I am quitting my 9-5 this week. I am scared.

[levelupinnovator]

Hopefully you were able to calculate your runrate correctly. I used the app financeguru to find out that there were so many additional expenses (yearly e.g car insurance) that killed my runrate.

On the other hand just consider that it is really painful to slowly witness how your hard earned saving are dissapearing slowly month by month. I also had unexpected costs and had to blow 12k in one month to my project; that really hurts. Seeing how your savings go down are really demotivating and cause a lot of stress. Its good you have savings but I would still advise a part time job strongly. (it can also only be 25%)

This is reasonable. After having a few days to think about it and check my runrate, I think I would be ok for a couple of months, but maybe I need to save a little more. Ha car insurance and health insurance definitely make it hard to leave my job. If I do leave, I am getting a part time job. I turned in my resignation, but my supervisor wanted to give me an offer that they are going to formulate and give me to keep me there.

 

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[Ing]

Cant you negotiate to get freedom and ownership at your thoughts? And are allowed to do sthing beneeth the job?
Your situation seems to be quite strong at the moment

 

[GatsbyMag]

If you weren't so talented at engineering, I'd advise you to stay at your job.

But your talent and hard work has given you many options to consider, so even if you fail at one path, it seems you can easily find a new job. People are always in need of great engineers such as yourself, your profession is all about creating solutions.

I'm sure you'll be fine, instill confidence in your wife and share your dream with her, it's important to have people in your life to at least understand where you're coming from, can't have close family turning upon you when you're already facing outside friction.

 

[Knugs]

This is reasonable. After having a few days to think about it and check my runrate, I think I would be ok for a couple of months, but maybe I need to save a little more. Ha car insurance and health insurance definitely make it hard to leave my job. If I do leave, I am getting a part time job. I turned in my resignation, but my supervisor wanted to give me an offer that they are going to formulate and give me to keep me there.

I only realised later down the line that you also need to include the period between "business bust" and "starting job" as for most highly qualified jobs it will take a few months to go from finding a job, interviewing, contract and starting date. In my industry its quite normal that the process takes 2-4 months. And then you only get paid by the end of the first working month. All of this you have to take into consideration with your runrate. If you quit your job now how long would it take you to get the first pay check from the next job?
Someone might say that you can crossover those periods but to be honest: if entrepreneurship doesnt work out and you start thinking about looking for a job, the business is bust anyway. Especially when savings are almost depleted.

Sometimes the real negotiation starts with handing in the resignation. Then suddenly employers start to question why and start listening to the concerns. As long as we are just "beneath" the superiors and have to do as we are told, they can continue to ignore our complaints. Once you remove the power from the bosses such as you handing in your resignation, they lose the power over you. As now you are about to leave the company by the defined time in the contract. At the end of the day losing an employee is extremely annoying, expensive (recruitment cost/opportunistic cost) and has bad consequences on multiple levels. Especially when the emloyee is talented and highly skilled it will take them time to find somebody else. Its the classic "you dont value what you have until you lost it" moment. Even though you are an integral part of the companies success they will shit on you.

I suppose what we can safely say is that they did not expect your resignation and really want you to stay. Typically they will offer you a better salary (the fear is they are not competetively paying their employees and lose them to competitors). You might be succesful getting a raise and get the contractual stipulation removed from "insert date". Or they might start to become interested what ideas you have and might even voice an interest in supporting you on them (e.g allowing so much time during working hours focused on other projects/royalties). I suppose that largely depends on the company though. I dont think they will let you go into part time and if they do they will use the time to find your replacement.

 

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[levelupinnovator]

I only realised later down the line that you also need to include the period between "business bust" and "starting job" as for most highly qualified jobs it will take a few months to go from finding a job, interviewing, contract and starting date. In my industry its quite normal that the process takes 2-4 months. And then you only get paid by the end of the first working month. All of this you have to take into consideration with your runrate. If you quit your job now how long would it take you to get the first pay check from the next job?
Someone might say that you can crossover those periods but to be honest: if entrepreneurship doesnt work out and you start thinking about looking for a job, the business is bust anyway. Especially when savings are almost depleted.

Sometimes the real negotiation starts with handing in the resignation. Then suddenly employers start to question why and start listening to the concerns. As long as we are just "beneath" the superiors and have to do as we are told, they can continue to ignore our complaints. Once you remove the power from the bosses such as you handing in your resignation, they lose the power over you. As now you are about to leave the company by the defined time in the contract. At the end of the day losing an employee is extremely annoying, expensive (recruitment cost/opportunistic cost) and has bad consequences on multiple levels. Especially when the emloyee is talented and highly skilled it will take them time to find somebody else. Its the classic "you dont value what you have until you lost it" moment. Even though you are an integral part of the companies success they will shit on you.

I suppose what we can safely say is that they did not expect your resignation and really want you to stay. Typically they will offer you a better salary (the fear is they are not competetively paying their employees and lose them to competitors). You might be succesful getting a raise and get the contractual stipulation removed from "insert date". Or they might start to become interested what ideas you have and might even voice an interest in supporting you on them (e.g allowing so much time during working hours focused on other projects/royalties). I suppose that largely depends on the company though. I dont think they will let you go into part time and if they do they will use the time to find your replacement.

I will let you know the outcome. I am well rested & very relieved at the moment because for the first time I am in the position of power. It seems like that this could lead to a negotiation to higher pay. Which I may take. And then maybe increase how much money I have saved to set how long I could last without a job.

I also talked to them about the employement agreement, and they gave me a way to go around it. A loophole. So I am going to do that in the meantime.
Basically, create a business, then run it through the Conflict of Interest review board (takes months apparently) and have firewalls of what I can create and what I cannot do.


To me, I have been gaining a lot of clients that keep increasing my potential to leave my job. I have 2-3 projects that are all scalable and serve large markets. My clients are giving me 20% of the deal and I even have one that is 50%. I am just trying to get things in order so eventually I can make my escape. I think stopping a not getting pushed around was the right thing to do.
Even if it made me lose a ton of sleep and go through some anxiety ha!

 

[levelupinnovator]

This is reasonable. After having a few days to think about it and check my runrate, I think I would be ok for a couple of months, but maybe I need to save a little more. Ha car insurance and health insurance definitely make it hard to leave my job. If I do leave, I am getting a part time job. I turned in my resignation, but my supervisor wanted to give me an offer that they are going to formulate and give me to keep me there.

I got an offer of 10 K more added to my salary. I went ahead and took it for now.... I am happy for the opportunity to received like 5k more a year after taxes but still am not sure if this at all enough to keep me there much longer.

Thanks for your thoughts and support. My next move will be to leave indefinitely. As I am learning, there is no way to easily jump off. I am continuing my nightly grind and weekend grind as well. I love mornings, evenings and weekends because I can do what I really want. This is hard but definitely one of the most fulfilling missions to have.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Beebop27]

Hello to all,

I wrote my resignation letter and about to print it out and give it to my supervisor this Friday.
I currently work at an employer in Texas as a mechanical engineer and they pay enough to get by with extra discretionary. They give benefits to me that take care of my health and I have a flex schedule. I was hired fresh out of college 2 years ago.

When I initially got the call that I was hired and they sent me the offer letter, I was ecstatic. My hard 4 rigorous years at engineering school had paid off. How naive. I make 74k + benefits a year. I look now, and have 30k debt, get paid for time not my results and I signed an invention agreement that basically owns anything I think of or create. They OWN me. I talked with the legal team in corporate to see if I could get around this hurdle and they pleasantly told me no and I have to submit anything I do to the company. The only way I could get around is if I submit to a board which signs off and it goes in circles for months before they say if they are interested in taking my idea or not. WOW. I am a slave. This in my heart has really messed with me. HOW can I INNOVATE with these shackles? How will the world ever get better with corporate slag and bureaucracy?

I have been unmotivated and lifeless at my job for the last 8 months. I keep hearing that I should wait from "mid-class" friends and family until the recession is over but honestly I can't see a recession, I see people who are either working and producing, pivoting and being reactive ooorrr people who just complain how hard it is.

However, in these 8 months I have been planning my escape and fine tuning what I am best at. I recently got my first client who is paying 4k for me to design and build a prototype and then I am getting a 5% of the idea.
I also have other clients that I am working with whose ideas and passions are worth millions of dollars. I have percentages of those ideas too. I know it will be a struggle and I will have pain and disappointment but I have to do this for my soul. There is nothing worse than living in this quiet desperation of never being able to have a shot at my dreams.

Can't wait to be a member to this community and share a lot more to come. Your support is welcome. Thanks.


Edit:
Today I gave my two weeks, but they said that I was too valuable to leave. After very little sleep, alot of bickering with my wife and hard conversations with friends and family. Now my employer is wanting me to wait and give me an offer this upcoming week. What should I do? I told them ok, because I do not want my options closed but, I am not sure they are going to give me as much money as I'd want.
Thanks.

Fear is the necessity of all adventures...

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I got an offer of 10 K more added to my salary. I went ahead and took it for now.... I am happy for the opportunity to received like 5k more a year after taxes but still am not sure if this at all enough to keep me there much longer.

Thanks for your thoughts and support. My next move will be to leave indefinitely. As I am learning, there is no way to easily jump off. I am continuing my nightly grind and weekend grind as well. I love mornings, evenings and weekends because I can do what I really want. This is hard but definitely one of the most fulfilling missions to have.

Thanks for listening.

Normally I would say you made the right decision.

But it seems like you are a great engineering talent being bottled up. In short, they just bribed your dream away for about $6,000 in after-tax money. They see a rockstar, and you know it.

Your heart knows what is the right decision.

And as long as you keep your engineering talent fresh, there will always be another job waiting in the worst case scenario.

As you said, your weekly and nightly grind has never been more important. Make sure quitting becomes the clear and obvious choice. Perhaps have a year's expenses saved, or the beginnings of a revenue stream from your projects.

They next time you want to quit, it should be the last time ... in other words, no amount of money can bribe you to stay.

I remember when my business was just starting to grow, I was probably profiting about $2K a month. Yea, not a lot of cash. But at that time in my life, I would NOT have accepted a job at $1,000,000 a year. No way. I knew where I was going, how I was going, and nothing was going to get in my way.

Anyone know who's the oldest active member?
Apart from no 1

The oldest active members are @royemunson -- user #4
followed by @SteveO -- user #6
followed by @biophase - user #23
@andviv - #32

Other Notables @Luke12321 #34 @Runum #60 @Sid23 #63

 

[Einfamilienhaus]

Your dream was sold for 420 bucks in a month after paying taxes.

Nevertheless you earn more than the average person earns. So it is still a good outcome. But your high payment could also be the reason why you maybe never will create something you want. Instead you will hope year after year for a better payment and maybe you will also waste your potential.

Think about it. If your boss can give you within two weeks 10k more. He could also give you 50k, 100k or even 1 Mio more just like that. Your time, knowledge and specialization is the reason why your boss can sleep quietly at night.

The only way of earning fair money is by being his own boss. No matter how much money you earn in the company. Your boss earns 10x times more.

 

[Andy Black]

I got an offer of 10 K more added to my salary. I went ahead and took it for now.... I am happy for the opportunity to received like 5k more a year after taxes but still am not sure if this at all enough to keep me there much longer.

Thanks for your thoughts and support. My next move will be to leave indefinitely. As I am learning, there is no way to easily jump off. I am continuing my nightly grind and weekend grind as well. I love mornings, evenings and weekends because I can do what I really want. This is hard but definitely one of the most fulfilling missions to have.

Thanks for listening.

Sounds like a nice stop gap, but you (and they) know it’s just temporary.

I like that you have clients for your services already. I think the easiest way to start a business is to go contracting. Setup a business and sell the skills you were paid for as an employee. Then figure it out from there.

Oh, and above all else, your manners and attitude are will what makes you a success. They’re obvious from your replies.

 

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[Flint]

I need the support. It seems like not many people in my life are happy or disowning me from my decision.

Just so you know this is part of the crab mentality always at play when sidewalkers and slowlaners give fastlane-related advice. They may think you'll fail because you're going off the beaten track. But it's also an ego-protection mechanism: if you go against their belief system and succeed, it'll poke their mindset and hit the nerve. They don't want that. Negative opinions and lack of support are simply a form of self-defence. Don't take it personally.

I can relate though. Been there, done that. It's definitely a great thing to have support of like-minded people and be guided by successful mentors. The road is hard when travelled alone.

I got an offer of 10 K more added to my salary. I went ahead and took it for now.... I am happy for the opportunity to received like 5k more a year after taxes but still am not sure if this at all enough to keep me there much longer.

Ok this is how far you were able to carry this burden and needed to hit the break to release the overall pressure. Fine. The weight was a bit too heavy to lift all at once for the first time, so a few deep breaths and get ready to tackle it again. Regroup and prepare for the next steps. Find a way to lift it. Maybe in smaller chunks, maybe slower, maybe all at once when you the form right. You know the feeling now, so the next time it'll be that tiny bit easier. What did you miss? What where you not prepared for? What do you need at hand next time? Try to eat this elephant one bite at a time.

You're getting great advice too. You've got this. Back to the drawing board.