by Lora » Thu Feb 10, 2005 10:26 am
Other things you should always have:
-A completely updated resume and an employment "backup plan." Lots of new companies go under within a few years. I recall the horrible day when I asked the office manager to order some more of my favorite gel pens, and she said the boss wouldn't let her because, at $6/box of 10, they were too expensive.
-Sam said, check your ego, and double that with a cherry on top. Entrepreneurs, upon being trusted with large sums of cash, have the psychic ability to channel the spirit of Napoleon Bonaparte. Often they've never been through the big-business HR "How To Manage Employees Effectively" seminars, so don't expect much in the way of management skills, period. In fact, given their working hours, don't expect such niceties as civility or respect before the second pot of coffee has been made. By you.
-Mechanical ability. One day, the customer service supervisor complained that we needed to have gas chromatography in-house because the turnaround time for the service lab was too slow. Mr. Entrepreneur went to the nearest equipment auction and bought two 20-year-old scrap GCs for $500--one for parts. I was given the responsibility of assembling a functional GC from the parts and calibrating it. I'm a microbiologist.
It's not all bad, some people like it. It's true you get the opportunity to advance and do things you wouldn't in a big company, but bear in mind that if you want to use this as a stepping stone to a higher position in a big company, you may be learning things "wrong" if you want to get into Regulatory or the business side of things. Entrepreneurs tend to be ignorant of things like trade restrictions (e.g., don't sell anything to Iran/North Korea/Cuba), antitrust pricing laws, EEOC, etc. And believe me, it's a BAD day when the feds show up to investigate your boss.