Quit or Start?

Depends on your financial situation, if you need your income from your job to fund your business, don't quit until your business picks up!

Hi Tiago,

This is an important question that involves many factors and considerations!

Here are some factors:

1. Do I have sufficient start-up capital or savings to last me twelve months to get my business running.
2. How attractive is my business in the industry (here look at Porter's five forces).
3. How strong is my network? Do I have connections substantial enough to support sales from the outset?
4. Am I a known brand?
5. What is the strength and financial capacity of my co-founders?
6. What agreements do we have in place with respect to profit sharing (and loss sharing?)
7. What do my cash-flow (realistic and conservative) projections highlight with respect to buoyancy over the next twelve months?

Here are some considerations:

1. How is my personal risk tolerance?
2. How is my partner's risk tolerance?
3. Will lack of liquidity hamper business capacity?
4. Will reduced time due to employment hamper business capacity?

No one can answer the question of whether or not you should continue to work while building your start-up since so much depends on the factors and considerations around that very important decision. I encourage you to err on the side of caution - start slow to go fast, and be aware of the current economic environment!

Good luck!

Keep your job until you have some MRR or funding from your business.

Unless you can easily get another job.

The first time I did both for a year or so until business picked up enough I could dedicate 100% of my time. The tradeoff was I had less time for business development while I was doing both, so my ramp up was probably slower than it could of been, but I had to pay the bills.

Since then I've been able to plan ahead and make the switch with just a little crossover, maybe a month. My goal has been to use my previous products to sponsor the development of later products, so from the beginning I take a percentage of revenue and put it in a 'war chest' so to speak.

It can be hard at first though. Depends on where you're at and the amount of risk you can take on.

Tiago, As a Certified Business Mentor for SCORE we always tell our start up clients "Don't quit your day job"! While this is our organizations mantra the client most of the time is in the embryonic stage of starting their business. We encourage every client to do a self financial analysis on the monthly income they require for supporting themselves and family. This income number then becomes a target goal of hitting before they will be ready to quit their "day job" and dive 100% into their new business. This is a data based decision tool. Wishing you the best on your exciting journey! Dennis

With the current economy, it is going to be extra hard starting a business. If you can, start it on the side and enjoy the benefit of having a fixed income until the business can sustain you. But if you have proof you have cornered an undiscovered niche and can start printing money, then jump in. Before you do, make sure you have sufficient funds for a 6-12 months personal run (over and above what the business might need)

Strongly suggest keeping your day job until you get some traction. You can operate on 4 hours of sleep a night for longer than you think ; )

That really depends on the resources you have. Most likely the answer will be to continue your current job until your own business gets funding or generates enough revenue to make the switch.

Unless you’ve made up your mind on the possibility of sleeping on the street as worst case scenario, then go ahead and quit your job to start a biz.

otherwise, keep every income generating means you have start and work on your biz on the side.. If anything cut down your sleep and social times.. When things start picking up with your new biz then don’t hesitate to quit your job.

Make a smart choice. Entrepreneurship is overrated.