First, please note that everyone does not to quit their job to be their own boss. Being your own boss is super hard work, and there will be several times you wonder how you will make it. In addition to that, if you have a current 9 to 5 know that is funding your small business dreams. That is something you should be super mindful of when it comes to quitting your job to go after your business idea. However, if you know all this and still want to go after your entrepreneurial dreams very soon, here is six steps to help you along that journey.
After spending several years consulting women and men how to go after their dreams when it come to their small business ambitions, I have formulated six steps that help them along the way. With clients we tend to have a very in-depth plan when it comes to their personal situation.
Quit Your Job Plan
Before you just turn in your two weeks notice, you need a life plan that helps you. This plan consist of your how’s, why’s, when’s and where’s. They outline why you’re quitting, how you will sustain yourself, when you will quit and where you will be in life once you live your stability. That’s the thing most people do not account for even if they hate their jobs, that place of employment has been your consistency for years providing means for you to live, travel, eat, pay bills and more. In addition to those things, you want to know your plan for business and how everything will transpire. One thing I have my clients add in their plan is who will be their accountability when things get rough for them. You see being your own boss can be extremely lonely at times and people do not realize that. You need to map out your future life details prior to throwing papers in the air and leaving.
Saved Living Expenses
One of the biggest regrets most people have when quitting is not having the money to sustain them on this journey. Prior to quitting your job to focus on your entrepreneurial dreams you need on average of one year to three years of living expenses saved up. This is important if you have not build an audience that is bring in consistent revenue of double of what you were making at your job. Customers and clients can be really flaky and Sallie Mae does not care about that all. We are months away from third quarter, starting in July if you know you want to quit your job this December or next July you need to stop spending. Every penny needs to go to your savings. In recent years, since discovering the Zero Budget Method my life has truly changed. I even go into Target and stay on tracker, shocker I know. If you do not have a budget method that works for you, I highly suggest taking the time to find something that works. Entrepreneurship forced me to become better at math, but I rather you have that down versus learning the hard way like me. Sit down to focus on how money is spent in your household yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily.
Paying Customers
No company can survive without paying customers to sustain them, the math is pretty good on that one. If you do a creative business plan or a regular one you need a breakdown of your customer makeup. Prior to transition from online high end resale boutique to consulting company I had paying customers who were sustaining my business model. Having five or more paying service clients that were on yearly contracts really did help me within my first year of business. If you’re a product based company I highly suggest having your tiered pricing in order on your website to help ensure you are bring in a variety of orders. Knowing what your average order is will help you know the type of inventory you need to keep in stock. Five customers here and there will not keep your online stores open when you think about product inventory, taxes, website, payment gateway fees and much more. If you’re launching after you quit having a plan in place to land sales on first day is important too.
Scheduling Your Time
One of the biggest misconceptions regarding about being your own boss is you have the complete freedom to do what you want when you want. Yes, I freedom in my business but I have structure to running my company. You need to start now with a structured plan that evolves consistency in your schedule. How many hours a week are you putting into your business? I am not talking those hours lurking on social media, but the ones that truly move the needle forward. I hear constantly from people who have 9 to 5 they hardly have time for their small business, but they have the time for tv, dinners, trips and more. You have to truly pick what matters more right now if you want to take this entrepreneurial dream further than the last time you tried. Creating a schedule I could not only stick to but have function mattered to me. On my day schedule you will see several self care items, but task for each day. Every day has a task that is assigned to it to help me move my needle further. There are days, I switch the items around but they get down.
Understanding Support
This might sound harsh but no one has to support your entrepreneurial dreams at all. This is another misconception that people talk to me about. Their friends are not shopping their store, coming to their events or whatever it maybe. I have talked about support before when it comes to friends. You first must ask for support and share how you want to be supported. Understand no one is a mind reader and there will be times when people can’t support you fiscally, you have to be okay with this. If you’re in business to be supported by friends then you have the wrong mindset. Running a service based business that rarely puts out digital items it is hard for my friends to support my company fiscally unless they do Buy Tasha Coffee. Instead they offer moral support which is very vital for me.
Outsourcing
At the very start of launching a business there are startup cost that business incur such as; business consultant, website design, graphic design, products, logos, computers and more. Yes, these items are tax writes offs but most importantly they are part of a budget line that you need to add. When I first started my business I didnt understand graphic design or website design. This is prior to Canva, websites in a box and much more to help you launch your business. A plethora of stuff got outsourced to others which cost money, but free up time. You can’t do it all and thats something you need to know now, virus failing and having a mental breakdown. Trust, mental breakdowns will happen too in business. Outsourcing my graphic design might be a line item of x amount each month, but it has brought me one less worry and task that needs to be done.
Self Care Plan
Please do not work yourself to death trying to be like others who say sleep doesn’t matter and other foolishness. I attend yoga classes five or six days a week, spend three days a week reading books, get six to eight hours of sleep, drink plenty of water and have a smoothie at least once a day. If my mental health is not in order that affects everything else. Launching a business can be extremely stressful so having a self care plan in place prior that you stick to will help you in the long run.
Running a small business is just as much mental is it, about the finances. They go hand in hand that’s why those spaces need to be defined before to just launching. There are a million things you will have on your list when it comes to quitting your job, these are just some of the things that have helped my clients along the way.
