I have a friend who doesn’t like his job. He wants to go into business for himself, but he also doesn’t know how to get from point A to point B. How do you make the break without it hurting your wife and kids?
I sat down with him recently and gave him some action steps. Here’s what I told him to do.
1. Determine how much money you need to make.
How much money will you need to make in this new business? Not how much money are you making now… But how much money do you really need? Determine your minimum so you can have an accurate measure of whether or not you can make it work.
2. Decide what you’re willing to sacrifice to make this happen.
Are you willing to sacrifice cable or HBO? Can you sacrifice nights and weekends? Can your spouse? Sit down with all the people your decision affects and determine what you’re willing to sacrifice. I guarantee something will need to be a bit painful when you’re first starting out. Decide what you’re willing for that to be.
3. Moonlight until you make a percentage of the income you need.
Decide a number—maybe 25 or 30%—and start moonlighting in order to make that much money. If you find you’re able to do it, there’s a good chance you can be successful quitting your job and starting your own company.
4. Set a “quit date” for your current job.
Put in your notice at your job. Don’t make it two weeks, though. Make it two months. That’s generous to your current employer, but it also forces you to do real work to make your company happen during that time period.
5. Start increasing your moonlighting.
During those two months, start working your butt off to get clients or to make sales. This will be the busiest season of starting your company. But the light at the end of the tunnel is only two months away.
6. Give yourself a fair window to make it happen.
Once you’re out of your job, you’ll probably still have a bit of a gap between what you need and what you make. Decide how long you’re willing to devote to making your idea happen. Maybe 3-6 months. If it doesn’t work in that time period, maybe you should get a part-time job or abandon the idea.
But don’t give up before you’ve given it a fair shot.
It’s important to count the costs before you quit your job and start a business. But once you’ve counted the costs, make the leap. You can do it! Just prepare your steps and submit those steps to God.
Those are the steps I shared with my friend. What would you add to the list? What steps are necessary to ease some of the tension of going out on your own to start a business?