Maybe you’ve been slaving away at a side job or are just dreaming of getting away from the cubicle. While it’s really tempting to just up and quit your day job, you need a way to support yourself.
So how can you do that? How do you know when it’s the right time?
Make Sure Your Idea Makes You Money
Yup, if you had to sum it up in a sentence, make sure that whatever venture you’re going for will be profitable. That mean for those who think it’ll take weeks to quit your job, I hate to break the news to you, but you’re outta luck.
There’s a reason why so many people start off side hustling and building their business before making the transition. Because you need money, simple as that. Yes, there have been stories of people making a leap of faith and it all working out in the end, but you probably didn’t realize they’ve probably went back to a day job or got into massive amounts of debt first.
That being said, nothing is a guarantee. But if you can at least test out your idea for a little while and see if the market responds, the chances of you succeeding are much higher.
Ok, you got that it’s important that your idea should make you money. How do you go about testing it?
Come Up With Ideas First
There is no excuse with this. Don’t say you can’t come up with ideas, because there are literally hundreds of blogs on this subject (including this one). Even if you don’t do any research. Just start thinking of things you’re good at, things you’re interested in and things you really like.
At this point, you’re just brainstorming, not committing to anything. If you’re not sure which ideas you think will work, pick one that already have demand. For example, I’m interested in reading and writing, so I started testing the waters as a freelance writer. Other people enjoy engaging people on social media, so they could veer towards being a social media VA. Many people have taken their artistic talents and sold their wares off Etsy.
Test the Idea
Now it’s time to pick an idea, any idea. Don’t freak out if it’s going to fail. At this point, all you’re doing is just seeing if one idea is even a valid business in the making. If you’ve read entrepreneurship books before, you’ll see that many successful entrepreneurs failed many times. So go ahead and test to see if it’ll work before moving ahead. It’s a smart idea because it’ll prevent you from wasting valuable time.
Here are a few ways you can test your idea:
- Hop on Periscope and talk about it. See if you get engagements
- Research similar products and services out there. Why are they successful? Can you do something to stand out?
Execute (So You Can Quit Your Day Job)
Once you’ve validated an idea, it’s time to go for it! Again, start small and as a side hustle until it gains traction. Also, keep in mind that just because you’ve validated an idea, doesn’t mean people are going to pay for it. So this is the stage to put your idea out into the real world to see how it does.
That isn’t to say it’ll be easy. It may take some time before you’re ready to quit your day job. Even if this idea fails or it takes longer than you expect, have faith. The more you’re willing to put yourself out there, the likelihood you’re able to succeed in whatever venture you’re pursing will work out.
