Before You Quit Your Job to Start Building a Business

A young man once reached out to me. He was frustrated at his job and was at the verge of resigning.

According to him, he was working in a place where he was under-appreciated, and over-worked.

From what I could gather about him, he had no side business, although he did have a few skills that he could convert to a viable business with the right strategies and processes.

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This happened shortly after I spoke about how I quit my job to focus on business and grow from there.

He was excited, and eagerly waiting for my response. As the days unfold, more people send me all variants of these questions as DMs, and as a result of that, I decided to make this post.

This, is what I advised him to do. And of course, his question was whether it was okay for him to quit his job (immediately) or not.

So, if you are tottering on the edge of making this decision, I think you will benefit from the response I gave to Peter (definitely not his real name).

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Peter,

As much as I would have wanted to tell you to close your eyes and send in your resignation letter.

As much as I would have loved to say to you that you need to 'take the plunge,' 'follow your passion,' and 'do what scares you...'

As much as you may want me to send you off with a pat on the back and a blessing on your head, encourage you to get out of that place, and all the rest,

I have two responsibilities.

📍📌 To you, Peter - to ensure that I do not tell you something that will land you in trouble, or get you in a strait betwixt.

And,

📌📍 To myself - to ensure that I can go to bed and have a great night's rest, knowing that I have not made a mistake.

As a result of these Peter, I may give you an answer that is a bit different from what you were expecting to get.

Here goes…

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I know exactly where you are coming from Peter. I have had my own fair share of working crazy jobs where you are under-appreciated.

Yaaaayyyy… It is no fun, that much I can tell you for free.

But, let us not get ahead of ourselves here Peter, your job is important to you right now in some way (or you would not have buzzed me up at all).

Even if for nothing else, it is a stream of income (and a rather secure one at that).

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The major reason why I cannot tell you to quit that job now is because YOU ARE ALIVE, Peter. Yes, you are alive.

And because of that, you have an ever-steady stream of bills to pay - you know what I mean.

And if there's anything I have learned about business so far, it is that you may not see the results of your efforts immediately.

Unless you want to get involved in one of these get-rich-quick things flying around town, or find yourself in tight corners, you will need to invest time in your business at first.

You need time to;

📍📌 Penetrate the marketplace and find out exactly how things work in the world of business.

📌📍Perform your content marketing and position yourself as an expert in that field, so that people can know, like and trust you enough to come to you.

📍📌 Do every other thing in-between.

So you see, Peter.

You need TIME.

And the million dollar question is - while you do all these, will you be hungry or wait on little miracles everyday?

Your guess is as good as mine, Peter. NO!!!

See why I said you should not quit now?

Before you blow a gasket sir, here is what I want you to do.

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📌📍 Make up your mind sir, that you MAY not leave that organization immediately. You may need as much as up to two extra months working in that office to make this plan work.

📍📌 Begin to train yourself on how to manage time. Here's the thing Peter; notwithstanding how much time your job takes from you, it does not take your whole day.

You still have some hours of the day to yourself, that is what I want you to focus on right now and try to make the most of.

📌📍Decide EXACTLY what business you want to get into. Is it going to be a service-based business or a product-based business?

What EXACTLY is the value you want to exchange for people's time and money? (Write these somewhere, we will review it later). With these, you know exactly in what direction you are headed.

📍📌 Begin your feasibility studies. How well can this business idea thrive in your locale? Who are you going to be attending to? How do you intend to reach them?

There are more questions you should answer here. This is all about the 'how.'

📌📍 To thrive in business Peter, you have to be smart. What business models, strategies and processes do you know? How do they apply to you now?

To better understand these, you will need a mentor. Find a person who is already doing well in this business you want to venture into and learn from him. Pay for his courses, attention his sessions, do all you can to get him into your corner. This will save you years of trial, errors and heartbreaks.

📍📌 At this point, you should have started learning strategic things. Begin to test them out in your business.

Yes you are still working that job, but at this point you need to also start learning how to be a great entrepreneur. So, start testing all you have learned on your business.

Some things are going to work for you. Others may not work too well. Do not feel bad at the latter category, rather, document your process and try out again.

📌📍Take the last month you still have to work as a paid employee to get your teeth into these things you have learned. No time, Peter. You are about to make a serious transition, and you need to get it right as much as you can.

Practice, practice, and when you think you are done practicing, practice again.

📍📌 Oh, and one last thing, Peter; do not let your job suffer as you do these. You will soon be an employer of labor, and karma still works. So, do to them as you would want your staff to do to your organization.

When your business starts taking off, you can then quit your job and settle to build your business.

It takes a lot to build a thriving business Peter, but I think that with these steps, you can be able to make that scary transition from being a paid employee to becoming your own boss.

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Dear you,

I hope you know that I was not just writing to PETER, I was writing to you also. I hope that if you are between quitting your job and starting something entirely new, you have been able to get something for this lengthy epistle.

It will be scary, but with the right steps, you can make a difference. I look forward to all the amazing things you will do in your space.

But please, start right.