5 Things to Remember Before Quitting Your Job to Become an Entrepreneur
Stories of successful entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Steve Jobs may have inspired you to become one yourself. You may even have a business idea you’ve been wanting to try out but your day job is preventing you from becoming a full-time entrepreneur. If you’re looking at quitting your job to pursue your dream of starting a business, here are five tips that you should keep in mind:
1. Start your business on the side
Although it will be more work for you since you have a full-time job and setting up a business at the same time, you can gauge your resources and skills if you start your business on the side. You can also see if you are cut to be an entrepreneur or not while still retaining the salary from your full-time job.
When starting a small business while still employed, don’t go all in and only work on things you can handle. Remember that startups never start big and only grow over time as more customers are introduced to the startup’s products and services. Additionally, you also won’t be using up all your resources at the beginning and you will be able to plan carefully your funds within the next few months or years.
Since you will be starting your business on the side, you can seek help from your family and friends when it comes to certain operations (e.g. accounting, marketing, IT, etc.) or even when creating a detailed business plan. If they are efficient with their work, consider making them co-founders if you plan on becoming a full-time entrepreneur in the future.
2. Bootstrap your business
Bootstrapping is defined as the use of cash without outside funding when running a business. Since outside funding (whether it be public investment rounds or angel investments) is absent in bootstrapping, entrepreneurs use their own personal funds to run the business. Most businesspeople at the start of their careers utilize bootstrapping and only go into public funding once they’ve managed to consistently grow their business.
Bootstrapping doesn’t mean using all your hard-earned savings or retirement when starting the business. Start small and only use resources for your current customer base. Once you’ve started to build your brand, slowly add funding to your business. Bootstrapping is the ideal scenario especially if you start your business on the side.
3. Don’t be afraid of failure
If you’ve read about the stories of the most influential entrepreneurs today, then you know that these stories revolve around “not fearing failure.” It’s true, you should never fear it as failure is one of the most important factors in finding long-term success as an entrepreneur. J.K. Rowling was rejected by 12 publishers, Mark Zuckerberg was sued by his business partner, Steve Jobs was fired by the company that he founded; these entrepreneurs used failure as motivation to get where they are today.
It’s true that starting entrepreneurial ventures can be tough and nerve-wracking, but as long as you believe in your plan then you can easily overcome every challenge that comes your way. Don’t let fear stop you from becoming your best self!
4. Forecast your revenue
Money is the lifeblood of any business. With your limited funds at the start, you need to forecast your revenue to properly gauge how your business will be doing financially in the immediate future. It’s additional work but it helps you from losing money at a fast rate.
Entrepreneurs usually create forecasts during the first three years of the business. You don’t need to follow the same template but make sure to create a forecast at least for the first year. List down all your revenue sources and expenses. If you will be adding in funds, make sure to include them in the forecasts. Don’t be overly optimistic or pessimistic but try to create a realistic forecast based on how your business will grow in the next few years.
You can also get help from an accountant or a bank officer if you’re having trouble creating one. They may not be familiar with the industry you will be operating in but they can easily identify startup costs you will be incurring and help you limit those costs in the future.
5. Build an entrepreneurial mindset
Not fearing failure is only one part of becoming a startup entrepreneur. By having an entrepreneurial mindset, you won’t only find success but you also easily overcome struggles no matter how difficult they are. As you may know, having this mindset constantly is completely different when you are a full-time employee. As an entrepreneur, you make all of the decisions and you don’t have a cushion to fall to if you make mistakes.
As a person running a business, be prepared to handle all of the ins and outs of your business (even if you have a business partner) and also be prepared to work seven days a week. You are no longer in an 8-5 job where you completely shut off your duties once logging off from work.
By having an entrepreneurial mindset, you will also be able to build relationships that you can later leverage to grow your business. Constant communication with stakeholders is essential for every entrepreneur.
Final thoughts
The items listed above are just five tips for entrepreneurs to become successful if they plan to quit their current jobs. So, if you plan on becoming a successful businessman yourself make sure to weigh all of your options first before filing a resignation and venturing into the world of entrepreneurship.
