Across America, teachers are starting businesses as a way to make more money, and they are KILLING it! In this episode we’re going to explore why teachers make such good entrepreneurs!
It always baffles me when teachers say that they’re stuck teaching because they’re not qualified for anything else. Teachers have mad skills.
You don’t even know how many skills a teacher uses in a single class period when it comes to things that would be translated to other fields, whether it be running your own business, or another career, being a stay at home parent or volunteering. There are so many qualities that are just innate within teachers that make them qualified for other things.
Let’s talk about some of the qualities of entrepreneurs or business owners. If you’re having trouble identifying as an entrepreneur already, then what are some of the things that the qualities that make business owners really good at what they do? They overlap with teaching in many ways.
We’re lifelong learners. There’s a lot more to blogging or any business than meets the eye. Now as a teacher you are ideally suited for this type of situation because learning is almost an innate need for teachers. Teachers learn. That’s what we do because in order to teach better, we need to learn more and we need to learn more about our students. We need to learn more about our subjects. And that skill of being able to take in new information, processed that information and then apply it is a massive, massive opportunity when it comes to building a business.
We’re dedicated and disciplined people. Now that’s not to say we’re boring, but we are devoted. We give our all to everything we do. Teachers are so dedicated to what we do and we are disciplined in trying to be better. And those two things are absolutely key to growing a because if you’re not dedicated and if you’re not disciplined, it’s just going to fall by the wayside because building a business is hard. But just how teachers roll.
We’re flexible and creative. We know how to make things happen with limited resources. We are flexible because you never know when that stupid fire alarm is gonna go off or you never know when the copy machine isn’t going to work. I’m telling you, when it comes to being flexible and creative, MacGyver has nothing on teachers.
We have a strong work ethic. I would argue that teachers have the strongest work ethic out there. We make something from nothing. Literally we take a mind that is starting from scratch and form it into someone who can contribute to society. That’s what we do. We make something from nothing and it is hard and it is challenging and it makes us cry and it makes us angry and it makes us so, so proud. And it’s something that we value every single day. And that work ethic, that ability to see this giant roadblock in front of us and say, you know what, I am going to find a way around, over or through that roadblock come hell or high water is what makes teachers such strong workers.
I want to sum up a few more characteristics that I found in various articles across the interwebs that sort of share with us about what are some key characteristics or traits of entrepreneurs.
Passion. If you can think of a person who is more passionate than a teacher, good on you.
People skills. Um, hello. Teachers deal with people all day. Sometimes it’s like arguing with a small, tiny army. And sometimes it’s like you just want to give kids hugs all day long. People skills are key in business.
Determination. I would put in the same category as dedication and discipline.
Competitiveness. Teachers are most competitive with themselves and I think that serves you even better than trying to be better than all the other businesses out there.
Self-starter. Yeah, I know that as teachers we have billions of people telling us what to do and what not to do and what we’re doing wrong all the time, but teachers are self starters. We are going to get the job done even if you don’t tell us to do it. We are going to find ways to improve even if you don’t tell us to do it and that is an amazing quality for someone who wants a business.
Open-minded. We have all sorts of people walk through our door every single day and we see the potential in them. And that is an amazing gift for an entrepreneur.
And the last one is the one I think where most teachers stumble and that’s confidence. It’s that we’re not confident in ourselves and our skills as teachers, but I’m speaking more to the fact in our confidence in being able to do something else and being able to step outside the classroom and find success in another venture.
And that’s why side hustle teachers exists and it’s, it’s because there’s not a lack of skills. There’s a lack of confidence and there’s a lack of, you know, a clear path forward.
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