4 Steps to Become Your Own Boss
by: Sri Narayanan
After realizing that kids growing up today will inherit challenges greater than any generation before them, demanding new approaches to prepare them, I started to talk with parents, educators and learners to better understand their perspective on the future of learning and education. I wanted to better understand how we’re preparing our children with the life skills they need for adulthood.
Through my initial user interviews with parents, families, educators, and learners, I saw frustration around finding a way for children to learn tech literacy skills while also picking up real-world skills such as a growth mindset, complex problem-solving, and grit.
After scoping out a need in the market, I launched Kodely, a technology platform that makes it easy for individuals to launch technology literacy workshops out of their own homes and allows them to establish a flexible and sustainable career. I spend a lot of time thinking about how to help other people start their own businesses because through Kodely, we give entrepreneurs all the tools and training to kickstart their own tech literacy workshops in their communities. Becoming your own boss doesn't have to be a fairytale, and it doesn't have to be a distant dream. You can get started now.
Below, I'm sharing a roundup of the tips that helped me when I became my own boss and started Kodely.
Do Your Homework
Before you jump right in, validate your idea and make sure you have a real market for your idea. When I started Kodely, I found it key to go after a critical problem in the market. I wrote down the problem I identified, listed out my hypothesis, and started running user interviews with my target audience to understand if this problem was indeed a pain point. Through 70+ interviews, I worked to understand what my potential customers were thinking. My goal was to either validate or reject my hypothesis and iterate. If you have been able to identify a crucial problem that you can effectively execute and deliver to the market, you will be able to create a real business that matters.
The Right Attitude
Carry through inspiration, commitment, and grit as an entrepreneur. Nobody makes progress by sitting back and waiting for opportunity or success to find them. As your own boss, there are many different paths you can take. I found it most helpful to be intentional and ask myself, what would the result look like if I pursued Path A vs Path B. Most importantly, understanding that this whole process is about learning and having the willingness to fail makes you even more successful. Here's a little secret for you, being your own boss has very little to do with ideas and mostly has to do with the fact that you are making it work no matter what. For example, if the way you were thinking of solving a challenge that came your way doesn't work, iterate and try another approach.
Crafting a Game Plan
It's no secret that execution is the most critical trait to becoming your own boss. There will always be ideas, but without focus and implementation, any idea, however great it might be, will never get off the ground. When you’re starting a new company, there’s so many things you can focus your attention on, it can get overwhelming. When I was starting Kodely, I started by listing out an objective and then action items I could take to hit that objective. That was my only focus for the next weeks or even months. To help me execute on those action items, I started to create themes for my days which have helped me stay in the same headspace for an entire day. For example, Tuesdays are my R&D days which require a lot of creativity, time, and brainstorming. With that being said, there are some things on my to-do list which are “non-negotiables,” meaning I have to dedicate time in my day to complete them.
There's No Such Thing as Perfect
You don't need to spend a lot of time and money to get feedback on your product or idea. For Kodely's paid beta, our team didn't wait to have all the features and perfection present; instead, we chose to launch a beta version of our Kodely workshops and then enroll our target users to get feedback and see their reactions. Each week presented us with a new ability to learn and observe and then take back crucial findings to improve on for the workshop the week after. Don't be scared of jumping headfirst into the process, and learn to take feedback with a growth mindset. You're not looking to be perfect from day one, and if you're afraid to make mistakes or fail, you will never get yourself out there.
I've worked with quite a few Leaders through the Kodely community and realized that even though it can be daunting the first time you're taking steps to become your own boss - it's absolutely worth it, and it's never too late to change your career. I'm an advocate for having the freedom to set your own schedule, design your own future, and find a space that provides me with ample opportunities to be creative.
Sri Narayanan is the co-founder and CEO of Kodely. Kodely’s on a mission to cultivate curious kids with a growth mindset and set them up for success in the years before high school by boosting the skills that all 21st-century kids need. To deliver at scale, Kodely’s technology platform makes it easy for individuals to launch technology literacy workshops out of their own homes and allows them to launch a flexible and sustainable career. Sri is an Air Fryer enthusiast and runs @airfryerarchives in her free time!
