One thing I am very aware of is a majority of my audience is 9 to 5’ers in limbo of quitting their job to pursue their dreams or to stay where they are. This is a tough decision for so many people. Leaving a job of comfortably that you might hate in order to pursue something that will be a rollacoaster ride is not the easy decision to make. I will note not everyone hates their jobs or career paths, some are just unfulfilled by the current position they are at and need to be feed with their heart desires. So, it is important to note what is going on in your situation.
How To Quit Your Job
If you know that your heart no longer lies at your company and you truly want to quit your job then a plan is needed. Most people are just unfulfilled where they are and ready to shoot off a resignation letter at any moment without a exit plan in place. Here is a breakdown of what you will need to do to prepare yourself to quit your job to go from employee to full time business owner.
- Exit Plan
- Savings
- Business Model (paying clients or customers)
First, lets talk about the exit plan of your full time business owner plan. Sometimes the best thing to do is start with the end in mind because working backwards can help you get where you want by being able to place the dots in the right order.
Plan To Quit
I will be honest it is not feasible to quit your job in this very moment unless you have six months to a year of savings stacked up and paying customers waiting for you. However, if you had that you know its okay to quit your job. Most likely, you’re in the infancy stage of your dream business.
- Determine what type of business you want to launch
- Start up cost – website, legal, product
- Know your business model – how are you going to earn a revenue stream
- Top competitors in immediate market and national market
- Research the industry
- Marketing plan – not just social media
These are all essential in quitting. If the industry or market you want to enter is hard to make a revenue stream its going to be an uphill battle. If the market is oversatured you will need a great marketing plan to stick out.
Save As Much As Possible
Launching a company has a lot of stress that you will have never experience as an employee. Last month, I hosted a workshop at the Austin Public Library. All the attendees kept mentioning how there was just so much they didnt know about launching a business. One of the biggest hang ups people have is money. If you are wanting to truly quit your job and transition into full time business owner you will need cash flow. Cash flow to run your business and cash flow to live. Personally, I would suggest you need a year of living expenses + 30% added to it so your business can run within the first year without feeling so much pressure. This means from this moment on you need to live way below your means. Then you needed to add additional streams of income.
If it is possible to launch a business while you’re working at your job, do it. One important note is to read your employee contract to make sure the company can not sue you later for ownership of your company. Never, work on your business on your employers time. If its not really feasible then I suggested finding a part time job that brings in around $2000 a month. After six months, of not spending a dime of that you will have $12,000 not including what you have been saving from your paycheck.
Business Model
This is something I see happen all the time people don’t know if the business they want to run has a proven business model. They just want to launch a t-shirt line and hope the masses adopted into it. Its always important to research non stop the type of company you want to launch. Know what is going on in the industry from a minor local level to national to global level. I would not say its rare to launch a business model no one has heard of. Think Uber, Birchbox, Bauble Bar, Rent The Runway, Airbnb and much more came out of nowhere. So, its very possible to think of a new content that changes the world. If you have a simpler idea for a business make sure you are innovating the industry that makes you a hot commodity verse a carbon copy of another business. You need to think
- How can I obtain new customers/clients
- How can I sustain returning customers/clients
- What is the entry rate for this market
- Is there a learning curve to the innovation to be a leader in the market
- What is average unit cost for product
This is just the frosting on top of the process of quitting your job to purse your dreams as a business owner. There are so many more aspects that will need to be covered before you take that leap.
