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Episode #96
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The nirvana for anyone wanting to leave the employee world to build a business - is to do it quickly and smoothly and to have as little disruption in income as possible. But often they choose the wrong path and then feel even more stressed or unhappy because it is just not getting them anywhere.
To stop that from happening to you, you need to choose the route that’s right for you early on, so they start off in the right direction.
Let’s look at the first route you could choose to take.
The Side Hustler
So this is when you start and launch a business while you are still in your job. You are actually selling something and receiving income from it. It is a great route if you want to get your business going as soon as possible or have an extra stream of income, and you have the capacity to handle running a business in addition to your job.
The secret to a successful side hustle is simplicity. Don’t try and do too much.
As you will have this business alongside your job you will not be able to manage something more complicated. Ideally, whatever you are selling will be as passive as possible, meaning you won’t have to do too much after the initial setup. As you grow your income you can look to do more, and then if you can reduce your hours in your day job or even go part-time, you can gradually expand until your income from your business is enough to support you through your transition from your job.
It is probably the most risk-free path out of a job and into business, but it’s not for everyone. With some demanding jobs and circumstances, it just won't be possible. If you have a job with a lot of hours or are already exhausted, or have commitments to a family, the extra pressure of running a business won’t be ideal for you.
Not impossible, if you are extremely organised and driven, have a clear plan and set yourself a time limit as to how long you will run both your business and job side-by-side it can be done. But if you want to do this with more ease, and not burn out, you might want to consider one of the other routes.
The Focused Builder
This is where you create your business and do as much as you can to build it without actually selling anything. You lay all the foundations, create your products or services and have everything ready to go, so that when you actually leave your job you can launch straight away.
This is perfect if you can’t commit to a side hustle or don’t want to juggle a job and business. It allows you to explore your business idea, learn everything you need to know and build your confidence in it. As you have time, make sure what you decide is what you really want, that it will be something you can do every day and it will bring you the lifestyle you crave. You have the luxury to set up your business exactly the way you want it from the start.
For this route, you need to be focused and disciplined. You need an end date to be clear and to set milestones or it’s easy to let it drag on. Like the side hustler, you also need to find the time in your life for your business building. Don’t think you will be able to squeeze it into your life without finding space to work on it.
If you want to do this in as short a time as possible, you might need to make some short-term sacrifices in relation to your social life and ask people for help so you can find the time needed.
The Mindful Leaper
The big leaper is when someone quits their job with a big idea but little or nothing has been done to create their business yet. But, they have the financial backing to take their time to research, test ideas and create their business and they have a plan.
The Mindful Leaper is considered, planned and purposeful. They have a high-level plan, finances in place, and a launch date for their business in mind, and are willing to ‘go all’ out to make it happen. They have to be prepared to hustle and put themselves ‘out there’ in a big way.
They will have more time to create and build a business than the side hustler and will have more urgency to get up and running than the focused builder.
So will still need to keep things fairly simple at the start to get off the ground but then can start to grow more quickly.
This route is Ideal for people who have a long notice period. Or it’s also good for people that can’t stand their job any more, want to get out asap and already have the savings they need to support themselves.
This on the face of it is the riskiest of the routes, but it is actually not risky if the person has the drive, focus and support to go for it.
THE UNEXPECTED ENTREPRENEUR
This is when you are made redundant or lose your job unexpectedly but decide to see it as an opportunity. Maybe you had entrepreneurial aspirations before but had not acted on them or perhaps you had not considered it but now are thinking it could be the right option for you.
This route has not been your choice, but you can make it yours. You can see it as a way to create something for yourself that means you never have to have your income and happiness reliant on someone else and their decisions.
On this route, you may or may not have savings behind you, because it has happened so quickly and you might not have had time to plan. If you can afford to take the time to think things through and build some foundations like the focused builder then take that time. Ideally, you don’t want to rush things. But if you need to get earning money straight away, then you need to be like the side hustler and keep things really simple.
Create one offer or service that you are comfortable with and find easy, decide how you will deliver and market it and focus just on that. You will need to do some groundwork for this, some research and learning, but by keeping it simple and easy you can move quickly, and won’t be caught up in as much self-doubt or confidence issues. Then once you have some income coming in you can start to look at doing more.
If you haven’t received a financial payout for your redundancy or don't have savings, this route also has the option to take a part-time or contract role to help you pay the bills.
HOW TO DECIDE
All these routes should be based on using what you love and are passionate about, that ideally that you have a talent for, and to help people solve their problems or give them what they desire and are willing to pay for.
To decide on a route, take some time to think about your situation. So things like your workload, commitments, savings, support network, how you like to work, what your comfort level of risk is and how fast you want to move. Also, do some investigation into the rules with your current employer and how much you can actually do while working for them.
Then choose a route that works for you and get started!
THE BOTTOM LINE IS…
Knowing how you are going to navigate your way out of your job into a new world of entrepreneurship is very empowering. It gives you direction and gets you started in a way that is comfortable for you, works with your circumstances and will get you to that end goal to have a business and life you are passionate about. So go on and choose your own adventure!
If you’re not sure and want to discuss which path would be right for you or anything else related to planning your business start-up, book a FREE call with me. Go to nicholaohara.com/book-a-call and choose a time in my calendar.
