You’ve come up with a brilliant idea. You’ve got the catchy business name, the dream business growth plan, and just KNOW this small business is going to be gangbusters successful. But it’s going to take so much of your time. You’re ready to go all in. So you start formulating a plan to tell your current boss that you’re out. You’re quitting your job. You’re ready to live your dream and build your small business and become a full time entrepreneur. After all, YOLO (you only live once for my fellow baby grandmas out there). You want to quit your job, stat!
But wait. Don’t throw deuces and say “bye Felicia” to the ol 9-5 yet. What if I told you that your future business (not to mention bank account) are MUCH better off if you do NOT quit your day job yet. That’s right, the girl who can go 0-60 on a dream real quick is telling you to SLOW down and DON’T quit your day job for your dream business yet.
7 reasons why you shouldn’t quit your day job to build your dream business immediately.
1. You need to be able to eat
I know, I know this sounds so boring and so “selling out to the man”, but hear me out and totally squishes all your starving artist pictures of “your passion is worth it” Pinterest quotes. You’re gonna want to be able to eat and you dog is going to want to be able to eat. It sounds silly, but by keeping your day job you are keeping some security.
2. Passion does not always equal profitable-especially right away
I know, there are a million voices out there saying to “follow your passion” and that can be true to an extent… but passion does not pay the bills immediately. Depending on your business model, your expenses, and the learning curve, it could just take a while to make a good living wage.
3. You learn to be efficient
Keeping your day job while you build your dream business helps you become more efficient. I am a firm believer that time is a lot like purses, we will fill whatever size we use. For the most part, a task will fill whatever amount of time you allocate to complete it. If you only have 3 hours to work on your business after your 9-5, you will figure out more efficient ways to work than if you had all that time that you would be spending at your 9-5.
4. Time gives you proof of concept
Waiting to quit gives you time, which in turn can give you proof of concept. When you are first starting out in business, you just don’t know what you don’t know yet. You may think you have one particular product that people are going to LOVE, but it turns out they actually go crazy over that afterthought product that you added in last minute. Taking time to build your small business while you keep working your job gives you the ability to prove out your concept.
5. It allows you to build exactly what you REALLY want
Continuing to work your business as a side hustle, allows you to build exactly what you want. Maybe you start off thinking that you really want to build a coaching business, but then get into it and realize that you really don’t like holding people by the hand and walking them through the entire process. If you start out slowly and don’t put all your financial eggs in one basket, then you can transition and build the business that you actually want to work in.
6. You can be selective about your work
Waiting to quit your job to work full time on your business allows you to be selective about your work. This is probably the thing that I have been most thankful for. When you keep your main source of income while you build your side business, you can be picky about which clients and what jobs you take on. You don’t HAVE to accept any offer that comes your way out of sheer, desperate, need. You get the luxury of working with the people and businesses that you truly want to work with instead of inadvertently building a business that you hate instead of one you’re passionate about. (Cuz pursuing something you’re passionate about is important, y’all)
7. It gives you breathing room to invest in your business
Instead of having to use every scrap of profit to pay your bills, you can take some of that money and invest it back into your business into often overlooked, but SUPER important areas like copywriting or a branding package. You’ll have some spare room to invest in more education for yourself, maybe hire a virtual assistant, or have your website built in a way that serves your future self and business too.
I know that starting a new small business can be SO exciting. (Read more about why this is so crucial here) You finally figured what you want to do, who you want to help, and even thinking about it just lights you on fire! (Ask me how many times I’ve laid in bed at night dreaming about new cool ideas for my business or other people’s businesses.) But taking the time to build your dream business as a true side hustle will benefit you in the long run, I promise. I am literally NEVER one to squish dreams or tell people to not pursue their passions, but if we learn to pursue our passions the SMART way instead of recklessly, they are much more likely to be sustainable AND profitable.
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