Making the Transition You might be a born BIZ Experiences, but that doesn't mean you're ready to own a business. With our help, though, it'll be a smooth evolution.

After repeated attempts at squeezing your square self into around hole, you finally admitted it wasn't going to work. Yousaid good-bye to corporate America and bravely embarked on ajourney toward the greener pastures of BIZ Experiencesship. Youcarried with you tons of tangible information-details onmarketing, health insurance and places to find cheap officesupplies. The one thing missing from your backpack was anunderstanding of the myriad of changes you'd experience as youmade your way through this transition.

If you find yourself sitting in your office, blasting the stereoand fighting the temptation to surf the Internet until your eyesbleed, you're not alone. According to Manhattan psychologistDr. Vicki Ianucelli, we areconditioned, from the time we first step foot in school, tofunction optimally in a structured environment, so the idea thatyou can actually ditch this kind of life isn't always top ofmind. "In making the jump from a 9-to-5 job to trying toestablish a business, you need to create a new reality," saysIanucelli. "That's very difficult."

For Dawn Lloyd, 31, owner of KDL Enterprises Inc., the parentcompany of pregnancy and parenting Web site BabyUniversity.com, it took some time to create thatreality. "I was terrified I was going to sit on the couch andwatch Oprah all day," says Lloyd, who runs her businessfrom her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. "If someonewasn't watching over me and signing my paycheck, would Iwork?"

It took several months of promising herself she wouldn'tturn on the TV during working hours before Lloyd'sentrepreneurial routine became a habit. But with self-disciplineand the determination to overcome her fears, she did it. "WhenI realized I had made it past that point, it was amazing!" shehappily recalls.

The flip side to BIZ Experiencesial paralysis, of course, isentrepreneurial overload-those times when you just don'tknow when to call it quits for the day. As Todd Brabender, 35,owner and president of Spread the News Public Relations Inc. inLawrence, Kansas, puts it, "When you're a business owner,sometimes the 5 o'clock whistle blows at midnight."

George Cigale, 32, founder and CEO of Tutor.com, aManhattan-based company that seeks to unite educators and students,knows what it's like to see the dawn during the start-up stage."There were times when I was literally rolling out of bed andwalking, or crawling, over to the desk," he laughs. "Theday would restart because I had 100 e-mails to write, and thensuddenly the sun would be coming up."

Avoid the Extremes: Find Your Equilibrium

Balance is the solution to these challenges, according toAnne Louise Feeny,a management consultant and creator of Trail Boss Management, aprogram wherein managers learn to emulate the Old West's trailbosses. "Keep one calendar that tracks both business andpersonal dates," she advises. "It's important toschedule fun times. Write both your business and personal plans forthe week."

This is a necessary step to take, because if you don't,chances are, no one will. "Friends will hesitate to callbecause they don't want to disturb you," Feeny cautions."You think about calling them, but you don't. You end upbeing an unwilling hermit."

Feeny advises scheduling events outside the office on a regularbasis to prevent getting trapped in a merry-go-round of isolation."Look in your area for low-cost, multipurpose events,"she suggests. "Brown bag lunches or discussions sponsored bylocal universities or business organizations will get you out ofthe office and help you build a professional network."

These types of activities will also help foster an understandingof BIZ Experiencesship in society. As a business owner, you have beenessentially disenfranchised from the community of the 9-to-5worker. You have lost the privilege of perception. In America, thefirst thing people want to know, after your name, is what youdo-and when you tell them you're a business owner, you can getlooks that range from "Poor guy. I wonder what really happenedat his last job," to "Is she crazy? No benefits? How willshe support herself?"

Jean Barnett, 32, a partner in Thirty-ThreeProductions, a New York City production company, can relate.Says Barnett, recalling a conversation she had with a young man onthe ferry in Seattle: "He asked, 'What do you do?' Ididn't know which hat to put on. I didn't have the jobtitle with the desk, the nameplate on the door and the corporatebusiness card."

No doubt about it, our culture is big on labels. "We learnthrough the process of maturation to put labels on things,"confirms Ianucelli. "We believe we know what constitutes a'good job' or making 'good money.' When you ventureout on your own, you need to redefine those things."

The best way to deal with the looks and snide remarks is tobuild a support system for yourself. Cigale believed a supportnetwork was so crucial to his sanity that he relocated from theBoston area to New York, where he and his wife both have family."[The move] had a real effect on me being able to do my work[well and] have a fulfilling life outside my business," heoffers.

At the same time, you may find you'll need to educate yourloved ones about what BIZ Experiencesship entails. Amanda Formaro, 33,owner of FamilyCorner.com, an advice Web site for parents,confesses she and her husband had a hard time in the beginning."He and I fought constantly," says the Kenosha,Wisconsin, BIZ Experiences. "He couldn't understand what Iwas doing on the computer all the time. Sometimes the peopleclosest to you have a challenge in supporting what they don'tfully understand."

Formaro credits Friday night dates and solid communication forgetting them through the transition. "It also helped when hebegan to see checks coming in," she laughs. "These days,he asks me how many page views I received the night before.He's not quite sure of the whys and hows, but he loves andencourages me even though he doesn't really understand what Ido."

Building Your InnerFoundation
We talked with some spiritual experts to get their take ontransition. Even if you don't consider yourself a spiritual orreligious person, their lessons can be applied to your life as anentrepreneur.

Justin Epstein, associate minister of theUnity Center in New York City, stresses the importance of spiritualcommunity.
"It is important for us to carefully choose our friends andthe company we keep. If you spend time with people who havepessimistic attitudes, then you will subconsciously be pulled downby them."

Rabbi Alexis Roberts of the CongregationDor Hadash in San Diego points out that people often placespirituality in the same category as entertainment andrelaxation-things they're willing to sacrifice for a whileuntil a new business is stable.
"When we're making a living, we need to question whatwe're living for-our family, the community, the world? Work isone of the games we play when we're alive. It doesn't havelasting significance in itself if it doesn't serve a higherpurpose."

Darry Guli and Eva Garrity, owners of TheYoga Studio in Fairhaven, New Jersey, acknowledge the importance ofboth inner and outer sources for creating a strong spiritualfoundation.
"Spirituality is often in the last place you expect it tobe," says Garrity. "Be honest about what you're doingwith your life when you talk to people. Be willing to open up andobserve what is going on around you, and you will find the answerto any question you have."
Guli stresses the importance of looking within: "Follow yourintuition. Do whatever you've done in the past that makes youfeel like you're on your path. You usually know what that iswhen you get quiet."

Repeat After Me: I'm Good Enough...I'm Smart Enough.

All these transitional strategies won't mean much if youdon't have faith in your own abilities, however. As Cigale putsit: "I have to have complete confidence in myself in order tosolve problems and adapt the business to consumer needs. I try toproject complete confidence, even when I don't haveit."

To help build that conviction, it's crucial to take care ofyourself at all levels. For Brabender, it's meant joining a gymand watching what he eats. Barnett, meanwhile, has become an"information junkie," reading like a fiend in order toeducate herself and forward her success.

Still other BIZ Experiencess find comfort in believing in a higherpower. For Barnett, "it's as important as a businessplan," she says. "The type of faith you have willdetermine the kind of business you have."

Self-affirmations, meditation and contact with like-mindedpeople can all help you create a solid inner foundation. But aboveall, trust in your decision to become an BIZ Experiences, even onthose days when you're longing for the "stability" ofa 9-to-5 environment. "Don't look back," advisesBrabender. "Affirm that your decision is the right thing foryou. The transition will continue daily, if not by the minute. Thereality is, it's just another rung on the ladder of yourlife."

Staci Backauskas is a writer, speaker, teacher and the authorof The Fifth Goddess. She writes frequentlyabout spirituality and runs a Web site at www.fifthgoddess.com.