I remember when I made that decision.
Here are all the things I considered before making the decision to leave my $125k/year job for my business.
Income vs. Expenses
This one is very important to me. I don’t think it is wise to YOLO your way into being a full-time entrepreneur. I think it should be very practical and obvious when you make the switch.
I’m pretty sure EVERYBODY who starts a business thinks it is going to be successful.
Unfortunately, that’s not how it is. Lots of businesses fail.
So making sure I could still pay all my bills was an important part of my decision to quit my job.
When I made the jump, I was making less than the $125k/year I was making from my job… but it was enough to cover all my expenses.
Who suffers if I fail?
If I was 20 years old, I probably wouldn’t have given it as much thought when I left my job to pursue my business full-time.
But at the time, I was married with a mortgage, a kid, and one more kid on the way. I had some responsibilities!
My wife wasn’t working so I was the sole provider for the family.
So my success was very important to our whole family.
My choices had a direct impact on me, my wife, my kid, and my soon-to-be second child.
So what suffering would occur if I failed?
Turned out… not the suffering I thought of at first.
What is the worst-case scenario?
I forget where I learned this, but the realistic worst-case scenario isn’t really that bad.
Some people leaving their job for a business might think… if they fail, they will lose everything.
Won’t be able to pay the bills, will the lose house, etc.
But is that really true?
No way!
I will go find a job!
I will make ends meet!
So when I thought about that, I played out what that worst-case scenario would be.
I would:
- Lose income slowly (recurring revenue business model so income would go down over time not go to $0 immediately)
- Have troubles paying some bills
- Go back to my employer to try to get my job back
- Reach out to family and friends to see if I can get a referral for a job
- Start applying for jobs like crazy like I did before I got my latest job
At the time, my house was worth $70-$100k more than I bought it for.
So actual worst-case scenario would involve selling my house and having a bunch of cash to buy me time to find another job.
It would suck… but we would be OKAY!!!
It took a lot of pressure off the decision by going through this process of knowing the most realistic worse-case scenario would be.
So I had to decide if I wanted to risk my nice paying job to pursue my lifelong dream of being a business owner.
At the time, it was still very scary for me to leave something so secure.
But I had to decide what mattered most.
What will I regret more?
I wanted to pursue my dream of owning my own business full-time. It has always mattered so much to me.
I knew the risks, and I knew the rewards.
To make the decision…
I had to decide which I would regret more:
Scenario 1:
I keep my secure job, make decent money, but always hate working for somebody else and feeling like a deadbeat.
And honestly, always wondering “what if” when it comes to my business that was picking up steam.
Scenario 2:
Leave my secure job to grow my business full-time.
I fail, I can’t get my job back, and I’m having a hard time finding a new job.
I sell my house and continue grinding each day just trying to find a job that can pay the bills.
Things work out… but they were hard.
When it came down to it, I was willing to risk being stuck in Scenario 2 for a shot at becoming a success business owner.
Chances are, it wouldn’t even be that bad. But even if it was, I was okay with taking the chance.
And luckily, so was my wife.
I took the plunge… left my job… and it has worked out so far!
