Hi everyone -
In a nutshell: I'm 34, MBA, corporate job for 8+ years, driven, motivated, independent, been wanting to start up a career coaching biz for a while now. Getting my website rebranded and will launch in a couple of months. Have about 300K in the bank. I'm slow-laner AF.
I want to quit my job and give myself TIME and SPACE to be creative and put my heart and soul into my new business. I have a solid offer, I am good at what I do, I know enough about online marketing and I have a sales background. But I don't have any revenue yet. I want to quit for my soul. I don't want to just pick up another corporate job to "pay the bills". I want to give this a real shot.
Has anyone else done this? Do you regret it? What things did you learn or wish you did differently? I hear from so many people who say 'don't quit yet'...but those people also tend to be less business savvy than I am, and be living off credit / have low cash reserves.
I'd love to hear your opinions.
Thanks!
JS
I've done this twice, under two radically different set of circumstances.
The first time I was 26, single, and moved across the world to be with my girlfriend.
I hated my job, and I was working on side projects but couldn't give myself to them 100% while having a job. So I ended my lease, sold 98% of what I owned, quit, and moved from the US to the UK.
My girlfriend's job was paying the bills, and I had a lot of space to pursue my business. In 24 months, I produced a ton of value, and still have passive income generating from that time. I was able to support myself, save money, and live a location independent lifestyle.
The second time I didn't "quit my job", but sold a business (i.e. steady cash flow) in exchange for a lump sum. I used that sum of cash to start up another business, which is a lot like quitting my job, but also not exactly the same.
The situation this time was very different.
I had moved into a place to support my now-wife, who was pregnant with my first child. I had a huge responsibility to take care of them, with a specific timeline required for success. I was counting the days until I had to get to a certain revenue number to support my growing family, and growing expenses.
I didn't make it in time. And had an extremely stressful 4 months job hunting with my accounts closer to zero than I would have liked.
My lesson: it depends entirely on your situation. If you can keep expenses low and have the mental space to work, it's beautiful. If you have a lifestyle you need to keep up, it's much more difficult, and could be traumatic. (For me, it took 2 years to recover).
Now that I am starting up another business, while having a job, I am juggling the two and finding that to be the best for my particular situation.