Last week I shared the story of how I left my job, built my online business and replaced my salary all in six months and many of you told me that you wanted me to share some more details on how you could make the transition to full time for yourself. So, today I am sharing some steps that I believe you must take before you make the leap!
1. Become financially stable: Thankfully, my husband and I have been prioritizing our financial situation since the first day we started living together. I don’t think I could have gone full time for my own business without knowing that our finances were in order, and I would never advise anyone to leave the security of a full time job to work for themselves until their debt to income ratio was balanced. As a business owner, the amount of money you tend to make reflects the amount of time and effort you are putting into your business and knowing where you stand financially and how much money you need to bring it each month to live comfortably is crucial.
2. Have a savings cushion: When I went full time, my husband and I made sure we had enough money in the bank so that we could live comfortably in the event that my business failed and he lost his job. Now this may seem like an extreme scenario, but in today’s economy, nothing is guaranteed, and we needed to make sure we would be okay in the event of a catastrophic emergency. Obviously, the amount of money you need in the bank and what I need may be different, which is why you need to make sure you are financially stable and have a strong understanding of your finances before making the leap to a full time business owner yourself.
3. Establish income proof: As I discussed in my personal story, I set a goal for myself to hit with the income I was generating from my business. I wanted to make X amount of money a month in order to prove to myself that my business would work and that I could succeed. So many people think they should concept a business, leave their job and then get to work on their idea, however, I think it’s important to start your business while you have the security of a full time or part time job so that you can prove that your idea works and that you have a sense that you can indeed make money from your business.
4. Have a financial plan: I would like to go deeper into this idea of financial planning as a small business owner at a later time, but I do believe that having a financial plan in place for how you intend to save for retirement and even cover the cost of health insurance for yourself or your family is very important. Since my husband does work full time, his job did cover our health insurance so I knew that wasn’t going to be a problem for me when I made the transition, but you need to evaluate your own situation and understand what financial strain your transition could have and make a plan to combat it!
5. Find a support system: Whenever you are trying something new in life its great to have a support system in place to make sure you continue to stay inspired and feel like you and your work matter. You have two ways to approach this. If you are lucky enough, you may find real life support, this could be a spouse, partner, family or friends, but for many of us, our friends and family don’t always understand or relate to our entrepreneurial goals. If this is the case for you, you can always look to finding support online through business coaching programs and groups where like minded entrepreneurs can gather together to support each other. My online business program, Empire Building, has really been that support for me and the dozens of members of the program as well who are committed to building their business and community online by supporting each other! If you are looking for a supportive entrepreneurial community, I invite you to take a look at Empire Building to see if it fits your needs and learning style, but whatever you choose, I do suggest having that system in place to keep you mentally strong for the long and hard journey of small business ownership that you have in front of you!
If Empire Building sounds interesting to you, I want to let you know about my upcoming Free Webinar on my 5 Pillar System for Building a Successful Online Business! I’ll be reviewing the 5 Pillars of the Empire Building Program and giving you strategies and insights you can use immediately to start building your brand online, PLUS I’ll be sharing a special limited time offer for the 1 Year Birthday of the program that you won’t want to miss if you are interested in signing up!
xoxo,
This post first appeared on Strange & Charmed on August 13th, 2015 and is being republished for the 2016 Empire Building Relaunch!
Great tips!!! I think sometimes people get started to start and want to leave their job asap. You need to be ready and stable to make that change.
These were great tips and something we all could use. I have been making progress in going full-time with my business and your tips via the blog and youtube has been a GREAT help.