cover of episode 068 - When To Leave Your Job And Go Full Time In Your Business

068 - When To Leave Your Job And Go Full Time In Your Business

2019/5/6
logo of podcast The Positive Pants Podcast

The Positive Pants Podcast

Frequently requested episodes will be transcribed first

Shownotes Transcript

When To Leave Your Job And Go Full Time In Your Business

 

Show note links:

 

 

Make sure you’re following me on Instagram @franexcellcoach

 

When should I leave my job and go full time in my business?

 

I get asked a LOT about when the best time to leave a job is to go full time in your business.

 

If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know I did this before and jumped straight into scarcity mode and panic and it, along with all the other mindset gremlins my brain threw at me, caused me to make all the excuses under the sun and quit.

 

But it also taught me some incredibly valuable lessons and sent me down a very different path and one that I'm hugely grateful to be on.

 

I think differently now

 

My mentality now about having both a job AND a business is VERY different to before.  

 

I do believe you should stay in your job for as long as you can while you’re building your business, or as long as you WANT to because there are so many potential benefits to doing so, but i’ll go into a little more detail around that.

 

When is the right time?  

 

The reality is there is no RIGHT time.  

 

It’s completely dependant on you and your circumstances and only you can make the decision.

 

But, there are a few things (both practical AND mindset) I wish I’d known back then, or at least thought of, that I know now.  Hopefully it can help you in making a decision or creating your plan.

 

How many revenue streams do you have?

 

When you have both a job and a business (and think about other streams of income too, the average millionaire has 7...just saying!) your mindset is a lot more ‘bullet proof’ to what we see going on around us at the moment. Jobs are no longer the ‘safest’ way to make your income and navigating all the gremlins that come with growing a business can be tough.  

 

Doing both gives you the time to build your business up the right way, allows your mindset to catch up with you and also means that if you were made redundant tomorrow you already know you’re sorted.  Nice right?!

 

You’re also not putting all your eggs in one proverbial basket, which to be honest, is a pretty nice place to be!

 

Do it because you love it, not because you’re desperate.

 

I also don’t believe you should ONLY start a business because you’re desperate to leave a job, I think there are a TONNE of things you can do before you spend a lot of time and money building something you don’t actually want.  

 

If you don’t have a passion for what you’re trying to build it will be that much harder, you’ll procrastinate more, feel more overwhelmed and sabotage yourself even more because deep down you don’t really want what you’re working towards.

 

So here’s a few practical things to think about when you’re working out the right time for you to leave your job and go full time in your business OR when you might want to think about getting a part time job to support you and take the pressure off.

 

When you have peace of mind that you can afford it!

 

When you’re financially stable (which will mean something different for everyone) ideally have multiple revenue streams and know the bills are paid for the future so you don’t jump straight into panic mode.  Know what you need to be making in your business to make this happen for yourself. KNOW YOUR NUMBERS!

 

When you have your personal finances in check.

 

No (unmanageable) credit card debt or loans to pay, start from a clean slate if you can.  It’s no good saving up 6 months to a year in salary if all it’s going to do is pay down debts and you’ll still end up straight into good old scarcity mindset.

 

When as many of the ‘big’ costs are already paid.

 

Are you going to be a limited company?  Do you need to trademark anything? Do you have the qualifications you want?  Do you want to invest in getting your ads up and running beforehand? Do you want a snazzy website?

 

All sorts of things (you absolutely don’t need to overwhelm yourself and do all of them but just think about where you’re business is at vs where you want it to be and how you can get off to a flying start when you do leave, basically, are all your ducks in a row as much as possible?) Have you planned out any events you want to go to and put that money aside?

 

When you stop enjoying it.

 

If you’re completely miserable in your job that’s very different to just being bored or something along those lines, and if that’s you then you can completely change how you view it like I did and here are some episodes to help you with that:

How to balance a job and business without going insane)

How to be more positive in your job so your business can take off)

When you understand it’s not going to happen overnight.

 

Have patience.  It takes time.

 

If you’re pushing, pushing, pushing against a self imposed deadline you’ll feel overwhelmed.  

 

Try and let go of the attachment of needing it to happen NOW and let the compound effect) build up for you.  

You’re likely to chop and change so many elements of your business time and time again until you find your ‘thing’ and settle into your ‘rhythm’

 

When your mindset has caught up with you!

 

The transition from employee to entrepreneur is FAR bigger than you expect to begin with.  

 

You need time to break old habits and form new ones and get out of the mentality of working for someone else and doing everything for yourself.  

 

To do it without the feedback of a manager, based on your own values and beliefs rather than those of a company, to let go of the regular ‘pay day’, to be confident making all the decisions yourself, learning to TRUST those decisions, to get comfortable with failing and looking at things as an experiment to be tweaked over time rather than having to get it ‘right’ every time.  

 

It can be absolutely liberating or it can be completely constricting so it’s good to allow yourself the time for those mindset shifts to happen before you jump.

 

Remember...Your job can be your investor.

 

You get to invest in yourself (mostly) guilt free when you know what’s coming in every month.  

 

I’ve invested about £70k in my own development.  The best courses, events, training, qualifications and I LOVE it, my business is built around being able to do that.  

 

I wouldn’t be happy if I wasn’t investing in myself and my growth.  

 

I always aim to be better than I was the day before so having regular or passive income streams allows for this to happen (whatever those revenue streams may be!) because you know where you’re at there or thereabouts each month.

 

Personal development is my obsession.  Learning about the brain, about why people behave the way they do, health, nutrition, bettering myself, I love it all.

 

Give yourself the time to test, experiment, build.  You don’t have to put the pressure on your self.

 

When the timing is practical.

 

For example if you’re transitioning from employee to entrepreneur and your business is earning money but you’re also paying tax through PAYE it might be a good idea to leave in April so you start the new tax year afresh.

 

It’s always a good idea to speak to an accountant about these things before you make the decision.

 

When you love where you do your work.

 

Your environment will be SO key to your success.  

 

If you’re in an environment you don’t like being in, or one full of distractions then you’ll make it more difficult on yourself than it needs to be.

 

That procrastination gremlin will be sitting on your shoulder and you’ll find excuses and things you need to do so you avoid being in there.

 

So what can you do to make sure you love being where you work?

 

When you have the right support in place.

 

Join a mastermind group of like minded people, make sure you have a coach and biz besties to help navigate the inevitable mindset gremlins and support you and keep you on track during the transition.

 

Accountability will be so important when you first make the jump.

 

So, there’s just a few things that may help you make your decision.  

 

You can take note of some, all or none of these!

 

As I said before, it has to be your decision and when the time is right for you, nobody else can tell you that.  

 

This counts both ways, deciding when to leave your job OR getting yourself one for a bit while you grow.  

 

The bottom line is we want to limit those mindset gremlins that can and will get in your way if you let them so these tips will really help with that.  

 

Scarcity is not a fun place to be and is completely avoidable! Make it easier on yourself and have fun in the process!

 

If you know that now is the time to start changing things for yourself and want to explore this further, have any questions or want some accountability to make sure you’re doing the things you need to then please book in a free discovery call so we can see what needs to happen to get you from where you’re at right now, to the successful business owner you know you can be!! All the details are in the link below and I hope to see you on the inside.

 

Fx