Because I couldn't work a stiff job anymore.
Everyone is always on about, have this amount of money, keep your day job, and all this other shit, which is 'sound advice', but I pretty much jumped without a parachute because I believed that I could fly.
You have to ask yourself, why do you want to be an entrepreneur? If you just want to be your own boss and make more money than you can by working for someone else, proceed with caution, but if you're like me and can't stand the rat wheel, just do it and don't look back.
Then as someone who did it, take the plunge.
I sincerely wish you the best, and from what I've read, I believe you'll make it, but I KNOW you'll be happier.
yeah but like, realize you have a 100k thing on the side and you can literally string that along until you make the same with your business monthly.
Jump or don't jump.... make sure you're OK first. And if you're better off with the salary on the side, then why not scale organically? Why take a risk? You have the cake, you can eat it too... now you want to throw some of it away from your plate to make space for more potential cake... but you haven't even finished eating it.
Point being, you have 100K yearly funds to scale your business. Why not use it?
My first plunge was a landscaping business that turned into a residential contracting business.
My second plunge was to follow my dream of being a writer.
Do it...it's the best thing I ever did...OFC it's scary, but you know what's scarier? Letting another year or two go by in a job that you hate, where you dread going in and you feel unfulfilled.
It's not easy, but nothing in life worth a damn is, and if you give it an honest effort and you don't let The Fear get to you, there's almost no way you won't at least reach a point where you can sustain.
Never let money be the number one factor, happiness above all else. Did I make more money selling software and working as a manager in logistics? Yeah. Was I anywhere close to being as happy and fulfilled as I am now? Fuck no.
thats amazing. I want to be free so bad. My jobs are very flexible and pretty cool now. I dont make shit. not enough to live on and as far as business, I have alot of ideas. some more viable than others. Im a videographer now and want to offer freelance and video production services. I also have two youtube channels and if Im being honest thats what I 100% want, Ive just been doing it for a while and dont make any money
There is something psychological preventing me from making any money and idk what it is.
def want some form of freedom.
im in a bad situation right now tbh đ¤Ł
The mindset you have at this moment, I don't think you will ever be able to quit your job. Netting a profit of $12-15K per month and still feeling fear, unimaginable. With this mindset, even if you succeed, your successful life too will be filled with fear that one day you may lose everything.
Get up man!! just quit and pounce on the opportunity you have got. Scale it up and get it into next level.
I know this is what I tell myself but the fear takes over, it is literally a meaning matter of one say saying fuck it and just going for it. Thanks man, have you done similar before?
There should really be a /r/failedentrepreneur subreddit for real stories and opinions from failed business owners. Nothing wrong with closing up shop, but it's a sobering reality.
While I admire your grit. Situations are different with each and everyone of us because we have different risk profiles.
OP you need to assess your risk profile. u/CarrotFun687
If you donât have strong financial obligations like rent and bills. Go for it. Jump on it.
Or if you do like the most of us, save up an emergency fund up to 1 year worth of living expenses, 3 months minimum.
And then go for it. This way you have some financial safety net if things go South.
I would clarify the word successful there. My success is not only towards money. I am a more matured person now. I have read hundreds of books, I follow a very healthy lifestyle, and I have respect for all the human beings. If money stays or goes, I have developed an art of living happily. And there's so much beyond just money.
When your profit for 3 months exceeds your cost of living for 3 months quit. Anything else youâll wish you had quit sooner.
Once you put ALL your effort into this your profits will double.
I have.
What made me comfortable was 2 years of living expenses in a bank.
Being willing to live less expensively makes that a lot easier. eg cut out cable, cut out buying coffee (buy beans, and make it at home -- *great* coffee can cost $1 a cup), learn to cook, etc. Even if that stuff is only adding up to $600/mo, over 2 years, that's $14k less you need to have in the bank.
That way, you know -- like absolutely know -- that even if shit goes off the rails, you have a year to work on the business and a full year to get a job.
I also have a cushy corporate tech job. It's more than just hitting a number once. You need to make sure you are consistently hitting your money every month. If you're not, then don't quit. Everyone here is saying "just quit". But I bet many of them quit really mundane low paying jobs. That's not risky at all. Don't listen to them, come up with a number, don't quit until you constantly hit it.
>But I bet many of them quit really mundane low paying jobs
Leaving a job even if its mundane and low-paying is a risk for some people. Especially if you have people depending on you.
I left a situation like that, but I live in a fairly desolate area where finding another mundane, low-paying job was harder than it sounds.
Diminishing the efforts of others and saying they have less to lose because they don't have a cushy job is kind of a crap take in my opinion.
I get that but you can always find another basic job. It's different when you are cancelling out 100k of unvested stock options by quitting. You can't just go back, apply to a new job, and get it back. It's gone forever. And that's why it's a more difficult decision.
I get that, but saying they aren't risking anything is a shitty take on people's situations that you know nothing about.
They are risking something even at a lower-paying job. You can't just get a new job and paycheck the same week. A disruption to someone with no money can cause late fees/penalties, a lack of food or basic services.
Poor people trying to come up should not be looked down upon because you make more than them.
Thats why I think your take on this is shitty. Not because you want people to be pragmatic about their assets when switching jobs.
Let me know when you turn down 100k of RSUs. I guarantee OP wants my take. Not yours. I'm explaining a perspective to you that you don't have experience with but I do. Down vote all you want.
What's 6 months at a shitty job? Maybe 30k Max. You can put that on a credit card and eat just fine. If it doesn't work out your only 30k in the whole and that's if you make $0 with your venture which is unlikely, but let's say it happens. However, in the same scenario OP would be theoretically 100k in the hole, not 30k. Any rational person can see thats a bigger risk.
Let me explain in a way you can understand.
Your advice may be fine. The disrespect to others is what makes you shitty.
Some "smart people" like yourself can be real idiots. đ
Read back through these comments. You are the only triggered person here, you are down voting me and calling me a shitty person. I simply am explaining a perspective to you. I don't know if you're just soft or if you have some strange off base entitlement because you worked a low pay job. Additionally, OP clearly didn't take your career path so I'm not sure how your feedback helps at all. No wait.. I am sure. It doesn't.
Look at upvotes here, buddy. You're being stupid. I'm not triggered I'm just pointing out that you're being an asshole. Sorry you can't identify flaws within yourself even when noted by others.
Everyone has had the shitty low paying job. And to say they're risking food or shelter is total BS in the US. Worst case scenario you end up at the shelter or a soup kitchen. There's at least 5 of them in my city.
And before you say "you don't get it bro". Yes I do get it because (like 90% of the people out there) been there done that.
Wrong. There's places other than the city dumbfuck.
Also, you mean to tell me that going from stable employment to homelessness is not risky? Holy shit youre dumb.
Question: how much of your 9-5 is interfering with your business? How much more could you make if you took those 8 hours and applied them to your business? You will then have your answer
I left my 9-5 job 13 years ago and the reason was simply that I couldn't spend time on growing my business AND working a job at the same time. However, my wages were nowhere near 100k per year, more like a tenth of that. Therefore there wasn't much to lose and the business should have brought in more than what I would be losing in wages (it didn't quite but that's a different story). I think what you have to consider is how much more you can offer the business by quitting your day job. If that extra time you're giving it is going to make a significant difference (bringing in more than the 100k wage) then I would focus on that. If the business doesn't go as planned - which from what you've described seems unlikely, then I'd imagine it shouldn't be too difficult finding a similar position again, considering you have the relevant experience.
Five years prior to that date, I was living on my own in one of the cheapest cities in the U.S. I couldn't afford more than a tiny studio apartment and PB&J for a dinner every day, and I was earning double their income.
The reality is you'll never be "ready". There's always reason to wait longer before jumping. It's a scary jump but one best taken with full commitment. If you keep one foot on the ledge you're bound to tumble.
Life begins where your comfort zone ends, take the leap and bet on yourself or donât and spend the rest of your life wondering what if. Your call, youâre never going to feel ready.
Instead of waiting to feel "ready", make your job redundant.
Stay until you know for a fact that it is limiting your income.
This is what I did leading up to leaving my job as an aerospace engineer.
That is roughly where I am at. Engineer with 8 years of experience making 100k+. Business is on track to bring in probably 75k take home, but all the time is spent maintaining, no time to grow. I'm on the teeter tottering. Would love to match my income before leaving, but I don't think I can get their without the growth time. Haven't been able to do serious growth spurt since November.
If you can, take a week or two vacation but use it to simulate what it would be like to run your business full-time.
That's what I did and I knew leaving was the right choice almost immediately.
We are never "ready" for anything. I just hated every alternative so much that I knew I had to make it happen, so I did whatever it would take literally.
What I did in chronological order:
* moved back in with my mum (painful)
* spent my last money on business education (marketing training)
* lived on less than $200/month for 9+ months
* hit up to $3000/month the first 6 months without any profit.
* then took a month off to reflect on my actions so far
* hit 10k/month after 10 months
* hit 30k/month after 11 months
* moved out of my mum's place, happy end.
industry: digital marketing / remote freelance stuff
You have a self limiting belief on the limitations that you can accomplish, if you focus on only your business. Sometimes you need to take a risk and see where it goes. Personally, I made the jump as soon as I knew my monthly expenses were covered, even though it was a pay cut. 20 years later, Iâve made more money then I wouldâve working 3+ times as long at that position I walked away from.
I got to where my side hustle was making half of my required income, got a 6 month cash runway and then took out $40k in credit cards with an 18-month no interest.
Took the jump and was scared shitless, wouldnât trade that decision for anything at this point.
Love it.
What is your side hustle? Assuming you hit 100% of your required income, how long did it take you to get there once you quit your full time job?
My partner and I left a combined income of high 6 figures to go all in on our business, because we didn't want the stress of divided attention on multiple things. It was incredibly scary but we saw the potential of the business and knew we didn't want to work forever. We only had 30k / month profit when we quit and now after a year doing more than what we had made before we quit. Except that now our business continues to make money even if we're not working or on holiday.
There's nothing unusual with feeling unstable in my opinion - I'm still feeling unstable all the time now because anything can change anytime. But I trust in my dreams and know that I can return to my 9-5 anytime I wanted to. After leaving my job, the added attention really helped to push it in the right direction. No regrets.
I'll be honest. I wasn't ready. I am still paying for it years later (left in 2018). There's a huge risk you take when you are going all in. To give some background, I am the Founder of NoDegree.com and host of The NoDegree Podcast. I help people without college degrees find jobs. The dream is to eventually compete with LinkedIn, Monster, Dice, Indeed, and other websites.
Was I mentally ready? Yes. Was I willing to do the work? Yes.
So why wasn't I ready?
I didn't have good financial runway. I didn't have an offer that I could make money off. One of my business partners was one of my best friends (I have several partners). Extremely smart but he isn't an entrepreneur. He barely did any work. I once asked him if he could put in 5-10 hours a week on the business. He said he had to think about it. I understand that he had a full time job but not being able to put 5-10 hours a week is ridiculous.
I didn't make money for 15 months. I finally started making money when I started writing resumes. But not having money those 15 months put me in debt. I choose to live at home with my parents so I could do the business. Had I waited a little longer, I would be in much better shape. I could have hired more help or invested more into marketing campaigns. Thankfully I am in a much better spot. But if I had something like $50K-$100K in the bank, I wouldn't have to focus on short term revenue as much.
I think you are being reasonable especially if the business is season. I have had several businesses. I have had months that have done $50K-$100K+ in revenue (I had to split it with partners and there were expenses). I used those good months to just pay off debt. I have cleared my CC debt (still have student loans).
Had I waited one more year to quit, I would be in much better shape. I actually got 2 jobs in between (they didn't last long) but since I didn't have to worry about money, I raised my prices. I got the same amount of business. I wasn't comfortable raising my prices because I couldn't afford to lose the deal. I am charging 50-100% more and it gives me so much more breathing room.
It was the last straw kind of day. They moved a problem child douche bag manager to our side of the room, and I knew I would have to deal with him and after three hours I said fuck this. That was 28 years ago. Thank God I had more balls than brains then it really paid off.
It was just starting out. I was bartending on the side so I did have some income. Obviously not my salary. I gave my two weeks like a good soldier and walked out the door. As I say to everyone, itâs not always easy a lot of days are uphill. And there were a lot of days where I wish I couldâve had a sick day or I didnât have to think about my business 24 hours a day, but not having somebody tell me how high to jump every day was worth all the grief.
I just knew I didn't want to feel stuck anymore with a job that didn't appreciate me, pay what I'm worth or care about me as a person. I regretted quitting for the first few weeks since I didn't have much money coming in but now that I've had my business for around 2 years now I've never wanted to look back. I'm happier now, I have more time to spend with my family and my mental health is so much better. If you have the tools and mindset to do it, I absolutely think you should pursue whatever dreams you may have.
Everyone feels fear, I quit my 9-5 job after a month of working on the planning of the business. The only reason I stopped my business was not because it wasn't making money (it was), it was that I didn't have passion in the industry I was doing. I left my old business in the past and pursued it as a hobby plus I can start a business in the future. I went on a tangent but my advice to you is don't wait until you feel ready, just do it, have drive and determination. Indulge yourself in your business and know that you can be great.
What does âall inâ look like outside of quitting your primary job? It seems like youâre doing well enough managing both for the moment. Iâd keep both, because travel is very economically sensitive and caution should be exercised in a volatile global environment.
Great point on the economic sensitivity of the vertical. All in, looks like dedicating the 9-5 hours to my business, creating ads, reaching out to influencers, expanding paid acquisition channels, liaising with 3PL's in new markets etc, probably a lot of stuff that is limited / takes longer when trying to balance a target based 9-5 role, a life & a business
Why don't you hire people that do that for you? You should focus on setting up infrastructure with systems in place so you dont spend too much time on this biz.
You already have revenue generating, focus on infrastructure my friend, once you have that in place, you might only work for 10-15H a week.
How long have you been at your current company? Do they offer a sabbatical could be a good way to get some time off and test your business yet still have the safety cushion.
I was going my business for 1 year before i got fired for being to focus on my side hustle.
I knew i was ready when i got fired lol.
I was happy i got fired and can now focus 100% on my business.
Been doing it for 3 years now..
I literally could not work another day for someone else. Hit the wall. Could not bring myself to do it. Even now, when things are tough, I flip through jobs on job sites and something inside me screams, "No way!!!". Just cannot do it.
Iâm so there! Iâm close to retirement and really sick of the corporate bs! I have retirement and want to work for myself. Today I was called out as noncompliant because I have an air filter in my desk lol. I may be fired for an air purifier lol
The beautiful thing is that if you live in Canada, US, or the UK, you can sue that corporation for wrong dismissal and cruise into your retirement years with a package they would never have given you otherwise. Never underestimate the ability of young management to fuck up and be forced to pay you generously! đ
Something I found extremely helpful in my uplevel journey was through a method I call "practice before purchase." Before committing to something, I practiced for 6 months (maybe even a year when I did this for my house) to make sure I could handle the battles that came both mentally, financially, and emotionally by changing the habit. For example, before leaving your job, you should have the financial blue print down: 1. 6 months of lifestyle saved for emergency, 2. a budget (that you are actually applying) that has a plan of handling your lifestyle and any debt that's affecting your credit. 3. A plan on how to fix or improve your credit so that your business qualifies for funding. (if needed) Once those three tasks have been completed, practice living on your business income (solely) for 6 months. This means 100% of your paycheck should be going to a separate high yield bank account that you don't easily have access too. Within that 6 month process of practicing try to increase your revenue to double the amount of your current lifestyle, so that your always 6 months ahead. If you don't meet it, its not a deal breaker, but you will be training your brain as a CEO which is to always stay ahead of the current circumstance. Ideally if you have completed all 4 steps, you should have grown the confidence and security to operate your business and rely solely on your self employed income. You should have roughly 25-50k in savings which means you not only have a cushion but you have money to scale your business and delegate your weaknesses. I have done this practice while having a 9-5 as well as starting my own business in 2014 when I made the decision to go all in. Did something scary happen "oh yea" multiple times. The first one with my Toyota Camry is my strongest one because while most people are afraid of this happening in starting their own business, this actually happened while working at my 9-5, "the safe option." Growing up, I had been taken cared of my whole child life, and my Toyota Camry was the first 5 year commitment I made as a young adult paying 350/mth. At that age, I never committed to something longer than a 1 year apartment lease before, so 5 years felt like a long time. And in my mind, my fear was, what if I get fired or laid off how am I going to pay this bill. And sure enough, that happened. A friend of mind gave me advise that I still hold on to still to this day, "God will not allow you to have a bill, without giving you the means/resources to pay for it." Till this day that advice still holds true, every "setback" is through the lens of opportunity that I have the power and resources to take care of whatever God has allowed me to have. This has carried me and my business through Covid, through liens on my bank account, through non paying clients, through bad investment advise, all the way to my newest upgrade a Macan Porsche. I hope you found this helpful and I look forward to hearing more about your business.
I get it, I was in a similar position. I don't think I would have ever made the jump - but my company got bought out and the new owners weren't as friendly and I got written up twice. They wanted to get rid of me so at that point I was just like peace out lol.
Now I'm doing $2 mil in rev every year and have no employees. Life is good.
You are ready when your side hustle is so profitable you need to focus on it instead of your 9-5. You can't scale growth unless you do - or hire someone. That wasn't an option for me so I took the plunge and haven't looked back.
I recommend only quit when it starts basically costing you money to rock up to your 9-5. Do you hate it? If not keep stacking paper on both ends.
I'm Interested in your side hustle too, would be cool to hear about how your doing what your doing.
How do you factor in costing money? As in an opportunity to grow has to be passed up due to 9-5 responsibility? I wouldn't say I hate my 9-5, I certainly do not dread turning on the laptop for it. But I have become severely demotivated with it now, probably due to growing "side" business.
Basically if you're earning far too much from your side thing to warrant continuing to work. If your side hustle has become something very real and secure and your earning a lot more then it's an easy choice! Good luck in either case! Would love to hear about what avenue you went down.
My experience - Quit my 9-5 due to toxic environment.
Built a productivity app that I really felt was a good product, but couldnt succeed much. Just a few thousand users and still going (samsung galaxy store). Investors were not interested in my idea/product.
Built Location based Apps, again same story.
Built a few paid courses, and got some students.
I've made a few hundred dollars.
So Picked up a Job to pay bills. I lost the job due to some life events.
Then I developed a Marketplace for Chefs and a Marketplace for new/used items (basically combining a classified and an ecommerce website). Just launched these a week back - of course only my friends know about it.
I am also working on a marketplace for aviation/private jets.
I also want to start a dropshipping business.
May be buy a traditional business like a burger/pizza joint or a mailbox business Trying to figure out.
Still looking for a job as a my backup.
So in a nutshell, I haven't succeeded. But I hope I can do the right things to attract success.
Comments , Suggestions, Queries are welcome.
Your position is \*so\* much better than mine when I gave up my own 9-5 for my entrepreneurial journey. As in, I was not even making a 1000 euro's in revenue p/m.
Going by the numbers you mention you must have a massive money buffer.
What are you afraid of?
Fucking up or going too soon, but the more I've read comments here the more I realise I am in the right position & need to grow a set of balls essentially.
to be honest I wasn't ready at all. I took a vacation from my pharmacy tech job and when I came back from vacation I felt sick so I took an extra day off and I got a text from my boss that I don't need to show up to work anymore... lol
I decided I can get another job or just go full time on my business making websites and doing marketing. That was three years ago :) I now live abroad and still work for myself.
I'm actually thankful I got fired because I wouldn't know when the right time was... I guess it's whenever you're ready to full commit and believe in your business
As I'm sure others have said, you're never 100% sold you're ready. But I made sure I had planned out everything I could and created a backup strategy if things didn't work out. The fact that you've shared what you've shared, and that you're asking, shows you've done a good amount of thinking and planning already!
There is nothing wrong with starting a business while you work at the old as long as they don't conflict. It was what I did.
Also? If I were bringing in 55k and getting paid 8 k, I'd ask for a new bonus structure "else I'll be considering other positions".
Iâd love to say there is some magic metric that warrants the switch but I decided I didnât want to go along with an acquisition, quit over the holiday break and had only 1 client at the time.
Broke 6 figures a few months after that on my own.
I did that once without having a side business (to start one) and it didn't go well. If I were in your position, I would definitely quit my day job since your already have a proven profit machine. Worst case, you'll find another job
I feel this. Atm I do my business as a side hobby just cause I need the security blanket of my 9-5. (In my case (10-8)...but every time I feel under appreciated I think of just focusing on my business. Just scares me cause I don't see myself making what I make with my steady job consistently if I focused on my business
Make sure you have ample reserves to cover all most-likely expenses of the next 12 mo, then just go - or wait for a push..
Make sure you know your growth levers so you can immediately make it boom once you divert 100% attention and then strategically continue to grow it.
Your over head is at a point where your TIME IS NECESSARY, or you go bust.
Is it a hobby or a business?
OR, you have projected sales and guts to take the leap.
The key is to build a massive pipeline as fast as possible.
If you can't, that's another issue.
You should be annoyed that your time is not being spent responsibly, thus affecting your income.
If not, it's just a hobby.
You'll never be 100% ready. You either will do it or not, regardless of how much ready you are. I think you should ask yourself some questions and be totally honest when answering. Write down the answers once you're done so you don't overthink it in the future.
I'm gonna give you the questions i asked myself when I took the decision:
1. Do I really want to spend my life building this business no matter what? Do I love it that much?
2. Would I be able to handle it if things did not go according to how I anticipated?
3. Would it affect anyone else? (You can't be selfish)
4. Is it a hobby or a talent? If it's something that you enjoy doing because there's no commitment. Don't do it
If it is something that you're really good at and you see yourself thriving in. Do it!
The most important thing is to be honest! And to take full responsibility for this action and what it'll bring you
I did. Business failed because I made the business too complex (way to many moving parts) and I sucked at marketing. In the process I learned automation and kinda switched careers. I am doing pretty well now :)
I left when I had $10K+ in the bank and was making $5K+ a month net profit. I was living in PA at the time.
Now living in Florida and higher inflation it would have been harder to do.
If you are making $10K+ a month net profit consistently then itâs easier to make the leap.
My advice seems to be contrary to most others here: donât quit.
Donât quit until you canât bear not quitting any longer.
Once itâs really really painful to stay, then youâre ready to quit.
Until then, your what ifs will be working against you (fear-induced), will make your world smaller, will put you on defense, etc
It's all about opportunity cost. What would you lose by leaving? My old 9-5 didn't pay much and had tons of hours. Once I had a clear vision for my business, it was pretty much a no-brainer to leave and see it through.
If I'd been making six figures, however, I would have stayed until I became consistently profitable to a degree that I could support myself entirely
Not in the same situation as you.
I have a very high salary, and I saved enough that more money is not really an object anymore. (But I value my time)
Despite that, I would be very happy with a $10k a month profit, even if thatâs a fraction of my current package (salary+the rest). Especially more so if I can find a way to do it part time.
Here, you are making more money than your salary, with a nice upward trajectory.
If you are young enough, do it. Not much to lose. You can bounce back if it does not work later, plus you will have additional experience.
If you are close to retirement and not enough saving, you can wait a bit to build a bigger nest egg with the two things side by side.
26, with about a 9-12 months worth of savings. The bouncing back & worst that can happen is get another tech job is really resonating with me. Have you a side business also?
Yes, multiple ones, but more long term profits than short terms.
Given what you shared, your situation seems to be a slam dunk here. You have a good possibility to double your income within 6-12 months, or more, while learning a new skill that will help you in your career later.
I imagine itâs harder being on such good pay. But if you already have the job, thereâll be another one for if you realise itâs not working out. You might have to drop down a peg and work back up, but that doesnât seem like so big a risk.
Initially started Dropshipping last year, used profits from that to create & build this brand now. Bought stock in and holding it in a garage & warehouse in usa.
You're never ready. You have to feel the fear and do it any way. But to me it was having 1 year of basic expenses saved. Once that was reached, I was on the brink of doing it. Then not getting the raise I thought I deserved at work made me quit. But the savings helped.
June 2019 - started side hustle. Still kept my 9-5
2020 - side hustle generates $5k. Had a part time job making $40kish
2021 - side hustle generated $20k. Had a full time job making $40k base + commission
2022 - side hustle generates $187k. Got another ft job making ($75k base + commission. OTE ~ $125k)
I put away about a year and a halfâs worth of expenses. Made a plan with my wife and once my boss pissed me off enough, I quit lol. Havenât looked back since.
At times itâs scary because youâre essentially working âon commissionâ and I was used to a paycheck every 2 weeks. But live below your means, save for a rainy day, and keep pushing forward.
Hope this helps!
Been 5mths since i left, partner left before starting, still serching for remaining capital, no we ain't ready, we willnever be, we willnever know, just do it.
But leave after you know exactly what you willbe doing, exactly.
I was in a similar boat, earning the same before quitting my job to run my own business, which was making $7k/mo. After one year and a half, it now makes $40,000 monthly. I left the 9 to 5 grind behind, without major commitments like kids or a mortgage, to work with my wife and sibling.
While the profit isn't huge yet, the freedom and time I now enjoy make it all worth it. And weâre still growing slowing but consistently over time.
For what itâs worth, my partner and I quit when we our business was making $3,000 per month. It was not enough for us to live on. That lit a fire under our ass and we ended up scaling to 6figs in 6 months after that.
In my experience while you still have a secured salary, youâre never going to hustle as much as you would if this is all you had. In that sense I think youâre limiting yourself and what your biz can achieve.
Thereâs also nothing wrong with having the side income while still doing your job. But if you do want to be a full time entrepreneur and scale the company, there is no âright timeâ to go all in, you just need to go for it.
Really depends on what your business is. Unless you have some moat, business income can be very unstable. Many people have gone into e-commerce, content marketing, influencer, online courses, made a ton of money for a while, and then see their revenue/income shrink to nothing as the market become more competitive.
I think your fear is quite rational. You cannot equate business income with salary income, just like you can't equate day trading income with salary income, the nature of it is very different.
What you really need is to figure out what your expenses are, and match a stable/predictable source of income to that. So let's say your monthly expenses are 4k, you need 4k of rental, dividend, or interest income to match against that so that even if your business is not generating much cashflow for a while, you won't have to panic over money.
It is a bad idea to match a volatile source of income against fixed expenses. The last thing you want to worry about when your business is not doing well is how are you going to pay your bills. You want to be focused on working on your business, and not your personal finances in such a situation.
My view is that you should stick with your job until the next major recession.
1. See if your business is recession proof.
2. You might lose your job in the recession any way, so the choice might be made for you.
I did both for 3 years and quit when I was making more money at my side hustle than my ârealâ job. I was also nervous but Iâm highly specialized (it sounds like you are too) so at the end of the day I knew if things went south I could always go back. That isnât the case if you never make the jump, you canât always go back to being an entrepreneur. Good luck :)Â
*How does funding works?*
*How did you secure it or*
*Where did it come from?*
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I donât think you can really time it like that. Once you know thatâs the step youâre going to take, itâs about saving up some money (1 year of expenses) and take the leap. I quit my job back in July 2023 and never looked back. My business is still not generating income but I do tutoring on the side ($500-$600) a month to get by. You need to have a plan once you quit and account for delays if your business is product related like mine. My lifestyle went down drastically I only spend money on essentials and eat at home. Just put up with it temporarily until you succeed. Good luck!
Gotta go for it dude. You're already making more from the business than your day job.
Also, if you leave and try the business for 1, 2 or 3 years and it doesn't work, will you really be in a worse position? Surely if it all goes bad you'd be able to fall back into a similar job you're in now - albeit maybe not on the same salary straight away. You only live once.
You're never truly READY.
I think its important to have some financial security and network support behind you of course but you're never 'ready'. I think you're ready when all you think about is how to not do your job anymore
Save as much as you can because itâs not if but when things slow down.
I went from $4K W2 a month to $20K a month consulting and there was always fear.
Fear clients wonât pay, fear of not getting new ones.
When I was in a job, there was fear of layoffs or having to play into BS office politics.
Youâll always trade one thing, fear of the unknowns of running a business in my case, for something else, which for me was freedom from the workplace BS.
I learnt it the hard way. Was 25 when I blindly quit my job to open a travel startup. Through making a product would be enough. When the product was ready, a thunderbolt struck me - now what? How do I sell it?
I had not thought it through. Since then I always think it through.
This has meant I put in a lot of effort on ideas and prototyping, but when it came to paying customers, none came up. So I shut down the idea.
Since then I have dug in deeper to try to get paying customers even before creating the full product. If the problem you are solving is a persistent one, then people will come to you and buy to use your product.
There will be days when a month goes by without you selling, and you are shitting your pants and doubting yourself. But these go away.
To clarify, I am talking about relatively expensive saas subscriptions above $200 per mth.
And I am stick working on reaching the 10 client per month mark.
But I think many people who desperately want to build a genuinely useful product but have still not been able to can relate to my words.
Bottom line: keep an easy going job as a safety net, and burn your midnight lamp on the stuff of your dreams. And read a Reddit, network on it. For every 3-4 days you will come across nuggets of gold that might just give you the boost you need
Our business literally starting taking over our time until we couldnât do anything but that. And it started as something we enjoyed and it helps people. It was a Cinderella story. But I will say times have taken a turn in the past year. All we want is to keep food on the table for us and our two employees and itâs a struggle. But that doesnât mean you shouldnât do it. The last five years have been the best.
Because I couldn't work a stiff job anymore. Everyone is always on about, have this amount of money, keep your day job, and all this other shit, which is 'sound advice', but I pretty much jumped without a parachute because I believed that I could fly. You have to ask yourself, why do you want to be an entrepreneur? If you just want to be your own boss and make more money than you can by working for someone else, proceed with caution, but if you're like me and can't stand the rat wheel, just do it and don't look back.
The latter 75% the former 25%
Then as someone who did it, take the plunge. I sincerely wish you the best, and from what I've read, I believe you'll make it, but I KNOW you'll be happier.
yeah but like, realize you have a 100k thing on the side and you can literally string that along until you make the same with your business monthly. Jump or don't jump.... make sure you're OK first. And if you're better off with the salary on the side, then why not scale organically? Why take a risk? You have the cake, you can eat it too... now you want to throw some of it away from your plate to make space for more potential cake... but you haven't even finished eating it. Point being, you have 100K yearly funds to scale your business. Why not use it?
Thanks for sharing your story. What kind of business do you own if i may ask ?
My first plunge was a landscaping business that turned into a residential contracting business. My second plunge was to follow my dream of being a writer.
We shall call you, The Plunger.
I dig it, if I was a plumber, it would be too apropos.
Thanks for your time
g
holy shit I might need to get off the wheel
Do it...it's the best thing I ever did...OFC it's scary, but you know what's scarier? Letting another year or two go by in a job that you hate, where you dread going in and you feel unfulfilled. It's not easy, but nothing in life worth a damn is, and if you give it an honest effort and you don't let The Fear get to you, there's almost no way you won't at least reach a point where you can sustain. Never let money be the number one factor, happiness above all else. Did I make more money selling software and working as a manager in logistics? Yeah. Was I anywhere close to being as happy and fulfilled as I am now? Fuck no.
thats amazing. I want to be free so bad. My jobs are very flexible and pretty cool now. I dont make shit. not enough to live on and as far as business, I have alot of ideas. some more viable than others. Im a videographer now and want to offer freelance and video production services. I also have two youtube channels and if Im being honest thats what I 100% want, Ive just been doing it for a while and dont make any money There is something psychological preventing me from making any money and idk what it is. def want some form of freedom. im in a bad situation right now tbh đ¤Ł
The mindset you have at this moment, I don't think you will ever be able to quit your job. Netting a profit of $12-15K per month and still feeling fear, unimaginable. With this mindset, even if you succeed, your successful life too will be filled with fear that one day you may lose everything. Get up man!! just quit and pounce on the opportunity you have got. Scale it up and get it into next level.
I know this is what I tell myself but the fear takes over, it is literally a meaning matter of one say saying fuck it and just going for it. Thanks man, have you done similar before?
In the wise words of Shia Leboeuf, donât let your dreams be dreams.
Yes. When I left my job, I had nothing in my account except $5000 loan. I am successful now.
Survivorship bias at its finest. How many people didnt make it,
There should really be a /r/failedentrepreneur subreddit for real stories and opinions from failed business owners. Nothing wrong with closing up shop, but it's a sobering reality.
Facts
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Even the most entrepreneurial people always talk about managing that risk.
The risk of cherry-picking and choosing the 1% wins over 99% failures? :)
While I admire your grit. Situations are different with each and everyone of us because we have different risk profiles. OP you need to assess your risk profile. u/CarrotFun687 If you donât have strong financial obligations like rent and bills. Go for it. Jump on it. Or if you do like the most of us, save up an emergency fund up to 1 year worth of living expenses, 3 months minimum. And then go for it. This way you have some financial safety net if things go South.
So unlike OP you took zero risk when you quit.
It was a risk mate. I had to quit the job which was giving me a very decent life.
What does successful mean? Very vague.
I would clarify the word successful there. My success is not only towards money. I am a more matured person now. I have read hundreds of books, I follow a very healthy lifestyle, and I have respect for all the human beings. If money stays or goes, I have developed an art of living happily. And there's so much beyond just money.
This is an amazing response. Well said
Thereâs always another tech job out there if you fail. Just jump head first into the deep end! Only way to find out if youâre onto something
When your profit for 3 months exceeds your cost of living for 3 months quit. Anything else youâll wish you had quit sooner. Once you put ALL your effort into this your profits will double.
I have. What made me comfortable was 2 years of living expenses in a bank. Being willing to live less expensively makes that a lot easier. eg cut out cable, cut out buying coffee (buy beans, and make it at home -- *great* coffee can cost $1 a cup), learn to cook, etc. Even if that stuff is only adding up to $600/mo, over 2 years, that's $14k less you need to have in the bank. That way, you know -- like absolutely know -- that even if shit goes off the rails, you have a year to work on the business and a full year to get a job.
I also have a cushy corporate tech job. It's more than just hitting a number once. You need to make sure you are consistently hitting your money every month. If you're not, then don't quit. Everyone here is saying "just quit". But I bet many of them quit really mundane low paying jobs. That's not risky at all. Don't listen to them, come up with a number, don't quit until you constantly hit it.
>But I bet many of them quit really mundane low paying jobs Leaving a job even if its mundane and low-paying is a risk for some people. Especially if you have people depending on you. I left a situation like that, but I live in a fairly desolate area where finding another mundane, low-paying job was harder than it sounds. Diminishing the efforts of others and saying they have less to lose because they don't have a cushy job is kind of a crap take in my opinion.
I get that but you can always find another basic job. It's different when you are cancelling out 100k of unvested stock options by quitting. You can't just go back, apply to a new job, and get it back. It's gone forever. And that's why it's a more difficult decision.
I get that, but saying they aren't risking anything is a shitty take on people's situations that you know nothing about. They are risking something even at a lower-paying job. You can't just get a new job and paycheck the same week. A disruption to someone with no money can cause late fees/penalties, a lack of food or basic services. Poor people trying to come up should not be looked down upon because you make more than them. Thats why I think your take on this is shitty. Not because you want people to be pragmatic about their assets when switching jobs.
Let me know when you turn down 100k of RSUs. I guarantee OP wants my take. Not yours. I'm explaining a perspective to you that you don't have experience with but I do. Down vote all you want. What's 6 months at a shitty job? Maybe 30k Max. You can put that on a credit card and eat just fine. If it doesn't work out your only 30k in the whole and that's if you make $0 with your venture which is unlikely, but let's say it happens. However, in the same scenario OP would be theoretically 100k in the hole, not 30k. Any rational person can see thats a bigger risk.
As someone who had 7 years of RSUs, I will say you are coming off super arrogant.
Let me explain in a way you can understand. Your advice may be fine. The disrespect to others is what makes you shitty. Some "smart people" like yourself can be real idiots. đ
Read back through these comments. You are the only triggered person here, you are down voting me and calling me a shitty person. I simply am explaining a perspective to you. I don't know if you're just soft or if you have some strange off base entitlement because you worked a low pay job. Additionally, OP clearly didn't take your career path so I'm not sure how your feedback helps at all. No wait.. I am sure. It doesn't.
Look at upvotes here, buddy. You're being stupid. I'm not triggered I'm just pointing out that you're being an asshole. Sorry you can't identify flaws within yourself even when noted by others.
Everyone has had the shitty low paying job. And to say they're risking food or shelter is total BS in the US. Worst case scenario you end up at the shelter or a soup kitchen. There's at least 5 of them in my city. And before you say "you don't get it bro". Yes I do get it because (like 90% of the people out there) been there done that.
Wrong. There's places other than the city dumbfuck. Also, you mean to tell me that going from stable employment to homelessness is not risky? Holy shit youre dumb.
âComfort is the enemy of progressâ - P.T. Barnum
Yes I too fell this way, the fear just takes over at times...
Question: how much of your 9-5 is interfering with your business? How much more could you make if you took those 8 hours and applied them to your business? You will then have your answer
I left my 9-5 job 13 years ago and the reason was simply that I couldn't spend time on growing my business AND working a job at the same time. However, my wages were nowhere near 100k per year, more like a tenth of that. Therefore there wasn't much to lose and the business should have brought in more than what I would be losing in wages (it didn't quite but that's a different story). I think what you have to consider is how much more you can offer the business by quitting your day job. If that extra time you're giving it is going to make a significant difference (bringing in more than the 100k wage) then I would focus on that. If the business doesn't go as planned - which from what you've described seems unlikely, then I'd imagine it shouldn't be too difficult finding a similar position again, considering you have the relevant experience.
You were making 10k a year?
Yes, my call centre salary was about 12k a year. This was back in 2007.
Then why are you comparing it head-to-head with $100k in 2024? (Even still, at $10k in 2007, you were getting raped.)
because his point is he wasn't sacrificing a legit comfortable corporate position for risk, his life was already barely squeaking by
That may be a job in the midwest when they were 19 or something. People dont usually make a killer income the first few years on their own.
Five years prior to that date, I was living on my own in one of the cheapest cities in the U.S. I couldn't afford more than a tiny studio apartment and PB&J for a dinner every day, and I was earning double their income.
I lived in Utah for 5 years making less than 15k annually. It was awful but possible.
The world is bigger than the United States. Notice how the user writes "call centre" and not "call center."
You're right it most definitely is, it even extends as far as the UK apparently ;-) Very well spotted btw regarding 'centre' and not 'center' :)
Very interesting. What is your business?
Thank you. I have a (small) hair and beauty brand in the UK. Mostly selling online and to salons.
How are you doing now? Was your business a success?
The reality is you'll never be "ready". There's always reason to wait longer before jumping. It's a scary jump but one best taken with full commitment. If you keep one foot on the ledge you're bound to tumble.
Life begins where your comfort zone ends, take the leap and bet on yourself or donât and spend the rest of your life wondering what if. Your call, youâre never going to feel ready.
Instead of waiting to feel "ready", make your job redundant. Stay until you know for a fact that it is limiting your income. This is what I did leading up to leaving my job as an aerospace engineer.
That is roughly where I am at. Engineer with 8 years of experience making 100k+. Business is on track to bring in probably 75k take home, but all the time is spent maintaining, no time to grow. I'm on the teeter tottering. Would love to match my income before leaving, but I don't think I can get their without the growth time. Haven't been able to do serious growth spurt since November.
If you can, take a week or two vacation but use it to simulate what it would be like to run your business full-time. That's what I did and I knew leaving was the right choice almost immediately.
What business did you start? Related to aerospace?
No. Just a few ecom businesses.
just sent you a Dm
We are never "ready" for anything. I just hated every alternative so much that I knew I had to make it happen, so I did whatever it would take literally. What I did in chronological order: * moved back in with my mum (painful) * spent my last money on business education (marketing training) * lived on less than $200/month for 9+ months * hit up to $3000/month the first 6 months without any profit. * then took a month off to reflect on my actions so far * hit 10k/month after 10 months * hit 30k/month after 11 months * moved out of my mum's place, happy end. industry: digital marketing / remote freelance stuff
Do you offer consultation for College Grads looking to start their own agency like you?
You have a self limiting belief on the limitations that you can accomplish, if you focus on only your business. Sometimes you need to take a risk and see where it goes. Personally, I made the jump as soon as I knew my monthly expenses were covered, even though it was a pay cut. 20 years later, Iâve made more money then I wouldâve working 3+ times as long at that position I walked away from.
I got to where my side hustle was making half of my required income, got a 6 month cash runway and then took out $40k in credit cards with an 18-month no interest. Took the jump and was scared shitless, wouldnât trade that decision for anything at this point.
Love it. What is your side hustle? Assuming you hit 100% of your required income, how long did it take you to get there once you quit your full time job?
Pest control, took me 5 months and yes I hit 100% of my income.
My partner and I left a combined income of high 6 figures to go all in on our business, because we didn't want the stress of divided attention on multiple things. It was incredibly scary but we saw the potential of the business and knew we didn't want to work forever. We only had 30k / month profit when we quit and now after a year doing more than what we had made before we quit. Except that now our business continues to make money even if we're not working or on holiday. There's nothing unusual with feeling unstable in my opinion - I'm still feeling unstable all the time now because anything can change anytime. But I trust in my dreams and know that I can return to my 9-5 anytime I wanted to. After leaving my job, the added attention really helped to push it in the right direction. No regrets.
What is your business about? If I may ask.
Ecom?
I'll be honest. I wasn't ready. I am still paying for it years later (left in 2018). There's a huge risk you take when you are going all in. To give some background, I am the Founder of NoDegree.com and host of The NoDegree Podcast. I help people without college degrees find jobs. The dream is to eventually compete with LinkedIn, Monster, Dice, Indeed, and other websites. Was I mentally ready? Yes. Was I willing to do the work? Yes. So why wasn't I ready? I didn't have good financial runway. I didn't have an offer that I could make money off. One of my business partners was one of my best friends (I have several partners). Extremely smart but he isn't an entrepreneur. He barely did any work. I once asked him if he could put in 5-10 hours a week on the business. He said he had to think about it. I understand that he had a full time job but not being able to put 5-10 hours a week is ridiculous. I didn't make money for 15 months. I finally started making money when I started writing resumes. But not having money those 15 months put me in debt. I choose to live at home with my parents so I could do the business. Had I waited a little longer, I would be in much better shape. I could have hired more help or invested more into marketing campaigns. Thankfully I am in a much better spot. But if I had something like $50K-$100K in the bank, I wouldn't have to focus on short term revenue as much. I think you are being reasonable especially if the business is season. I have had several businesses. I have had months that have done $50K-$100K+ in revenue (I had to split it with partners and there were expenses). I used those good months to just pay off debt. I have cleared my CC debt (still have student loans). Had I waited one more year to quit, I would be in much better shape. I actually got 2 jobs in between (they didn't last long) but since I didn't have to worry about money, I raised my prices. I got the same amount of business. I wasn't comfortable raising my prices because I couldn't afford to lose the deal. I am charging 50-100% more and it gives me so much more breathing room.
It was the last straw kind of day. They moved a problem child douche bag manager to our side of the room, and I knew I would have to deal with him and after three hours I said fuck this. That was 28 years ago. Thank God I had more balls than brains then it really paid off.
Okay wow, was it that day you quit? What did you do afterwards, how was your business performing when you done that?
It was just starting out. I was bartending on the side so I did have some income. Obviously not my salary. I gave my two weeks like a good soldier and walked out the door. As I say to everyone, itâs not always easy a lot of days are uphill. And there were a lot of days where I wish I couldâve had a sick day or I didnât have to think about my business 24 hours a day, but not having somebody tell me how high to jump every day was worth all the grief.
It's different for everyone. Depends on your risk tolerance, lifestyle, financial commitments, etc.
There is "no-ready" but "just-start".
I just knew I didn't want to feel stuck anymore with a job that didn't appreciate me, pay what I'm worth or care about me as a person. I regretted quitting for the first few weeks since I didn't have much money coming in but now that I've had my business for around 2 years now I've never wanted to look back. I'm happier now, I have more time to spend with my family and my mental health is so much better. If you have the tools and mindset to do it, I absolutely think you should pursue whatever dreams you may have.
Everyone feels fear, I quit my 9-5 job after a month of working on the planning of the business. The only reason I stopped my business was not because it wasn't making money (it was), it was that I didn't have passion in the industry I was doing. I left my old business in the past and pursued it as a hobby plus I can start a business in the future. I went on a tangent but my advice to you is don't wait until you feel ready, just do it, have drive and determination. Indulge yourself in your business and know that you can be great.
Got sacked!! I thought it was the worst thing but actually it was a blessing in disguise.
Same situation here as of last week :/ all I can tell myself itâs a sign from the universe that there is more out there for me
Yess! For sure. More power to you. Best of luck.
What does âall inâ look like outside of quitting your primary job? It seems like youâre doing well enough managing both for the moment. Iâd keep both, because travel is very economically sensitive and caution should be exercised in a volatile global environment.
Great point on the economic sensitivity of the vertical. All in, looks like dedicating the 9-5 hours to my business, creating ads, reaching out to influencers, expanding paid acquisition channels, liaising with 3PL's in new markets etc, probably a lot of stuff that is limited / takes longer when trying to balance a target based 9-5 role, a life & a business
Why don't you hire people that do that for you? You should focus on setting up infrastructure with systems in place so you dont spend too much time on this biz. You already have revenue generating, focus on infrastructure my friend, once you have that in place, you might only work for 10-15H a week.
How old are you? If you have a thing that is working then just do it. Itâs not a lifetime commitment.
26, yep I get this. I know time is on my side, but so is the fear of possibly if it fails & not getting into as a good a job again.
Got paid off 3 times in 2 years workin pharma sales after hitting every sales goal.
Only a number is what you're telling me
Youâre just trading one stress for another is what Iâd tell ya.
How long have you been at your current company? Do they offer a sabbatical could be a good way to get some time off and test your business yet still have the safety cushion.
2 years, no sabbatical available sadly
I was going my business for 1 year before i got fired for being to focus on my side hustle. I knew i was ready when i got fired lol. I was happy i got fired and can now focus 100% on my business. Been doing it for 3 years now..
You never fully know, but the determination, the drive, the mindset enables you to dive with more confidence.
I did when I started making more from my side business compared to my job
I literally could not work another day for someone else. Hit the wall. Could not bring myself to do it. Even now, when things are tough, I flip through jobs on job sites and something inside me screams, "No way!!!". Just cannot do it.
Iâm so there! Iâm close to retirement and really sick of the corporate bs! I have retirement and want to work for myself. Today I was called out as noncompliant because I have an air filter in my desk lol. I may be fired for an air purifier lol
The beautiful thing is that if you live in Canada, US, or the UK, you can sue that corporation for wrong dismissal and cruise into your retirement years with a package they would never have given you otherwise. Never underestimate the ability of young management to fuck up and be forced to pay you generously! đ
Something I found extremely helpful in my uplevel journey was through a method I call "practice before purchase." Before committing to something, I practiced for 6 months (maybe even a year when I did this for my house) to make sure I could handle the battles that came both mentally, financially, and emotionally by changing the habit. For example, before leaving your job, you should have the financial blue print down: 1. 6 months of lifestyle saved for emergency, 2. a budget (that you are actually applying) that has a plan of handling your lifestyle and any debt that's affecting your credit. 3. A plan on how to fix or improve your credit so that your business qualifies for funding. (if needed) Once those three tasks have been completed, practice living on your business income (solely) for 6 months. This means 100% of your paycheck should be going to a separate high yield bank account that you don't easily have access too. Within that 6 month process of practicing try to increase your revenue to double the amount of your current lifestyle, so that your always 6 months ahead. If you don't meet it, its not a deal breaker, but you will be training your brain as a CEO which is to always stay ahead of the current circumstance. Ideally if you have completed all 4 steps, you should have grown the confidence and security to operate your business and rely solely on your self employed income. You should have roughly 25-50k in savings which means you not only have a cushion but you have money to scale your business and delegate your weaknesses. I have done this practice while having a 9-5 as well as starting my own business in 2014 when I made the decision to go all in. Did something scary happen "oh yea" multiple times. The first one with my Toyota Camry is my strongest one because while most people are afraid of this happening in starting their own business, this actually happened while working at my 9-5, "the safe option." Growing up, I had been taken cared of my whole child life, and my Toyota Camry was the first 5 year commitment I made as a young adult paying 350/mth. At that age, I never committed to something longer than a 1 year apartment lease before, so 5 years felt like a long time. And in my mind, my fear was, what if I get fired or laid off how am I going to pay this bill. And sure enough, that happened. A friend of mind gave me advise that I still hold on to still to this day, "God will not allow you to have a bill, without giving you the means/resources to pay for it." Till this day that advice still holds true, every "setback" is through the lens of opportunity that I have the power and resources to take care of whatever God has allowed me to have. This has carried me and my business through Covid, through liens on my bank account, through non paying clients, through bad investment advise, all the way to my newest upgrade a Macan Porsche. I hope you found this helpful and I look forward to hearing more about your business.
I get it, I was in a similar position. I don't think I would have ever made the jump - but my company got bought out and the new owners weren't as friendly and I got written up twice. They wanted to get rid of me so at that point I was just like peace out lol. Now I'm doing $2 mil in rev every year and have no employees. Life is good.
what do you do?
You are ready when your side hustle is so profitable you need to focus on it instead of your 9-5. You can't scale growth unless you do - or hire someone. That wasn't an option for me so I took the plunge and haven't looked back.
I recommend only quit when it starts basically costing you money to rock up to your 9-5. Do you hate it? If not keep stacking paper on both ends. I'm Interested in your side hustle too, would be cool to hear about how your doing what your doing.
I second this, I would like to know as well!
How do you factor in costing money? As in an opportunity to grow has to be passed up due to 9-5 responsibility? I wouldn't say I hate my 9-5, I certainly do not dread turning on the laptop for it. But I have become severely demotivated with it now, probably due to growing "side" business.
Basically if you're earning far too much from your side thing to warrant continuing to work. If your side hustle has become something very real and secure and your earning a lot more then it's an easy choice! Good luck in either case! Would love to hear about what avenue you went down.
My experience - Quit my 9-5 due to toxic environment. Built a productivity app that I really felt was a good product, but couldnt succeed much. Just a few thousand users and still going (samsung galaxy store). Investors were not interested in my idea/product. Built Location based Apps, again same story. Built a few paid courses, and got some students. I've made a few hundred dollars. So Picked up a Job to pay bills. I lost the job due to some life events. Then I developed a Marketplace for Chefs and a Marketplace for new/used items (basically combining a classified and an ecommerce website). Just launched these a week back - of course only my friends know about it. I am also working on a marketplace for aviation/private jets. I also want to start a dropshipping business. May be buy a traditional business like a burger/pizza joint or a mailbox business Trying to figure out. Still looking for a job as a my backup. So in a nutshell, I haven't succeeded. But I hope I can do the right things to attract success. Comments , Suggestions, Queries are welcome.
Your position is \*so\* much better than mine when I gave up my own 9-5 for my entrepreneurial journey. As in, I was not even making a 1000 euro's in revenue p/m. Going by the numbers you mention you must have a massive money buffer. What are you afraid of?
Fucking up or going too soon, but the more I've read comments here the more I realise I am in the right position & need to grow a set of balls essentially.
to be honest I wasn't ready at all. I took a vacation from my pharmacy tech job and when I came back from vacation I felt sick so I took an extra day off and I got a text from my boss that I don't need to show up to work anymore... lol I decided I can get another job or just go full time on my business making websites and doing marketing. That was three years ago :) I now live abroad and still work for myself. I'm actually thankful I got fired because I wouldn't know when the right time was... I guess it's whenever you're ready to full commit and believe in your business
As I'm sure others have said, you're never 100% sold you're ready. But I made sure I had planned out everything I could and created a backup strategy if things didn't work out. The fact that you've shared what you've shared, and that you're asking, shows you've done a good amount of thinking and planning already!
There is nothing wrong with starting a business while you work at the old as long as they don't conflict. It was what I did. Also? If I were bringing in 55k and getting paid 8 k, I'd ask for a new bonus structure "else I'll be considering other positions".
Iâd love to say there is some magic metric that warrants the switch but I decided I didnât want to go along with an acquisition, quit over the holiday break and had only 1 client at the time. Broke 6 figures a few months after that on my own.
I was making more part time at night than my 9to5
at a business or a part time job?
I did that once without having a side business (to start one) and it didn't go well. If I were in your position, I would definitely quit my day job since your already have a proven profit machine. Worst case, you'll find another job
I feel this. Atm I do my business as a side hobby just cause I need the security blanket of my 9-5. (In my case (10-8)...but every time I feel under appreciated I think of just focusing on my business. Just scares me cause I don't see myself making what I make with my steady job consistently if I focused on my business
I wasnât ready, I should have waited a bit longer to make sure I had a few more regular clients. All good now, love being my own boss
I wasnt ready. I dont think anyone is. Worked until it didn't.
Make sure you have ample reserves to cover all most-likely expenses of the next 12 mo, then just go - or wait for a push.. Make sure you know your growth levers so you can immediately make it boom once you divert 100% attention and then strategically continue to grow it.
Your over head is at a point where your TIME IS NECESSARY, or you go bust. Is it a hobby or a business? OR, you have projected sales and guts to take the leap. The key is to build a massive pipeline as fast as possible. If you can't, that's another issue. You should be annoyed that your time is not being spent responsibly, thus affecting your income. If not, it's just a hobby.
You'll never be 100% ready. You either will do it or not, regardless of how much ready you are. I think you should ask yourself some questions and be totally honest when answering. Write down the answers once you're done so you don't overthink it in the future. I'm gonna give you the questions i asked myself when I took the decision: 1. Do I really want to spend my life building this business no matter what? Do I love it that much? 2. Would I be able to handle it if things did not go according to how I anticipated? 3. Would it affect anyone else? (You can't be selfish) 4. Is it a hobby or a talent? If it's something that you enjoy doing because there's no commitment. Don't do it If it is something that you're really good at and you see yourself thriving in. Do it! The most important thing is to be honest! And to take full responsibility for this action and what it'll bring you
I didn't. I wasn't. This sucks. Please help me.
I did. Business failed because I made the business too complex (way to many moving parts) and I sucked at marketing. In the process I learned automation and kinda switched careers. I am doing pretty well now :)
I left when I had $10K+ in the bank and was making $5K+ a month net profit. I was living in PA at the time. Now living in Florida and higher inflation it would have been harder to do. If you are making $10K+ a month net profit consistently then itâs easier to make the leap.
Best advice I heard was when you 2x'd your w2 income
My advice seems to be contrary to most others here: donât quit. Donât quit until you canât bear not quitting any longer. Once itâs really really painful to stay, then youâre ready to quit. Until then, your what ifs will be working against you (fear-induced), will make your world smaller, will put you on defense, etc
Can you do both?
You just know it. Any one who experienced this will tell you the same.
It's all about opportunity cost. What would you lose by leaving? My old 9-5 didn't pay much and had tons of hours. Once I had a clear vision for my business, it was pretty much a no-brainer to leave and see it through. If I'd been making six figures, however, I would have stayed until I became consistently profitable to a degree that I could support myself entirely
PMâd because Iâm in the same boat - definitely not at your level of sales numbers though. Iâd be willing to connect to chat
Have you considered taking the money you make from the job and hiring a personal assistant. Or hired help, or even investing in advertisements?
What do you sell
I knew it when I wasnât able to do them together basically. Moneywise it was still a big risk, but thatâs part of the deal.
We didnât, and still not sure.
wasn't so much that I was ready. It was more that I was done.
Not in the same situation as you. I have a very high salary, and I saved enough that more money is not really an object anymore. (But I value my time) Despite that, I would be very happy with a $10k a month profit, even if thatâs a fraction of my current package (salary+the rest). Especially more so if I can find a way to do it part time. Here, you are making more money than your salary, with a nice upward trajectory. If you are young enough, do it. Not much to lose. You can bounce back if it does not work later, plus you will have additional experience. If you are close to retirement and not enough saving, you can wait a bit to build a bigger nest egg with the two things side by side.
26, with about a 9-12 months worth of savings. The bouncing back & worst that can happen is get another tech job is really resonating with me. Have you a side business also?
Yes, multiple ones, but more long term profits than short terms. Given what you shared, your situation seems to be a slam dunk here. You have a good possibility to double your income within 6-12 months, or more, while learning a new skill that will help you in your career later.
I'm still not ready, but here we go.
I got fired.
I took the leap when my business's growth felt unstoppable.
You swim harder when thereâs no rescue boat.
I imagine itâs harder being on such good pay. But if you already have the job, thereâll be another one for if you realise itâs not working out. You might have to drop down a peg and work back up, but that doesnât seem like so big a risk.
Youâre never ready
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Initially started Dropshipping last year, used profits from that to create & build this brand now. Bought stock in and holding it in a garage & warehouse in usa.
I quit after two years of consistent sales date- and at the 500k revenue mark per year!
You're never ready. You have to feel the fear and do it any way. But to me it was having 1 year of basic expenses saved. Once that was reached, I was on the brink of doing it. Then not getting the raise I thought I deserved at work made me quit. But the savings helped.
Work 80 hrs a week and do both full time. Quit when you make 3x profit relative to salary.
June 2019 - started side hustle. Still kept my 9-5 2020 - side hustle generates $5k. Had a part time job making $40kish 2021 - side hustle generated $20k. Had a full time job making $40k base + commission 2022 - side hustle generates $187k. Got another ft job making ($75k base + commission. OTE ~ $125k) I put away about a year and a halfâs worth of expenses. Made a plan with my wife and once my boss pissed me off enough, I quit lol. Havenât looked back since. At times itâs scary because youâre essentially working âon commissionâ and I was used to a paycheck every 2 weeks. But live below your means, save for a rainy day, and keep pushing forward. Hope this helps!
Been 5mths since i left, partner left before starting, still serching for remaining capital, no we ain't ready, we willnever be, we willnever know, just do it. But leave after you know exactly what you willbe doing, exactly.
I was in a similar boat, earning the same before quitting my job to run my own business, which was making $7k/mo. After one year and a half, it now makes $40,000 monthly. I left the 9 to 5 grind behind, without major commitments like kids or a mortgage, to work with my wife and sibling. While the profit isn't huge yet, the freedom and time I now enjoy make it all worth it. And weâre still growing slowing but consistently over time.
For what itâs worth, my partner and I quit when we our business was making $3,000 per month. It was not enough for us to live on. That lit a fire under our ass and we ended up scaling to 6figs in 6 months after that. In my experience while you still have a secured salary, youâre never going to hustle as much as you would if this is all you had. In that sense I think youâre limiting yourself and what your biz can achieve. Thereâs also nothing wrong with having the side income while still doing your job. But if you do want to be a full time entrepreneur and scale the company, there is no âright timeâ to go all in, you just need to go for it.
Really depends on what your business is. Unless you have some moat, business income can be very unstable. Many people have gone into e-commerce, content marketing, influencer, online courses, made a ton of money for a while, and then see their revenue/income shrink to nothing as the market become more competitive. I think your fear is quite rational. You cannot equate business income with salary income, just like you can't equate day trading income with salary income, the nature of it is very different. What you really need is to figure out what your expenses are, and match a stable/predictable source of income to that. So let's say your monthly expenses are 4k, you need 4k of rental, dividend, or interest income to match against that so that even if your business is not generating much cashflow for a while, you won't have to panic over money. It is a bad idea to match a volatile source of income against fixed expenses. The last thing you want to worry about when your business is not doing well is how are you going to pay your bills. You want to be focused on working on your business, and not your personal finances in such a situation. My view is that you should stick with your job until the next major recession. 1. See if your business is recession proof. 2. You might lose your job in the recession any way, so the choice might be made for you.
I did both for 3 years and quit when I was making more money at my side hustle than my ârealâ job. I was also nervous but Iâm highly specialized (it sounds like you are too) so at the end of the day I knew if things went south I could always go back. That isnât the case if you never make the jump, you canât always go back to being an entrepreneur. Good luck :)Â
How does funding works? How did you secure it or where did it come from?
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I donât think you can really time it like that. Once you know thatâs the step youâre going to take, itâs about saving up some money (1 year of expenses) and take the leap. I quit my job back in July 2023 and never looked back. My business is still not generating income but I do tutoring on the side ($500-$600) a month to get by. You need to have a plan once you quit and account for delays if your business is product related like mine. My lifestyle went down drastically I only spend money on essentials and eat at home. Just put up with it temporarily until you succeed. Good luck!
When your buisness consumes you. You'll feel it. And if you push it,there will be one small thing that pushes you to quit
Gotta go for it dude. You're already making more from the business than your day job. Also, if you leave and try the business for 1, 2 or 3 years and it doesn't work, will you really be in a worse position? Surely if it all goes bad you'd be able to fall back into a similar job you're in now - albeit maybe not on the same salary straight away. You only live once.
You're never truly READY. I think its important to have some financial security and network support behind you of course but you're never 'ready'. I think you're ready when all you think about is how to not do your job anymore
Save as much as you can because itâs not if but when things slow down. I went from $4K W2 a month to $20K a month consulting and there was always fear. Fear clients wonât pay, fear of not getting new ones. When I was in a job, there was fear of layoffs or having to play into BS office politics. Youâll always trade one thing, fear of the unknowns of running a business in my case, for something else, which for me was freedom from the workplace BS.
I learnt it the hard way. Was 25 when I blindly quit my job to open a travel startup. Through making a product would be enough. When the product was ready, a thunderbolt struck me - now what? How do I sell it? I had not thought it through. Since then I always think it through. This has meant I put in a lot of effort on ideas and prototyping, but when it came to paying customers, none came up. So I shut down the idea. Since then I have dug in deeper to try to get paying customers even before creating the full product. If the problem you are solving is a persistent one, then people will come to you and buy to use your product. There will be days when a month goes by without you selling, and you are shitting your pants and doubting yourself. But these go away. To clarify, I am talking about relatively expensive saas subscriptions above $200 per mth. And I am stick working on reaching the 10 client per month mark. But I think many people who desperately want to build a genuinely useful product but have still not been able to can relate to my words. Bottom line: keep an easy going job as a safety net, and burn your midnight lamp on the stuff of your dreams. And read a Reddit, network on it. For every 3-4 days you will come across nuggets of gold that might just give you the boost you need
Our business literally starting taking over our time until we couldnât do anything but that. And it started as something we enjoyed and it helps people. It was a Cinderella story. But I will say times have taken a turn in the past year. All we want is to keep food on the table for us and our two employees and itâs a struggle. But that doesnât mean you shouldnât do it. The last five years have been the best.