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Quitting Your Job to Start Your Own Business Today Might Not be a Good Idea
August 14th, 2009 | Author: 
Safety net
However, if you are still in a good job that pays you well – regardless your passion for entrepreneurship – I suggest you not to quit your job just yet.
Let your job be your safety net
You should start a business while you are in the work force – Consider it a perk and a leverage that will help you enter entrepreneurship smoothly (and lower your risks, too.)
Some reason to justify the above:
- You still have the cash flow from your salary to fund your start up and your living expense while starting a new business.
- You can trial-and-error while still having a safety net in your job.
Choose your entrepreneurship path
Those who start a business while working 9-to-5 as an employee choose several paths: Weekend entrepreneurs (work on the start up on weekends), webpreneurs (build an online business), and part-time entrepreneurs (work before, in-between, or after your office hour.)
Whichever path you choose, when you are comfortable with your business and the cash flow from it, then you can start thinking about leaving your job.
I know I sound so conservative, but considering the unstable economy, despite the positive outlook, your cash flow can be disrupted at any given time.
One major drawback juggling between two different worlds
Starting a business while on employment has its own major drawback: You are tempted to stay in your job and run the business – Your justification: If everything goes this well, why bother quitting my job?
While your justification has valid ground, you might lose the opportunities your business can bring you – Something that can go viral and grow exponentially vs. your job safety. I, of course, choose the former than the latter.
Some advices
My advice is this: Quit your job as soon as your business’ profit can take over your salary, and once you decide to quit, avoid returning to the workforce at all cost. I heard too many stories that people are giving up on entrepreneurship easily when things went against their way. Doing this is not only wasting your resources, it also loses you plenty of opportunities that money can’t buy.
Entrepreneurship is a journey – not the end. Perseverance and continuous learning will bring you to unimaginable riches – even in the midst of today’s recession.
Ivan widjaya
Start a business using your office’s resource ;)
Image by edenpictures.
About the Author
Ivan Widjaya is the Owner/Editor of Noobpreneur.com. He is a web property investor, blogger and web property maker, and currently manages and writes for My Web Estate. He also runs a web design business, Chalcedony Design, specialising in Wordpress theme creation, and plenty other web business.
Visit Noobpreneur's profile and other posts.
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This is very valuable information. Everyone should subscribe to RSS feed for this blog!
Cheers :)
Thank you for this post! I did a Google search for “quitting job to run business” and I came up w/ this! I’m actually going through the same thing right now. Blogged about it: http://bit.ly/35iO4s
Hi,
The title fetched my immediate interest as I have done the exact thing which you are saying one should not do.
I left my job and started working on my own concept.
I did so because I think while crossing a river put your leg on only one stone , balance , proceed and not both legs on different stones simultaneously and fall.
This will sound strange but one should give proper justice either to his employer who has faith in you or business in which you have faith.
Enjoy. :)
Hi Jihan,
Pretty cool blog post that gives us idea why not to rush into entrepreneurship :) To note, the rule of “high risk, high gain” applies here – Taking risk plunging yourself into entrepreneurship can yield you high return. But that’s the upside, and in life we always have the upside and downside ;)
Hi Sanfeg,
I do agree with you. Balancing a day job with entrepreneurship is very difficult. All is coming back to each of us – Are we ready to go all-out? If so, by all means, let’s do it. But if not, we better take cautious steps.
To add, in my case, being ready means mentally and financially ;)
There’s also the saying that you should start your business young, live off your parents for as long as you can – that way you’ll get the best of both worlds =P
Good word for self-employed hopefuls. The number one killer of all start up business is underfunding. Letting the current J.O.B. fuel the future is wisdom and also affords the pressure relief every business baby needs to begin to crawl. If a person simply hates their job and dreams of going it alone, your advise give them that vision of hope while the work and help bring a potential bad attitude in check. The job suddenly serves a different purpose that encourages the vision.
Living the dream,
Darrell
Tan,
That could be a great strategy :))
Here’s another one – Marry someone filthy rich and you can start any businesses you want, anytime :D
Darrell,
Thanks for the good words.
Indeed, staying in a job with an entrepreneurial motive could even get the startup to be something big faster. Some wouldn’t agree with me, as doing two totally different world together will not do any good for both. But in reality, the major problem in startup is funding, just like you said – Unless, of course, you can secure funding sources that allow you to quit your job and live off from the funding for 3 to 6 months.
Good luck living your dream, Darrell! :)
Every one wants a steady paycheck. Only the ones willing to sacrifice can make it. what side of line are you on? both have ups and downs. In a society where the job market is always unpredictable, many people long for the security of steady work and a feeling of control. This is why so many of us turn to the idea of starting our own businesses. After all, this route holds appeal for plenty of reasons: you can be your own boss, set your own hours, and do something you enjoy for a living. However, not everyone who chooses the path of self-employment will necessarily be successful. While it is true that the majority of businesses in this country are small businesses, few start-ups make it past the three-year mark. This occurs for a number of reasons, from poor planning to inefficient marketing and poor qualifications. Therefore, if you are planning to start your own business, it is vital that you find out beforehand if you have what it takes to be a success.
Well said!
Being on both sides is challenging, as both of them demand your full attention. To add, the best way to enter entrepreneurship today is to make transition from 9-5 job to business ownership as painless as possible.
Taking much risks reward more, but careful planning followed with swift action can turn you into entrepreneur in the most convenient one. Remember, control is everything – Losing control and hand your future to fate is probably the least thing you’d do in today’s uncertain economy.
Thanks for sharing :)
Thank you very much i found this to be very helpful.
Thanks, Joseph!
Where possible, get a job doing something you’d like to own a business in one day.
That way you get paid to learn the business, build contacts and greatly increase your chances of future success.
Ade Shokoya – founder of ItsAnEntrepreneursWorld.com
P.S: Free Video Reveals The No.1 Mistake That Quickly Destroys Businesses In a Recession…Click here for more information.
Ade,
That’s one of the best practice – Focusing on learning as much while working for a boss, instead of focusing on the paycheck.
I agree, why not stay on at your job and slowly build a business so that you can support yourself WHILE the business grows
I think so, too – Yes, it seems conservative, but we must prepare for the worst these days…
i’m surprised this is one of the top google searches frankly. i’d prefer to an article that is based on facts, not someone’s opinions. this is not a compelling article.
denise,
Unfortunately, blogs are mainly about opinions… Perhaps you’d enjoy reading business journals and scholar papers, instead :)
I agree that it might not be a compelling article (I’m not a good writer!), but I guess search engines and other visitors think it is – that’s why it lands on top ;)