Do you have an idea, want to scale it but lack the resources or confidence to go for it with your own money on the line? Do you have an entrepreneurial mindset and want to lead a company’s team whose vision motivates you? If “Yes,” intrapreneurship may be your way to go.
Intrapreneur can be a crucial element to success for a business. The creative freedom provided to intrapreneurs motivates them to take experimental initiative and propel the industry with new innovations and ideas.
An intrapreneur fits somewhere between an employee and an entrepreneur where they have the mindset of an entrepreneur and take the initiative and responsibility as an entrepreneur but work on salary.
Simply put, an intrapreneur is someone who works as an entrepreneur in an already established company that they do not own. They are given the freedom to build the company or develop a project and lead the team.
Confident, committed, passionate, and responsible are the qualities that describe an intrapreneur and set them apart from an employee.
How to Succeed as an Intrapreneur?
Here is the highly-curated list of 20 tips to help you grow and succeed as an intrapreneur:
1. Know Your Stuff
“Knowledge is love and light and vision.”
Helen Keller
Intrapreneurs should be well aware of the goings-on and have a firm knowledge about the project or company they are working for. In addition, you should know your idea and vision front and back. Remember, a research-backed idea is always taken more solemnly than a vague idea.
2. Know What Is Going On In The Company
Knowing the company better can help you become a thriving intrapreneur. The projects that are going on, the company’s goals, and marketing strategy. Having this knowledge will help you better formulate your plans and strategies.
3. Create A Plan
A properly written plan shows the clarity of your thoughts. Planning enables you to avoid future uncertainties and has steady progress. A proper program helps Intrapreneurs achieve short-term and long-term goals and communicate their ideas with owners.
4. Align Your Of Ideas
Your ideas must align with the company’s strategic goals and vision. For example, say you are an intrapreneur at a cake shop, but you have a great idea about creating custom shoes for players. Does the objective of the company align with your vision? Unfortunately, no. The shop owner will probably not back you up for the idea. Instead, coming up with a creative marketing campaign that targets the young demographic and executing it would bring value to the business. Hence your thesis should go hand in hand with the company’s objectives.
5. Stay Passionate
“You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out.”
Steve Jobs
The small hurdles come up, and working on the same thing becomes monotonous. The fire that you started with begins to dwindle. Ask yourself, why did you start this in the first place? What problem were you trying to solve?
Stay passionate and hungry. This way, you can motivate and lead your team and make your ideas come to life.
6. Develop Your Entrepreneurial Leadership Skill
“Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple and it is also that difficult.”
Warren Bennis
An intrapreneur has the power to bring exponential growth to a company. But only if they have the skills to influence and motivate their team towards a common purpose.
Entrepreneurial leadership skill enables an intrapreneur to manage a group of people behind them and achieve the business objectives through innovation and creativity.
7. Share your idea
Make your idea spread like a virus. The more people you reach out to and discuss your opinion, the more feedback you get to refine your idea and build a more substantial supporter base for your idea.
Present your ideas confidently and boldly. This grabs people’s attention and gets them excited about your idea.
8. Be Open To Changes
The feedback and suggestion from people are valuable. Openness to change will help you improve your idea and, over time get a filtered idea that is more likely to succeed.
9. Be Confident
“Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence”
Vince Lominbardi
If you believe in your idea, everyone will. With confidence in yourself and your idea, you can cut through the stormy seas. Light is at the end of the tunnel but sometimes the tunnel can be longer and confidence will help you survive through it.
10. Don’t Work For A Salary, Work To Add Value
With your skillset and unique ideas, you can bring real value to the company. Employees are those who work for a salary. An intrapreneur works to bring value to the company and its customers. Bringing impact on people’s lives is the purpose of an intrapreneur
11. Prepare A Killer Presentation
The way you present your ideas is sometimes more important than the idea itself. For example, although you have a million-dollar idea without a powerful presentation that resonates with people, no one will trust you.
If you cannot hook your audience within 10 minutes of your presentation, most likely, they will not listen to the rest of it. On the other hand, your presentation can make people as excited about the idea as you are or make you throw your idea into a trash can. So, be prepared with a killer presentation ahead of time.
12. Surround Yourself With Like-Minded Individuals
You are the product of the environment and culture you grew up with. Being around people with an entrepreneurial mindset helps you develop a similar thought process. Rather than sitting folks at a coffee shop and criticizing the government, spend your time with self-motivated, enthusiastic individuals who strive to achieve higher standards.
13. Be Responsible
Avoiding responsibility for the failure of ideas is the most common mistake entrepreneur and intrapreneurs make. It is always easy to blame someone. Successful intrapreneurs have a sense of ownership of the company even though they do not own the company.
14. Go Beyond What You Are Expected
Doing what you are expected to do is the job of an employee. As an intrapreneur, you have to go beyond what is expected from you. Generate new ideas, execute them and add value to the company. Be the reason for the success of the company and let your presence matter.
15. Master The Art Of Execution
“People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do.”
Lewis Cass
Firstly, have a crystal clear image of your plan in your mind and then execute the plan but it is way easier said than done.
Rather than getting stuck on developing new strategies, executing existing strategies should be prioritized. Learn to proactively plan and execute strategy and get the business to new heights.
16. Build Trust
An organization can only foster if the workers and leader trust each other. Trust is pivotal for the free flow of ideas and creativity. It is burdensome to communicated and coordinate with untrustworthy individuals. Building trust is important in any relationship. So, be honest, admit your mistakes, be helpful and build a trustworthy community at work.
17. Ask For Help
Seek help from the experts in other departments like the marketing department, IT department and ask for advice from the entrepreneur. Often, they will be delighted to help you out. With their help, you can develop and execute strategies in a structured and systematic manner to skyrocket the business.
18. Practice Delayed Gratification
It takes years to make an overnight success.
Eddie Cantor
The marshmallow test perfectly demonstrates the connection between delayed gratification and success in life. Delayed gratification is overcoming the temptation of instant rewards to get more valuable and precious rewards in the future. The instant gratification we get from social media is addictive. Patience and consistency is the key to a company’s success and you can excel in intrapreneurship and life by practicing delayed gratification.
19. Be Proactive, Not Reactive
Great leaders are proactive. Being reactive is reacting to the problems as they occur whereas proactive is being prepared to solve a problem before it occurs. Aim high, think long-term, pre-plan, and develop problem-solving skills to have a smooth sailing journey as an intrapreneur.
20. Expedite The Process
All businesses desire to save money, save time and get the work done effectually and if you can help them do that, you will bring value to the company. Identify the customers’ problems and find a better way to solve them and help the company stay ahead of its competitors.
Bottom Line
There is no such thing as overnight success. It takes time, persistence, and dedication. We hope these 20 tips will help you harness your skills and provide you with the guidance to grow your company and reach new heights.