Quitting a Job to Start a Business

I’ve never quit a job to start a business. I enjoy my job and the steady paycheck. One day, I hope to leave the corporate world and start a business. I think most people out there would prefer to work for themselves. However, sometimes life gets in the way; marriage, kids, a mortgage keeps you attached to a paycheck. You need it to survive. The aspirations you once had to start a business slowly wane.

Having a goal to one day work for yourself puts light at the end tunnel. Here are some strategies I use to keep myself focused on starting a business:

1. Compile lessons learned. When you start working in a career, you will compile experiences that can’t be taught. You’ll learn how to interact with different groups of people. You’ll experience different relationships with bosses, customers, coworkers, and partners. You’ll gain a skillset that is marketable. I like to call these experiences “lessons learned.” The more you work in a corporate setting, the more “lessons learned” you’ll have. When you are ready to jump ship, you will have an archive to reflect back on as you start a new business.

2. Save as much as possible while working. Maxing out a traditional 401k is a no-brainer. Take full advantage of the company match. Maintain a savings rate of at least 30-50% while employed. If you are not debt free, use your employer to help pay that off by working overtime, achieving bonus’s, and negotiating a raise. The more you have locked away, the easier it will be to walk away.

3. Take advice from people who’ve done it. “Never take advice from someone who hasn’t done it themselves,” is a mantra I tell myself when seeking advice. There’s nothing worse then to hear someone who preaches advice and wisdom without achieving results. It would be like taking advice from a college professor on entrepreneurship who hasn’t started a business. Seek out those who have left corporate America to start their own gig. Listen to podcasts such as Entrepreneur on Fire, Smart Passive Income, and the Tim Ferris Show. Those episodes are filled with real-life examples from individuals who have started their own business.

4. Don’t wait too long. The thought of leaving the career you’ve built is frightening. For me, the thought of leaving my current job is scary. I’m not ready to start my own business but I’m not going to wait forever. I know that to go out on my own, I’ll have to take a leap of faith and move forward. Maybe one of the hardest parts about starting a business, is just that, starting.

5. You don’t have to quit your job to start. Daymond John, one of the judges on the show Shark Tank and founder of the clothing line FUBU, is famous for working at Red Lobster for over seven years while he built his clothing line. The paycheck from Red Lobster was enough for him to stack money and invest in the business. The money kept him off the streets and he was able to focus on building the business while holding a job. You don’t have to quit a 9-5 to start a business. You will have less time to dedicate to your business, but it will be better than being homeless or hungry. I think we get too wrapped up on leaving our current situation without considering the ramifications of quitting too soon to start something new. You can build a business while working.

6. Prioritize your time. If you remain in the workforce, prioritize your time to work on your startup. Wake up early and spend an hour or two focused on your side hustle that you hope to one day turn into a business. Perhaps you can even carve out some time at work to focus. Effort will compound over time.

I’ve never quit a job to start business. I’m not the most qualified person to speak on this topic. One day, I hope that I can leave corporate America behind to start my own thing. In graduate school, I worked on consulting projects solo. The best projects in my consulting career are the ones where I independently operate. I am planting the seeds to do my own thing. If you have similar aspirations and feelings maybe one day you’ll start your own business.