While it’s only a tiny percentage of online business solopreneurs that manage to fulfil their dreams of working on their business full-time;
Many have done the leap already, and I see no reason why you can’t either.
However; quitting your job is a tricky, ballsy endeavour and you need to be absolutely sure of what you are doing before you actually write that “f-you I’m out” email to your COO.”
Last week I write my guide on how to do affiliate marketing with a 9-5 job which shows you how you can, in fact, manage both and how to prepare for the leap whilst you still have a job.
This post is for those who are on the brink of it; who have already built a successful, income-producing business that can support their desired lifestyle.
I’m also one of the ‘lucky ones” (it’s more hard work than luck but whatever) that has managed to build a business and quit – a very good job – to go at this full time.
This post is what I have learned so far, and I have been free of the “5 am wake up call to go sit in traffic for an hour” life that I know many of you are struggling with since January 2018.
Here’s my guide on how to quit your job to work on your online business:
Class is in session.
First things first:
Secure The Next 12 Months
Before you do anything stupid; secure enough liquid cash to last you 12 months if you never had to make another single $$ with your business.
This is extreme, yes, and it’s very unlikely your business would go to $0 the next day you quit, but it’s a great way to have peace of mind.
Quitting a job is risky business – it’s exciting sure; but it’s also risky.
You can have the best business plan in the world but you would still feel the “oh shit it’s happening” feeling in your gut once you are ready to pull the plug.
The best way to ease this discomfort is to have secured enough money to help get you through a year in case of some major catastrophe.
Again; it’s not needed (and you could probably do with just 6 months) but I highly advise you put away as much as you can – just in case.
Trust me when I say; you do not want to quit your job to work on your business only to have to go back and beg for a job since it went to shit (most probably due to you not planning wisely). That happened to me and I do not recommend it to anyone.
Don’t Be Rushed To Make The Jump
Online business is definitely exciting, and once you start seeing your hard work pay off and you are suddenly making money literally in your sleep; there’s no better feeling.
It’s like a drug.
And just like a drug that dopamine rush can lead you to make some unwise decisions like quitting too soon.
Now I know of highly successful online business owner that quit right after their first $10 sale, and it has worked out tremendously well for them but it’s not something you should be emulating.
The more success you have online, the quicker you want out of that 9-5 so you can fully dedicate to it more hours to lead to more success.
I get that and I admire the vision and guts but please; don’t rush it.
In my case; I had no family to take care of and no debts so there was minimal risk, but I hear too many horror stories of people with a family to support and a mortgage to pay that just get blinded by the commissions coming in every morning and start making unwise decisions.
I’m not here to tell you how to run your life or how to plan your finances – I’m not qualified to do so and I definitely do not pretend to be – my point here is to keep a level head and march on.
The plus side to this is the more you are able to stick to a job in the beginning (which again I know its hard) the more cash you can have saved up so you feel less and less stress once you do make the switch.
How Much Money Do You Need To Quit Your Full-Time Job?
This is not for me to tell you.
I live a very modest lifestyle and as I said I had no debts nor a family to raise – if I did, things would’ve worked out differently and I would’ve had to be making more online when I quit.
Generally; the best advice I can give is to wait till you replace your full-time income.
For some, they may need more than that and for others, they can make do without that much (as long as they are out of their job they’re happy).
Again; this is your call to make, and I would suggest you take an afternoon to sit down with a pen and paper and note down all your finances to get a “bird’s eye view of it.”
If you’re going to be the boss, you might as well act like one before you quickly go back to being “the frustrated employee.”
How To Use Your Time Wisely
Now that you’re out, what are you going to do?
You going to wake up late? Stay watching TV at home all day? Procrastinate on Twitter while you’re taking a mid-afternoon nap?
I hope not.
Unless you’re making a lot of money already and your work has been outsourced you really have no business, IMO, to sit back and be less-disciplined with your business then when you were holding down a 9-5.
Be disciplined with yourself, have a to-do-list you need to get through every day no matter what (if you finish it at 10 am good for you, if you finish it at 10 pm that’s on you).
Way too many believe the hype that online business runs on an hour a day but it runs on an hour day, it does not grow.
The tasks I must do every day can probably be done by 10 am, but I am doing way more than that because I want to keep on growing.
If you’re not quitting your job with the hopes of putting in more time to your business working both harder and smarter, then I am afraid you should reconsider.
It’s tough to stay focused and motivated when you are your boss – that I can promise you – so add a bit of discipline to your day any way you can.
You’re also about to find out soon that your boss may have been an asshole at times, but it was an asshole decision that needed to be had for the good of the business.
BONUS TIP: Manage Your Money
I can’t stress this enough.
I was all done and ready to publish this post, but I can’t do a post on how to quit your job to work on your business and not mention how important it is to manage your time and also your money.
You don’ need an accounting degree, all you need is a money management app that allows you to track income and expenses.
Remember; what you can track you can manage and what you can manage you can expand.
* your goal should be expansion.
Again; if you are quitting your job to be able to stay lazying around at home, then you are setting yourself up for a major failure.
In fact I work harder and longer now that I am my boss – it won’t last forever of course because I do plan on outsourcing more and more tasks, but I’ll only be a success at outsourcing once I know all the costs and time-expenses my business needs.
Still Not Ready To Quit Your Job?
Not a problem.
The internet is here to stay, and there will always be a way to make money online. That’s true for today and true for 10 years from now.
However; as the Chinese proverb goes, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago and the second best time is today.
If you want to quit your job with the hopes of working online in the future, you need to start right now.
There’s going to be hurdles, there’s a huge learning curve you need to get over, and there’s a lot of pitfalls and mistakes that you can’t plan for no matter how many blogs you read.
Take the first step, minimize your risk (according to what you’re comfortable with) and get on with it.
Today I am sitting here in my new home office with my feet up writing this blog post to you, and I only managed to get here through what I learned in this free 10-day getting started course.
If you’ve ever had an interest in building an online business, then take this course and see what this whole online business thing is all about – the least you can do is to find out if this is something you see yourself working with in the future.
As I always say; an online business is not for everyone.
Many have tried and failed and end even those who succeeded in some (rare) cases end up selling and going back to the corporate world.
Make sure you’re moving in the right direction, and I wish you all the best on whatever adventure you set out on.
I hope this post has given you all the answers you were seeking. If not; be sure to drop me a comment down below, and I’d be more than happy to answer your questions.
