A great business has a lot to do about good timing. Aspiring entrepreneurs then often ask the question: when is the best time to quit the job and start doing business? The quick and easy answer some would offer is to trust your gut. There’s a reason your intuition says go or no, and it’s worth following that unspoken rationale. But if you need a more solid answer, ask yourself these questions.
How are you financially?
Obviously, running a business is no cheap task. In the first few months and years, expect to have little to no returns on investment. In fact, you may have to sacrifice personal capital to keep the business going. Without enough resources, you can easily disappear off the face of the business world. In other words, your venture hangs on your financial stability.
That’s why money matters you should be the first things you need to check before saying goodbye to your job altogether. Will you be able to sustain the venture (and your family’s lifestyle) with the savings you have? How much time will it take to break even and get the returns? What’s your estimated figure for the capital you need to finally launch? Where would you get funding for the continued operations?
These questions should help you come up with a good financial plan that would reduce the risks of falling into dangerous money pits and ultimately, the demise of the business. Once you got that plan in place, it’s safe to say it’s okay to quit the job already and focus on your venture.
What’s your motivation in doing this?
Many people choose to abandon their jobs because they’re unhappy. They feel like business will be the answer to their work woes. If you’re in this boat, you’re probably not ready yet to shift gears at this point. In the same way that there are days when you feel like quitting your job, there will be times when you would want to abandon your business altogether.
Most new entrepreneurs experience burnout in the first few years of their business. They feel alone. They suffer a lot of self-doubt. So if your motivation for doing business is to dodge the ills of the 9-5 job, sorry to break it to you, but it won’t be easier on the other side of the fence. You need to have a far more solid motivation for being an entrepreneur to actually power through the business life.
For instance, you probably believe that your business will be a breakthrough in the industry or that it can solve a problem working moms have long been frustrated at. Or perhaps, you’re simply committed to filling hungry stomachs with your sub shop franchises. The bottom line is, find a strong, indestructible motivation for being an entrepreneur.
Do you really need to leave the job ASAP?
Most new entrepreneurs view their jobs as an obstacle to growing a business. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are a lot of people who are able to hold down a job while doing business. It’s a win-win situation for them, as they have a stable paycheck that fuels what they want to do.
If you can keep your job while building the foundations of your business, do it. Once it’s time to scale up, the period when you’ve already gained some traction, that’s when you consider leaving the job. Of course, just make sure that you step up your time management skills and no-distraction strategies. You need a hundred percent of your focus all the more, juggling two important tasks.
Timing is a big consideration in starting a business. Ask yourself these questions as you do your soul-searching before taking the plunge. And of course, you can always just trust your gut.
