People dream of eventually quitting their full-time day job in favor of finally managing their own business or company. Some might have even started their business projects already. However, quitting your day job in favor of your entrepreneurial effort takes a lot of guts to do. It’s not every day that you can start your own business, and then leave your primary job- the one that’s been supporting you consistently.
But maybe- you shouldn’t quit your day job just yet. Maybe you can hold out until it’s time to focus exclusively on your business. Let’s take a look at a couple of reasons why, and how you can prepare for it.
Why You Shouldn’t Quit Your Job Just Yet
Other than salary, there are few more reasons why you should try to manage both your full-time job and entrepreneurial efforts. Below are some of those reasons.
You Learn a lot From Failure
For one, people learn a lot from failures. However, committing failures in your business can be dangerous, especially when it’s the only financial revenue you’re relying on for income. Having a day job will allow you to learn from business mistakes without being severely affected.
Let Your Idea Simmer
When people have ideas, especially good ideas, it’s not exactly best to immediately act on them. You might have started your business already, and perhaps it’s going good- and you’ve finally figured out a way to make it your sole business. However, don’t quit your day job just yet. Let your idea simmer, let it stay a few days, and run it through people you trust. You’ll be able to hone and refine your idea into something fool-proof and stronger than your initial one.
Don’t Be Financially Reliant on Your Project
As mentioned in the first point, when you intend to quit your day job, you’ll be relying on your entrepreneurial effort more. And you might feel optimistic that you’ll get more jobs or work, but the reality is quitting your day job will inevitably lead to you taking a financial loss because you have one less income stream. Relying solely on your business’ income for your salary can severely hamper your business, if not outright harm it.
Tips Before You Start Your Entrepreneurial Project
Of course, we understand you still want to eventually quit your day job and devote all your time and focus on your business. Here is some advice on what you should do before you quit, so that when the time comes that you leave your day job, everything is secured and prepared.
Keep Researching
Any entrepreneurial effort will always include a lot of research. And that research process will never end but that’s a good thing! Before you start a property management franchise business, or a restaurant chain, or any business at all, you will have to study and research it intently. To remain competitive in it, you have to constantly study and hone your craft.
Always Have a Business Plan
You can’t come into business without a plan- especially if you intend to eventually leave your full-time job for it. Create a plan that takes you through your journey from doing your entrepreneurial work on the side to finally doing it solely. Have benchmarks and guidelines for both the business and yourself.
Prepare Your Capital and Emergency Fund
Before you quit your day job, save up the money for both added capital and emergency funds. Again, you will be losing an income stream and focusing your efforts on your business. Should anything happen, you want to be prepared. If the business seems like it will take a hit, you need to be able to weather it and not be severely impacted- and using this opportunity to prepare resources to address that will seriously help.
Organize Your Business
You need to amp up the organization and structure of your business if you’re intending to leave your day job. Struggling with organization and structure once you’ve quit can be a difficult experience that can make your initial months even more difficult than they should be. Before you make the jump, prepare everything- and prepare everything about your business, from its operations to staff adjustment.
Develop Your Portfolio
Because you’ll be focusing all your efforts on your business, you want to hone your business’ portfolio (and by extension, yours). It is at this point that you should be very considerate with the jobs you take, only choosing the ones that are deemed “worth it” and not associated with dubious clients. Take care of your portfolio, as you’ll be relying on it quite soon.
Preparation is always the key to major decisions like this. Make sure to prepare your every move, and you’ll have an easier time with the transition.
