5 Steps you can take if you have an entrepreneurial spirit, but you don't want to start a business

Are you one of those people who has an entrepreneurial spirit, but doesn't want to start a business? Perhaps you don't want to take on the liability or risk, work alone, or you don't have the interest.

Just because you don't want to start a business doesn't mean there isn't a place for you in the workforce. You just have to take a different approach to the job search.
 
In my decade of career and business coaching, I have found 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧. I've seen clients do this with companies of all sizes.
 
𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝:
 
1. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐉𝐨𝐛 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧- Come up with an ideal job description for yourself and list the roles and responsibilities you are seeking.
2. 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐢𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫- Identify if you have novel ideas that you would like to pitch to companies or if you like to improve on existing ideas.
3. 𝐃𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡- For smaller companies that interest you, do some research and informational interviews to explore if the company has entrepreneurially minded culture, meaning they are open to ideas and innovation. For larger companies, explore if they have an innovation department. An innovation department is where companies collect ideas, do research and forecasting, and testing.
4. 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤- See if you can network your way into the company and connect with the right people. You might not pitch your ideas immediately; you might decide to meet over several meetings to develop the relationship.
5. 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡- It's all about timing, but the goal is to do your homework and eventually pitch one or several of your ideas. When you pitch, you want to do it to entice the company to hire you and not use you as a free consultant.
 
If you're entrepreneurially minded, don't squash that part of yourself or give up. It just takes a bit of time and effort to figure out where you want to apply it. You've got this!