Becoming Your Boss At Age 20

When you’re young, IRL bosses can be intimidating. There’s always that one person who enjoys yelling at the help, making unreasonable demands, and being completely impossible to get along with.

Maybe if you were your boss, everything would be much smoother you know how to treat people nicely and run a tight ship without being a slave driver. So here are some tips on how to become your boss before you hit 30:

Takeaways
1. Embrace the entrepreneurial spirit at a young age and seize opportunities for self-employment.
2. Develop a strong work ethic and prioritize personal growth to succeed as a young boss.
3. Cultivate effective leadership skills, such as communication, delegation, and decision-making.
4. Seek mentorship and guidance from experienced professionals to navigate the challenges of being a young boss.
5. Emphasize continuous learning and adaptability to stay ahead in a fast-paced business environment.

Call Yourself A Boss

The first step to becoming your boss is to call yourself a boss. This may sound like an obvious tip, but when you think about it, there are a lot of people who will never consider themselves to be their bosses.

When you call yourself a boss, the rest of the world will start treating you like one too. Your behavior and attitude will change for the better because now you’re treating yourself with respect.

It’s amazing how much this simple mindset shift can affect your life and it’s something everyone should do at least once in their lifetime!

Here are some additional tips:

• Be positive and confident about who are and what you want out of life (and never let anyone tell me that I’m wrong)

• Lead by example by working hard every day towards achieving my goals (and don’t take no for an answer!)

Becoming your boss at age 20 is an impressive feat, but it’s also important to consider how freelancing can fit into different life stages. Check out our article on how I managed to freelance on maternity leave to discover valuable insights and tips on maintaining your freelance career while embracing motherhood.

Start Saving Early

The earlier you start saving, the better. You will always have more opportunities to save when you’re younger and have less money. If you don’t start saving now, it’ll be a lot harder for you to build up some cash later on in life.

If you want to become your boss at age 20, then you must be able to save as much money as possible.

The easiest way to do this is by cutting back on expenses such as food and entertainment costs so that more of your paycheck can go into savings accounts instead of being spent on unnecessary things like brand-new iPhones or designer clothes that no one needs anyway.

Another great way for young people today who wish to start their own business would be by working hard at their current job first before quitting just so they can save up more money beforehand.

this way there won’t be any worries about not having enough funds available later down the road once everything starts falling into place!”

Keep Your Day Job

Most people would agree that it’s a good idea to keep your day job until you have a steady income, a proven business, and a steady client base. These are things that can take time. If you’re brand new in the marketplace, there’s no way around this rule.

If you’re not sure what it means to be self-employed or have a business, then start by investigating these topics more thoroughly before quitting your day job.

When I started my own company at age 21 (and then again at 22), I didn’t fully understand the importance of keeping my day job until all these factors were in place and now I know why: It took another year for me to build up enough financial capital before leaping into full-time entrepreneurship.

To thrive as a freelancer, it’s crucial to develop in-demand skills that allow you to charge higher rates. Explore our comprehensive list of top 10 freelance skills to charge more and gain a competitive edge in the freelancing market. Enhancing your skill set can lead to increased earning potential and greater professional opportunities.

Take The Entrepreneurial Aptitude Test

You are in a unique position to start your own business because you have an entrepreneurial mind. If you want to become your boss, then you should take the Entrepreneurial Aptitude Test or EAT. The EAT is a free online test that can help you determine whether entrepreneurship is right for you.

It takes about 15 minutes to complete the test and it consists of 50 questions that measure how entrepreneurial you are, including questions about your personality traits, interests, values, and even personal concerns.

The results of this test will provide an in-depth understanding of what type of entrepreneur you might be (e.g., innovator vs. operator) as well as some insights into what type of business might best suit your skillset and interests (i.e., retail vs service).

Choose An Area You’re Familiar With And are Good At

When you choose a niche, the next step is to make sure that you have some expertise in the field. It’s important to be able to show that you are competent and knowledgeable about this area. For example, if you wanted to be a freelance writer, it would be helpful for you if:

• You have some writing experience (a blog or two, maybe?)

• You’re well-read on the topic at hand (for example: if blogging is your focus as a freelance writer)

• You’ve taken classes or workshops on how to write clearly and effectively

Write Down Your Goals

It is important to write down your goals in a way that is easy to understand, measurable and specific. Being able to clearly define what you want to accomplish can help you visualize what it will take for you to achieve them.

You should also make sure that your goals are realistic. This way, as time passes, you will be able to see whether or not they have been met. If not then there is no harm done because at least now you know where things need improvement and what needs changing!

Network Like Crazy

Networking is one of the best ways to find new opportunities, learn new skills, and meet mentors and clients. And if you’re looking for a job, it’s an essential part of the process. Your network can also help you find employees.

When starting in your career, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that networking is only relevant when you’ve reached a certain level in your field (or have achieved some sort of success).

But networking helps everyone: no matter how long they’ve been working or what they do for work or even if they don’t work at all!

Ready to take your freelancing career to the next level? Learn how to build a freelance agency and establish yourself as a thought leader in your niche. Our guide on how to build a freelance agency and establish yourself as a thought leader provides valuable insights, strategies, and practical tips to help you succeed as an entrepreneur in the freelancing world.

Ask For Advice From Friends, Family, And Acquaintances

One of the best ways to find out what you need to do is by asking others who have been there. While you might think that your friends, family, and acquaintances won’t have any helpful advice for you, they know a lot more than they let on.

For example, if you’re interested in starting a business as an entrepreneur, ask for advice from people like investors or successful entrepreneurs who are in the same industry as yourself. 

They’ll be able to give great insights into what steps need to be taken from beginning to end for your business idea/project/company (whatever term fits) to succeed.

However, don’t just limit yourself only to your field of choice! Ask around with those who have done similar things but failed at them they’ll provide insight into what went wrong and why their ventures didn’t work out so well which can help prevent these issues from happening again with yours.

Hire A Mentor To Guide You

Hiring a mentor is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Your mentor will help you learn about the industry, and they will also be able to provide insight into how to approach business challenges.

Here are some tips for choosing the right person:

Make sure they have the experience necessary for your situation. If you need help with finance, hire someone who has worked in that field before. Don’t just pick any old person because they seem nice; find someone who knows what they’re doing.

Make sure they have plenty of time available to guide you through this process! A mentor cannot help if they don’t want to work on mentoring or give advice on how best to run your company at all times because there’s just too much going on right now with their own businesses/projects/etcetera (and so on).

You’ll need someone who has enough free time during their day so that they can guide properly without feeling like all responsibilities fall squarely onto them alone–and if not then perhaps consider looking elsewhere instead?

It’s better than getting stuck halfway through something important only because some people aren’t taking responsibility as adults should do; remember:

no matter how hard life may seem now when starting something new it always gets better after a while once everything starts falling into place!

If you’re looking to level up your freelance career, it’s essential to explore proven strategies that can accelerate your growth. Discover actionable techniques and insights in our article on proven ways to level up your freelance career. By implementing these strategies, you can overcome challenges, expand your client base, and achieve greater success in your freelancing journey.

Research Other Entrepreneurs In Your Field Of Interest

To become your boss, you need to be competitive. One of the best ways to do this is by researching your competitors and learning from their mistakes.

Researching other entrepreneurs in your field of interest will give you insights into what they are doing right, as well as where they can improve their business model.

You can learn a lot about how to be more successful by studying others’ failures and successes, but you mustn’t just copy their strategies blindly do some research on them too!

Learn To Manage Your Money Well

One of the biggest benefits of being your boss is that you can decide how much money to make and what to do with it. If you have a good handle on your finances, this will help ensure that you can save for retirement and other big expenses.

If you have a lot of debt or don’t save at all, then it might be difficult for you to become self-employed. You’ll want to pay off all debts before starting up your own business so that they don’t interfere with paying yourself first or saving for retirement later on down the line.

It’s important not only to pay yourself first but also to avoid spending money on credit cards/payday loans etc., which can get expensive and cause even more problems than necessary (e.g., stress).

Develop A Business Plan

Developing a business plan is a great way to ensure that you have the right expectations and goals in mind. Here’s what you need to include in your plan:

• Define your business. What does it do? Who will buy from it? Who are its competitors?

• Define your target market. Who are the customers that will be buying from the business? Are they male or female, young or old, conservative or liberal?

• Define your competitors. How will they compete with each other and with yours, and why do they stand out as better than yours (or worse)?

• Define your business goals and financial goals. What kind of money would you like to make as an owner of this company/business/enterprise – monthly/annually/etc.?

• How much profit do you need to run the enterprise successfully year after year without having any outside help (i.e., investors or loans)? What specific numbers must be met each month if those goals are going to happen consistently over time.”

Jot Down Your Strengths And Weaknesses And How You Can Improve On Them

• Jot down your strengths and weaknesses.
• Think about how you can improve on your strengths and weaknesses.
• Look at the list of things that come to mind when you think about yourself, and then write down what comes to mind when you think about it about work or business-related activities.
• For example: If one of your listed strengths is being able to communicate well with others, then imagine a time where you have used this strength effectively at work or school (or even outside of either).
• How did the person(s) you communicated with feel after hearing from you? How did they react? What was different than if someone else had been communicating with them? Did they seem more engaged in what was being said? Were they more receptive and eager to learn as opposed to bored or unengaged?

Get Used To Hearing The Word No

The word isn’t a bad thing, it’s a way of saying that you have to try something else and improve your product or service. If you don’t hear this word often enough, then it means that people aren’t telling you what they think about your idea or product.

The most successful businesses are the ones built around strong ideas and products that solve problems for their customers. The more frequently you hear the word no, the clearer it becomes when someone is willing to pay money for your product or service!

Make Connections That Count, Not Just Any Connection

Connections are one of the most important things you can have in business. I’m not talking about just knowing people but also making sure that those people know who you are and what you do.

You can make connections in many ways; some are obvious, while others may be less so:

Through social media. If someone sees your post on Facebook or Twitter and likes it, that’s a connection! They’ll see more of what you’re posting as they scroll through their feed, which means they’ll see more opportunities for building connections with other people who share similar interests as you do.

Through your business or project(s). You could also connect with friends online via a forum dedicated to whatever topic it is that interests both of us (say gaming), where we’re able to go back and forth about our own experiences learning new games together.

This might not lead directly into something profitable right away but will help build confidence when talking about an upcoming release when discussing topics related specifically to those areas where shared interest lies within these communities over time.

Curious about the advantages of freelancing over traditional employment? Explore our article on 11 reasons why freelancing is better than working for someone else to gain insights into the freedom, flexibility, and financial opportunities that come with being your boss. Discover why more individuals are embracing freelancing as a viable and rewarding career path.

Don’t Be Afraid To Take Risks, All Great Successes Are Built On Taking Risks.

Taking risks is the only way to achieve success, but you need to do so in a calculated way. When you take risks you should make sure that they are for the right reasons and that you can afford to lose.

You also want to make sure that no matter what happens, you will be able to learn from it and use it as an advantage in future endeavors. Of course, if there is no reward at the end of your risk-taking adventure then what’s even the point of taking a risk in the first place?

There are many ways to take risks such as investing money into something risky or changing careers completely and going into something new altogether.

These options may not seem like too big of a deal at first sight but once they are put under consideration they become very intimidating ideas because of their uncertainty factor (i.e., we don’t know how well these things will turn out).

Learn About Marketing And Branding.

Marketing is the most important thing to learn if you want to succeed as a freelancer. If no one knows about your product or service, how will they know to hire you?

What is marketing? Marketing is simply getting in front of people so that they see and hear about your brand. It’s the reason why brands advertise on television, radio, billboards, and other forms of media.

The goal of marketing is to make a good impression on potential customers so that they choose your business over others. Now that we’ve established what marketing is, let’s go over some ways in which it can help you become successful at freelancing:

Branding yourself as an expert or professional in your field will give people confidence in hiring you (and paying for your services) because they’ll feel like they’re getting someone with experience rather than just some random guy off the street who doesn’t know what he’s doing yet (or worse: might not even be trustworthy).

Keep Up With The New Trends (Social Media, Blogging, Etc.)

It’s always smart to keep up with the new trends in your industry. In addition, it’s also important that you stay abreast of what’s going on in your field of interest.

The more aware you are of the latest developments, the better equipped you’ll be when it comes time to make decisions and take action on those decisions.

Look For Opportunities Everywhere, Even If They Seem Small Or Trivial At The Time.

You may have noticed that there are a lot of businesses that need things done around the office. This includes everything from running errands to filing documents, but keep in mind that even if the task doesn’t seem like much, it could be exactly what you need to build up your resume and get your foot in the door.

If you want to work for yourself, then look for opportunities everywhere. Look at what people around you are doing and think about how you can help them with their jobs so they don’t have to do it themselves (or hire someone else).

This will show employers that not only do you have organizational skills but also initiative and resourcefulness all qualities employers love!

Final Thoughts

If you are just starting as an entrepreneur, or if you are thinking about leaping, these tips will help get you started on the right path. Remember to keep your head up and take advantage of all resources available to you. This can be a tough road, but it’s worth it!

Further Reading

Here are some additional resources for further reading on related topics:

5 Ways to Get Over Working for a Boss Who’s Younger Than You: Discover effective strategies to navigate and overcome challenges when working for a younger boss.

When Your Boss Is Younger Than You: This Harvard Business Review article provides insights and tips on successfully managing and thriving in a professional relationship where your boss is younger than you.

Good Manager Skills: A Must-Have List: Explore essential skills and qualities that make a great manager, whether they are younger or older than their employees.

People Also Ask

What Is Freelancing?

Freelancing is when you work as a consultant, or independent contractor, and don’t have a regular employer.

How Do I Get Started Freelancing?

The first thing you’ll want to do is set up a profile on Upwork. Once you’ve done that, you can start looking for jobs. You can also use our search bar to find jobs and apply directly. Once you have a job, send in your application. That’s it!

What Are The Benefits Of Freelancing?

Freelancing has a lot of benefits, but one of my favorites is that no boss is telling me what to do or when to do it. Another benefit is that I can choose where I work and when I work it can be from home on Friday nights or in a coffee shop during the day on weekends.

And finally, as long as I meet deadlines and deliver quality work, there are no repercussions for not hitting certain numbers. It’s all about getting things done well and having fun along the way.

How Do I Get Clients?

There are many ways to find new clients, but the most effective way is by networking with people in your field of expertise. You can also post ads on sites like Craigslist or Indeed.com that say things like “Looking for freelance [name of the job] experts.

How Much Money Can I Make As A Freelancer?

It depends on how much work you’re able to get and how much work you want to do! Some people only want to work part-time; others work full-time (or more). It’s up to you.

What’s The First Thing I Should Do To Start Freelancing?

The first thing you should do is decide what you want your freelance business to be. Do you want to start a blog and write? Do you want to build an app or program? Are you going to freelance as an illustrator or photographer? 

Once you’ve decided what kind of work you want to do, it’s important to find out where your clients are. If you’re building an app, for example, then look at existing apps similar to yours and see what they’re doing on social media.

Who are they reaching out to? Who’s talking about them? This is where you’ll find potential clients who might be interested in hiring you and it could be a lot easier than finding people who are already looking for someone like them (like yourself).

Is There Anything I Should Know About Freelancing?

Freelancing is a lot like any other job, but more flexible. It’s hard to make money at first, but you can do it if you’re willing to hustle and learn from your mistakes. Don’t quit!

What Makes A Good Freelancer?

A good freelancer is someone who cares about their work and their clients, and who will work hard to make sure the client gets what they want. They also need to be able to communicate clearly with the client about what they need and when it needs to be done.

How Long Does It Take Me To Get Paid As A Freelancer?

Most clients pay within two weeks of receiving your invoice, but some may take longer or not pay at all. If you’ve been waiting longer than two weeks for payment, reach out to your client and ask them if they need any more time or clarification before paying up.

How Much Money Will I Need To Get Started?

It’s difficult to say without knowing exactly what kind of business you want to start, but for most small businesses, $5,000-10,000 is enough for startup costs. You’ll need to pay for things like office space and equipment, as well as advertising and other expenses.

What are some of the best sources of funding for a small business?

Small business loans are among the most common ways that people fund their businesses. These loans come with a variety of terms and conditions and can be obtained through banks or credit unions.

Some lenders also offer lines of credit that can be used as cash flow until your company is established enough to get larger loans.

Other options include angel investors people who invest in your company because they believe in its potential and crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter or GoFundMe (which are not technically loans but still allow you to raise money).

What Do I Need To Start My Own Business?

A lot of people think that starting a business is hard, but it’s not as difficult as you might think. Most businesses can be started with just a few hundred dollars and some basic skills. You don’t need to have a college degree or years of experience in the industry that you want to start in.

What If I Don’t Have Any Experience? Should I Still Try?

Yes! Starting your own business is all about taking the risk to make something happen for yourself, even if it seems like a bad idea at first glance. If you don’t try, then nothing will ever happen for you. And once things get going, we promise that it will be worth it!