Transitioning from a secure, 9-5 job to the unstable world or Entrepreneurship can be very daunting. You certainly do not want to make such a big commitment before equipping yourself with as many tools as possible to be successful. Waiting too long can be just as damaging. So, what is one to do? The answer varies from person to person and from business to business. While timing is important, both when it comes to seasonality and business trends and timing in your personal life, it is impossible to find the perfect time to start the transition from working for others to working for yourself. If you get hung up on timing, you may continue to push the transition back further. There are always reasons to keep a steady paycheck for “just a few more months” until you take that trip, pay off that loan, or get to a certain point in the business.
In many cases, the best approach is to just take the leap as soon as your business can sustain it, and try to rise above the excuses to delay.
Here are some of the many tools to help you take on this big step more securely.
1. Do Your Homework
The thought of starting your own business can surely be exhilarating, and it should be! You definitely should try to make the most of the drive and momentum that you have while beginning your journey. This does not necessarily mean quitting your job right away and going into the e-commerce world blind. You need to make sure you do your due diligence to learn about the market you have chosen, its seasonality, growth over time, future potential, etc.
There are many courses out there for every selling platform and for every niche. Some are free, and some can be quite expensive. To begin your journey, you do not need to spend huge amounts of money teaching yourself the basics. This can easily be done with free YouTube tutorials. You can also find good courses on specific areas of your interest for as low as $10. All you need to do is research. I highly advise you find videos that are current, as the reselling world is ever changing, and you need to be aware of the updated information.
In reselling, you can start off as a hobby, listing items for sale that you may find around your house. This will give you a taste for the whole process as well as show you the difference between Revenue and Net Profits. Different platforms charge different fees and there are multiple ways of selling items. The more you know about these options, the more you will be able to choose what works best for you.
An important considering while you are preparing to start or scale your business to become a full-time hustle is to make sure you know specifically what niche you want to focus on. Choosing a niche is important, so make sure to think about this piece in detail before quitting your job. Focusing your attention and learning on a niche will help you to become an expert much quicker.
As part of your homework, try to do revenue and profit projections. This will help you to set some short-term goals for your business when you first begin. You can then also work on long term goals. For all your goals, make sure you draw yourself actionable plans on how you will reach these goals. Remember, “A goal without a plan is just a wish” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
2. Save an Emergency Fund, and Leverage Your Benefits While You Can
There are many benefits to being your own boss, but there are also downsides. As someone who transitioned from a career job to working full-time on building a reselling business, I can say that what I have given up has been a small fraction of all the great things I have received in exchange. This can certainly vary from person to person though. For example, just before I quit my full-time job, I fell ill. It cost me a pretty penny to get my health back on track and I was able to do that with the help of my job’s health insurance as well with my steady paycheck. This would have been a tremendous challenge had I been a recently self-employed entrepreneur trying to get my business to take off.
It is impossible to prepare for all the rainy days you may face, but you need to take the time to consider worst case scenarios, and understand the security that you are giving up when deciding to quit your job.
It is extremely important that you take time to build up an emergency fund before making the leap, so you have cash to fall back on if things don’t go as planned. Aim for six months of expenses in a high-interest savings account for this. This is possibly the most important step to take before quitting your job, so don’t skip this one! Try to make sure that this money is kept aside, and don’t invest it in the business, as tempting as that may be.
Note that during the first few months of your business, it’s likely that you won’t be able to live on the income from the business. Reinvesting profits back into the business is crucial for its growth, particularly at the beginning. Even if you are successful and become profitable early on, you need to be mindful of reinvesting as much as you can back into it to continue to grow. Taking money out too early to pay for a vacation, for example, could be the difference between you hitting your goals and not doing so. This is why your emergency savings fund is so critical.
Also, make sure to research all the benefits your company currently gives you and your family, and have a plan as to how you will replace this once you leave. Leverage those benefits while you are preparing to quit. If you need medical check-ups, do them before you quit. If your company has other specialized benefits, use them. Set yourself up for success from the moment you quit your job, as much as possible.
3. Network and Build Relationships
Networking and building relationships can be a determining factor in your success. One of the biggest deterring factors for networking could be that you believe as a newbie, you can not bring enough value to the table. This is very incorrect. You may be a newbie in reselling or online business, but you have had years of experience in your current 9-5 that have given you relevant skills to bring to your table. Your education background may have also given you some valuable skills that give you a comparable advantage above other resellers; even those who have been doing it for years.
Building relationships can be a driving factor for you as you will want to keep pushing yourself to the level you envision yourself at. Being surrounded by like-minded people is very encouraging. It is also reassuring to know that others who have done what you wish to do have found enough success to continue at it.
Networking will happen naturally as you build your business, but the earlier you can prioritize this, the better you will set yourself up for success. If you get to know other resellers that have moved to full-time before you do, then you can ask them your questions, and build a mentoring relationship with them. This will help to give you confidence throughout, and also help to reduce mistakes during those crazy initial months after you move to full-time.
4. Have a Back Up to Your Back Up
“Fail fast, fail hard, fail often.” (Reshma Saujani, CEO of Girls Who Code).
So, your first idea may not be successful. Or your second one. You need to build yourself some cushion to be able to make mistakes and continue with your journey to be your own boss. You may feel very enthusiastic about a niche in reselling. For example, you want to sell books, and only books. But having a back up to your business idea is great practice, as it gives you an alternative option to quickly pivot to if needed. If your primary idea fails, what other ideas do you have that can also take off? If the first idea succeeds, you can put your all into it until it is automated to a level of your comfort. You can then start working on your second idea, and then a third.
Diversification is critical in business. Don’t stop at one revenue stream. You won’t figure this out at the very beginning, but it’s important to keep it in mind. When you’re preparing to quit your job, you need as much security as possible. You need a plan, and a back-up plan. If you can take some time to learn a second niche in detail for your reselling business, that is a good way to give yourself this safety net.
5. Ignore the Haters
One last but not-least tip. Try to avoid external influence. Don’t let others convince you that it’s a crazy idea. They don’t know what you know about the opportunity you have with your business. They don’t have the entrepreneurship mindset that you have. They will try to tell you that you’re crazy. Trust your own research and your own understanding of the situation. Also, don’t let others influence or put pressure on your timeline to quit. Just like you will have people trying to influence you to keep your job, you may have others telling you to quit tomorrow. YOU make your own timeline. Make sure you are comfortable, have done the research, have clear goals outlined, have a back-up plan, have grown your business to a sustainable point already, and perhaps most importantly, have a rainy-day fund to cover emergency expenses.
Now you are ready to go quit your job! Kidding…but you are closer to it! I don’t think anyone ever feels ready.
But when your business is ready, and you gave a very clear game plan to scale it, then it may be time to take the leap. While still in your job, continue to scale your business in the evenings and weekends until you know it can sustain you. Make sure to keep in mind that you need to avoid taking all profits out of the business to cover expenses, or you will inhibit the growth. Factor this in to your calculations.
You will never feel fully ready to quit your full-time job to become solely reliable on yourself for income. You can, however, equip yourself as best as possible to make the leap less daunting and give yourself some room to fail, build yourself back up, and begin again. There are many to-dos that can be specific to your business so make sure you add those to your list too!
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Have you made the leap yet? If so, what did you find was the most important tool you equipped yourself with? If not, do you plan to go full-time with your business some day? Comment below!
