How to Start a Business from Employment

(hint: start with what makes you annoyed) If you're sitting at your desk thinking "maybe one day I'll run my own business," start noticing what drives you crazy.

I'm not talking about the colleague who heats up fish in the microwave, I mean the operational stuff. The things that slow you down, drain your energy and make you reach for that GIF.

A lot probably gives you the rage right now, but switch it up. Stop thinking about how rubbish it all is and start thinking about how you'd solve it if you weren't stuck inside it.

That process that takes three weeks when it should take three days, the system everyone's working around instead of with, the issue that nobody's officially responsible for but seems to be the thing everyone argues about.

All the things everyone knows are costing time and money, but have just accepted as the way things are, write them down. Then look at the problem through as many different lenses as you can. Speak to people in different departments about it. How do they see the problem?

Why your current frustration is actually business research

Most "how to start a business while employed" advice misses the fact that you are currently being paid to sit inside someone else's problem. You're seeing it from the middle, which is the most valuable view there is. You know what's supposed to happen, what actually happens, and exactly where it all goes wrong

Many people who start businesses get pushed out of secure employment through circumstance, others make a fast decision to go it alone because they've lost the will to keep going, then spend months trying to figure out what problem to solve (checks mirror.)

But you, right now, are watching a real problem play out in high definition every single day, while you're still getting paid. While you still have the safety net of employment. That's not a waste of time, not if you're intentional with it.

Turn irritation into analysis

Don't just be irritated, be curious.

What would you do if you had the authority? What's the actual blocker? If you could wave a magic wand, what does "fixed" look like?

When that annoying thing happens again (the endless approval loop, the data that lives in three different places or the meeting where everyone talks past each other) don't just rage internally observe it like an outsider would:

• What's actually broken?

• Who's affected?

• What would "good" look like?

• What would you do first?

• What questions would you ask?

• What would you change, and what would you keep?

The most important part: it's not just the problem, it's you

This is a HUGE step most people skip when figuring out how to start a business from employment.

Yeah, other people might see the same broken process and you've spoken to them about it many times. But how do you move through it? What do you notice that others don't?

Because you are unique, when you explain it to someone, what words do you use? When you fix things, what's your approach? Do you build systems? Do you bring people together? Do you cut through the politics? Do you spot the data gap nobody else saw?

That's your angle, the layer that makes you different from every other person who's sat in a broken process and thought "someone should fix this."

Maybe you're the person who can take a technical mess and explain it in plain English or you're the one who spots the people problem underneath the process problem. Maybe you see patterns across departments that nobody else connects. Maybe you just have a low tolerance for bollocks and can cut to what actually matters.

Pay attention to that because that's your methodology. It's what makes you different from the hundred other consultants or service providers who claim to solve the same problem.

How to start a business from employment

The problem might be everywhere but your particular way of seeing it, naming it, and solving it? That's the business.

So yes, write down what's broken. But also write down:

1. How you'd approach fixing it - not in theory, but your actual instinct

2. What you notice that others seem to miss - the patterns, the gaps, the root cause

3. The questions you ask that get to the heart of it - your diagnostic process

4. How you'd explain it to someone outside the situation - your ability to translate complexity

5. What you'd do first, second, third - your natural prioritisation

Then figure out if someone would actually pay you to solve that problem. That's a whole different exercise, but this is where it starts.

Your job isn't just paying your bills

Whether you're miserable in your role right now or perfectly happy, your current employment doesn't just have to fund your life. It can show you exactly what business you should build.

Every frustrating meeting, every broken process, every workaround that everyone just accepts? That's your market research and unlike most aspiring business owners, you're getting paid to do it.

Laura Cloherty is the founder of The Ops House, a strategic operations consultancy helping solo coaches and consultants build businesses that actually work. Connect with her on LinkedIn

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If you're already running your own thing and the operations are doing your head in, let's talk.