Craft a standout business owner resume that highlights your entrepreneurial skills and lands interviews with top employers.
Business Owner Resume: The Complete Guide to Making Your Entrepreneurial Story Into a Resume That Gets You Hired
Make a great company owner CV that shows off your business talents and gets you interviews with top companies.
I will always remember the day I decided to apply for a corporate job after owning my own business for seven years. It wasn’t easy to make the decision. Giving up my “entrepreneur” credential, even for a short time, seemed like giving up. But things happen in life. The markets change. Things change. And then, out of nowhere, the guy who used to be his own boss was searching for “how to write a business owner resume” on Google.
Welcome if you’re in the same boat. You are not the only one. This essay has everything I wish I had when I was trying to turn a beautiful, chaotic jumble of business experience into something that would make a hiring manager exclaim, “We need to interview this person.”
If your journey as a business owner overlaps with launching your own venture, this startup founder guide might also give you some clarity and structure as you shape your resume narrative. Let’s go into this together.
Article Breakdown
Why You Should Have a Resume as a Business Owner
Many entrepreneurs assume they can just explain their business background during an interview. But unless you have a resume that gets you in the door, you won’t get the interview in the first place.
Whether you’re:
- Transitioning back into the workforce,
- Seeking part-time or consulting work,
- Or even applying for funding or accelerator programs,
A well-crafted business owner resume is your secret weapon. It turns your self-employed experience into a story that recruiters, hiring managers, and even investors get.
You might even be eyeing leadership roles such as director of business development—and in that case, your resume needs to match the professionalism and clarity that role demands
The hardest thing for business owners to do on their resumes
The hardest part? Putting your expertise into “corporate-speak.”
You had to do everything when you ran a firm, from selling to marketing to managing operations to helping customers to cleaning. But if you only write “CEO, Self-Employed” on your CV, it won’t show off your skills well.
You need to change the way you think about your journey—not make it less important, but put it in the right place. Especially if you’re seeking a job like director of business development, where strategic thinking, market knowledge, and making money are quite important.
How to Write a Business Owner Resume in Steps
1. Begin with an interesting summary
This is your elevator pitch, the first three or four sentences that make readers want to read more. It’s like a Netflix description of your job.
Bad Example:
“Business owner who works for himself and has 10 years of experience.”
Better Example:
“Leader of an entrepreneurial business with more than ten years of experience building and growing a profitable e-commerce business.” An expert in operations, digital marketing, and leading teams. “Passionate about using strategic innovation and putting the customer first to drive growth.”
Tip: Make it fit the position you’re applying for. If you want to be a director of business development, be sure to talk about how you’ve helped businesses make more money, establish new markets, or lead strategic alliances that had a big impact.
2. Translate Your Skills for the Job Market
One thing that worked for me was to act like you were writing about someone else. What would you say about your best buddy if they told you they had developed a six-figure business, led a team, handled accounting, negotiated contracts, and kept clients?
That’s right. You would get them excited.
Now do that for yourself.
Skills to think about showing off:
- Planning for the future
- Managing a team
- Money and budgeting
- Lead generation and sales
- Managing projects
- Branding and advertising
- Relationships with vendors
- Crisis management (hey, COVID)
Use both hard and soft abilities, but make sure they are relevant to the job you want. If you want to be a director of business development, make sure to list your experience with B2B sales, collaborations, strategies for getting new clients, and growing strategic accounts.
3. List Your Experience Like a Pro
Follow this pattern
Your Job Title | Company Name | Dates
Your City, State, or Remote
- Bullet point success –
- Bullet point success
- Bullet point success
Founder and CEO of FreshBite Meal Delivery in Chicago, IL from 2015 until 2022
- Expanded the business from a single kitchen to a team of 15 and 3 delivery hubs, bringing in $1.2 million a year.
- Created and ran digital ad campaigns that slashed the cost of getting new customers by 35%.
- Negotiated contracts with suppliers that lowered the cost of food by 18% without lowering the quality.
Tip: Use numbers. Metrics are great for hiring managers. Include anything that can be measured, including revenue growth, team size, client retention, profit margin, and so forth.
These kinds of measurements are directly related to the role of director of business development, which generally includes goals depending on performance.
4. Education Section
That’s excellent if you have a degree. That’s fine too; a lot of business owners teach themselves. Just tell the truth and mention what matters.
For example:
B.A. in Business Administration
from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2012
OR
Certifications and Learning
- Google Digital Marketing Certification in 2023
- Inbound Marketing with HubSpot in 2022
- Learned QuickBooks, Shopify, and Salesforce on my own
If you’re wondering what a business development director performs or what qualifications you need, realize that certifications, experience, and tangible business results are sometimes more important than just having a degree.
5. Optional but Powerful: Add Projects or Achievements
Show off the best parts of your business!
- “Launched a podcast with 10K monthly downloads”
- “Featured in Entrepreneur Magazine for growth strategy”
- “Opened second brick-and-mortar location in under two years”
These achievements are powerful signals if you’re targeting roles similar to what is director of business development or higher-level corporate leadership.
Example of a Realistic Business Owner Resume
Michael Johnson
mike@mjbrandstudio.com | 555-123-4567 | LinkedIn.com/in/mjohnson
IN SHORT
Entrepreneur with more than 8 years of expertise in brand strategy and digital marketing who is both creative and results-driven. Started and grew a design studio that works with over 200 customers in 15 different fields. Good at leading teams, giving creative direction, and working with people from different departments. Now looking to use this knowledge on a brand or marketing team within the company.
EXPERIENCE
Founder and Creative Director | MJ Brand Studio | New York, NY | 2015, 2023
– Built and led a 6-person creative team specializing in visual branding, digital campaigns, and social media.
– Managed full project lifecycles from concept to launch for 200+ clients, averaging a 94% client retention rate.
– Grew Instagram audience from 0 to 18,000+ organically in under a year through content strategy.
EDUCATION: B.A. in Marketing from NYU Stern School of Business in 2013
CERTIFICATIONS
– Google Ads Search Certification (2023)
– Adobe Creative Cloud Expert , Photoshop & Illustrator
What job titles should you use?
Ah, the million-dollar question. Here are some options:
| If you were… | Consider using… |
| Solo business owner | Founder, Business Owner, Principal |
| Ran a team | CEO, Managing Director, Operations Director |
| Freelancer | Consultant, Independent Contractor, Specialist |
| Side hustle | Owner, Project Lead, Coordinator (depending on size/scope) |
Just don’t use vague titles like “Self-Employed” by itself—it doesn’t convey value. Be specific, especially when shaping your business owner resume or if you’re aligning yourself with job titles like what a director of business development do or similar.
Things to Avoid: Underselling your role.
- Underselling your role.
You didn’t “just run a business.” You built something. Say so. - Overloading with jargon.
Your resume isn’t a pitch deck. Keep it simple, readable, and recruiter-friendly. - No tailoring.
Sending the same resume to every job? Nope. Always adjust for the role. - Ignoring gaps or transitions.
If your business closed, you changed direction, or took a break—explain it briefly in your cover letter. Don’t leave them guessing.
How to Deal with Career Changes
Let’s talk about the big problem. What would be the outcome if your business didn’t succeed? Or are you changing fields?
The truth is that recruiters aren’t evaluating you based on your past. All they care about is what you can offer them at this moment.
In your cover letter or interview, you should say:
- What you learned while running a business
- Why you’re looking forward to the job you’re applying for
- What makes you uniquely qualified based on your experience
After the epidemic, my business had to close because of problems with the supply chain. Did you enjoy saying it? Nope. But I changed the way I thought about it. I talked about being strong, flexible, and able to solve problems in a smart way. It works.
And what about that honesty? It made my résumé as a business owner real, which employers liked, especially those who knew what a director of business development performs in modern companies where entrepreneurship is a big plus.
Tools and Templates to Help You Build It
Here are some free templates and resume builders that helped me and other former business owners I know:
Zety , Resume Builders
- New templates and tips as you write
- Canva: layouts that are easy to change and look clean
- Resume.io is a great tool for formatting resumes.
Templates that are free
Key Takings:
- If you’re reading this and feeling unsure, let me tell you this: you have so much to offer.
- Your business journey—whether it lasted 2 years or 20—is packed with lessons, skills, leadership, and hustle that most people never touch. And that story? It’s not over. You’re just turning the page.
- Writing my business owner resume wasn’t just about getting hired—it was about rediscovering my value. I wasn’t “just” a former founder. I was a leader, a builder, a problem-solver.
- So are you.
- Go build your next chapter—with a resume that tells your real story. And who knows? Your next role might be exactly what is a business development director at a growing company looking for someone just like you.
Additional Resources:
- 9 Business Owner Resume Examples That Worked in 2025 , BeamJobs: A strong set of real-world examples with expert tips on structuring achievements, quantifying business success, and passing ATS filters.
- Business Owner Resume Examples and Templates for 2025 , ResumeBuilder.com: Detailed templates and writing advice tailored to various industries—tech, retail, construction—with guidance from certified resume writers.
- Business Owner Resume , Indeed Career Guide: Step-by-step walkthrough for writing a business owner resume, including an editable template and tips on highlighting relevant experience.
