce your debt and discretionary spending.

A couple of our key actions prior to taking the leap was paying off debt and adjusting our household spending habits. In my final two years in Corporate America, I used my bonuses to pay off debt. It was painful to see these substantial amounts of cash leave our bank account so quickly, but the big picture warranted it. It is so easy to rack up credit card debt using plastic but so disheartening paying it off in cash. This is what makes credit cards so convenient but evil at the same time. By paying off these debts my credit scored increased tremendously. I kept the accounts open in case I needed them in an emergency or to help with business expenses. The main driver for paying off this debt was strategic as not to burden my wife with large amounts of debt. The biggest expense we decided to pay off was my wife’s $500/month car loan one year early. We were even able to negotiate paying less than the final balance. Reducing our debt and increasing my credit score has open many financial opportunities for my business.

Secondly, we created a list of luxuries we could do without. Cable TV and eating was the first to be reduced and/or eliminated. We cut the cable TV and moved to streaming based services such as Roku, Sling, Firestick etc. which allowed access to some of our favorite channels while saving money. We also renegotiated with or switched our insurance, home alarm, and utility provided. I even begin couponing and was saving up to $100 per grocery store visit. Overall we were able to reduced our debt by almost $20k and our monthly expenses by $700. If you are thinking about taking the plunge it would be in your best interest to reduce your debt and discretionary spending.

3. Get as much funding as you can while you are able to show “stable” income.

“It takes money to make money…” a phrase that has been echoed time and time again. The phrase holds true especially during the startup of a new business. No matter how much you plan or put into your business plan there will be some hidden cost that you didn’t account for. As discussed in #2 above, reducing debt and discretionary spending, allowed my business plan to be more attractive to creditors. I was able to successfully obtain business loans, a small line of credit and two business credit cards. I didn’t want to go into too much debt but here is where I may have been wrong. It is better to have access to the funds and not need it than to need the funds and not have access to it. There were many times I had to “off-script” dip into my line of credit to make payroll or cover the cost of an RFQ Response. Cyber-attack, printer issues, rent hikes, project scope creep, slow pay invoices, mother nature business interruptions etc. it will happen.  

4. Incorporate the Good, Avoid the Bad and Ugly you experienced in your Corporate job.

While working in the corporate world I was introduced to many, unique business practices which I thought we very beneficial. I have incorporated some of these business practices within our firm. I established a Monday morning production meeting which we refer to as our Direction Setting Meeting. This allows us to understand what we worked on and /or completed the previous week, priorities for the current week, assigned actions items, out of the office personnel status etc. On Wednesday’s we conduct Lunch and Learns where we use our lunch period to share knowledge and leanings related to technology, code, policy, process improvements etc. Each team member is scheduled to bring in a new topic of their choosing. Fridays are our casual days in which our team may wear more relaxed clothing and we tend to have lunch together at an eatery of their choice.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely S.M.A.R.T goals were key drivers of many decisions made while I was working in Oil and Gas. They are now standards in the way I measure profitability, profit based on project type, efficiencies, speed of project submittals, monthly, quarterly and yearly goals etc.

On the other hand there are some practices about the corporate environment that I choice to leave behind. For example, I never refer to my team as employees or workers. In order to establish a team oriented mindset or one that empowers the team, they have to feel like this is their company as much as you do. There have been many business decisions that I have gotten my team’s opinion on. Things like a new office location, work flow, software selection and even sitting in on interviews for new team members.

I truly love investing in the team’s development by offering access to external training opportunities; this is not driven by an HR mandate or some baiting strategy that may never be fully embraced. 

  5. Mentoring, Teaming, Networking, is necessary.

Prior to my exit from Corporate America, I enrolled in the a business preparedness program sponsored by CapitalOne called “Getting Down to Business”, This was 12 month program that equipped me with the tools necessary to pursue a successful entrepreneurial journey. From Business Plans, Business Pitch, Marketing, Branding etc. this program was like a compressed MBA program tailored to my business goals. One of the major requirements was to meet with a SCORE Mentor on a weekly basis. SCORE is the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals. SCORE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

MEP engineering was not offered at my University nor is it offered in many educational institutions hence I had to learn this field of engineering on my own. I found a mentor who was actually a competitor of what I was inspiring to do who eventually taught me so much in a very short period of time. We have now been officing together for the past year and have experienced much success for our respective companies. I have learned so much about this business being around him. As he prepares to go into semi- retirement, I have assumed a great part of the office overhead and responsibilities for both firms. Finding a mentor and teaming partner is very key especially as you respond to RFQs and establish relationships with major client firms.

6. Listen to the Green, Red, and Rotten Apples, it’s helpful.

The green apple is a very supportive person. They will believe in you either based on your past performance or just because they admire you. They will call you to see how you are doing and genuinely hope for the best for you and your new venture. They will pray for you without telling you they are.

The red apple will caution you in a borderline negative type of way. They want to support you but at the same time they will tell you about loss of corporate benefits, remind you about the delightful 1st and 15th of the month, tell you that if you just work another 35 years you can retire a million air (which you may not be able to spend). The phone call you will receive from them is not generally intended to check to see that you are doing well but to find out when you are coming back to work.

The rotten apple will come off almost if not envious, but you can learn a lot from the rotten apple. When I was preparing my pros and cons list of leaving my Corporate job I struggled somewhat to get a full list of cons because I had a bias towards my ultimate goal, success. I knew then and still to this day to have a good inventory of rotten apples to turn to. These people will help you complete your cons list, matter of fact they can make you think the sky will drop out if you take the leap. In this regard, rotten apples are very helpful, now all you have to do is understand your risk tolerances with the cons and develop some risk mitigations. Note I said mitigation and not elimination. When you go into business you have to know that there will be risk, the key to survival is mitigation strategies and how you respond. The rotten apple will give you a monthly call just waiting for the worst which they warned you would happen. When they call and ask how it is going, just reply absolutely great…living the dream!

7. Social life, hobbies, hanging out with friends…discontinued.

While laying the foundation of your entrepreneurship journey your social life may become nonexistent. Fishing, classic car restoration, golf, working out, were some of my typical activities that quickly became extinct versus the ultimate goal. I was so consumed with writing business plans, developing a website, setting up an LLC and DBA, drafting company policies and procedures, developing a mission statement, employee handbook etc. I just didn’t have time for the hobbies I loved so much.

Time with family was something I refused to compromise so I learned to be strategic with my time. I did a lot of my business planning and development activities after tucking the kids in for bed. Some nights I would work until two or three in the morning, sleep about four hours and get the kiddos off to school and then on to work.  I became accustomed to accounting for each hour of the day. 

Also, during the foundation building phase you will notice distance with close friends and associates gradually increasing, to a point they will feel as though you have abandoned them. You can reassure them that everything is fine with your relationship with them.

8. Vacation, Holidays, More Time Off, Golf, Golf, and more Golf…NOT

It is often perceived by some that the life of an entrepreneur is waking up around 10 am dragging to the office, taking 2-hour lunch breaks, hitting the golf course in the middle of the day then returning home around 3:30 pm. This type of routine may exists for a seasoned entrepreneur whose business is on “autopilot”, but definitely not the case for a business in start-up or even the growth phase. It is currently 2:35 am as I write this article. I can tell you some days I work 10-12 hours, there is no such thing as holidays, and I don’t spend all day watching TV shows, sporting events, or playing video games. I don’t lack respect for those who do its just I always think I can be spending that time marketing or catching up on a project. I was never a person who often went out or had to be at some bar on a regular basis so there was not much adjustment I needed to do there. Even when I took my boys to their extra curriculum activity practices, I would sit in the bleachers with my laptop either marketing or preparing for the next day. Make it a point to maximize your time, try to account for every hour of your day. Life can get pretty boring when you are first starting out. Just keep your eye on the prize and it will be fun later trust me. Also, some of your friends will disappear. Don’t worry your true friends will understand and respect what you are trying to do. Make sure you support them for supporting you. 

Now I am not saying to consume yourself with your business without pleasure. I have learned to use my time wisely. I do a lot of work while my family is sleep or while my wife is at work so that I am able to spend time with them as I have normally. Proper planning allows me to take off anytime I need to but knowing that I have to make it up at some point during the week. I have a great team and some pretty cool technology which makes it alot convenient. 

9. Possibilities vs. Promotions

I no longer need to depend on a boss or a system to give me a raise or promotion through what can sometimes appear to be a flawed review process. Nor do I have to sit across the desk from the boss telling me what I did well or didn’t do well. You typically didn’t learn of your shortcomings until the end-of-year review meeting. Most of the time, in my opinion, your raise and/or opportunity for a promotion was decided before you even stepped into your yearly review meeting. 

Earlier in observation #4 I mentioned KPI’s and S.M.A.R.T. goals, this is now the tools I use to measure my firm’s successes and to determine promotions and/or pay raises for myself. While I was in the CapitalOne Getting Down to Business program we were tasked with developing a Strategic Growth Plan which was a one-page snap shoot of S.M.A.R.T. goals. It is an activity that I develop every year and review monthly.

10. I Don’t Regret It

For the first few months, I found myself waking up questioning my decision. It was so different waking up to this new life. Arriving at my office, putting the key in the office door, and turning on the reception area and office equipment feels so rewarding and normal to me. While I have experienced setbacks that happen to every new entrepreneur, I don’t miss Corporate America. I no longer have Sunday night anxiety. I feel a sense of peace and pride in my life now that I’m following my heart and forging my own path. I only wish I had pushed past fear and done this sooner.