Are You Ready to Go Full Time With Your Business? Here’s How to Tell

Leaving the office for the last time and giving your boss the middle finger is an experience you’ll never forget.

Hold your horses, though!

As much as you would love to work for yourself full time and answer to nobody, taking the plunge too early can cost you dearly. When you think of the joy of leaving your colleagues behind for the final time, think of the humiliation of returning with your tail between your legs.

When you jump you want to make sure you don’t hit the rocks at the bottom of the cliffs. It’s never easy to know when to go full time with your business, but here’s my advice.

Yes, It’s Mainly About the Money…But How Much?

I was lucky. I started my own business making money online when I was just 17, so I was still living with my parents.

I didn’t leave home until I was 21, and since then I’ve never looked back. In terms of savings, I was irresponsible. I left the country with little planning and around $7,000 to my name. It’s not enough to build a new life, so I made a lot of sacrifices during those first months.

However, I took that decisive step to leave because I was making money on a regular basis. The places I was going I could afford on that sort of income.

There’s no monetary figure you can give for when you should quit. It depends on where you live and your lifestyle.

Some entrepreneurs say that you should have six months’ worth of expenses before you quit to take the reins of your own business.

Now…are these people high or stupid? Perhaps both.

A new business can go south extremely quickly. If you’re giving yourself six months to make your business profitable, you’re dreaming.

I wouldn’t dare abandon a cushy corporate job with anything less than twelve months in expenses. And to feel comfortable I’d realistically aim for 18 months to two years and run the business part-time in the meantime.

The pressure of business is hard enough without counting down the weeks before you lose the house.

I reduced my need for a high savings figure by moving to places with a lower cost of living, but I know for most this isn’t realistic.

So work out what your figure is by looking into your average monthly expenses.

How Sustainable is Your Business?

Nobody should be quitting their job to start a business unless they’re rich. Sure, you look like a genius if it goes well, but the chances are it won’t go well and you’re going to be back at square one.

Businesses need to be given a trial run to ensure they’re sustainable. That means working on them part-time. Sure, it’s going to be hell as you juggle your day job and your business, but you’re reducing your overall risk of financial ruin by doing so.

As I said, I left when I saw I could live in X place with my sustainable income. Despite having only a few months’ worth of savings, I had a regular and consistent income, so I never actually cut into those savings at any point.

You should be looking at sustainability. When you have a few regular clients you can start to think about it.

But just because you made a big score once doesn’t mean you should jump into things full time.

Can You Handle the Lifestyle?

Everyone likes to think they’d make a fantastic entrepreneur. The problem is there’s a big difference between saying it and doing it.

The lifestyle requires more work than anything you would ever experience in a normal job. Forget leaving the office at 5pm for a start.

You’ll never know if the lifestyle is right for you unless you try it.

The closest you’re going to get when working a day job is working weekends and working during the mornings and the evenings before work.

This is what entrepreneurship is all about. It’s utilising every hour the world sends to turn yourself into a success.

If you can’t handle that, entrepreneurship probably isn’t for you.

Did You Run Out of Time Yet?

Time is the single greatest resource we have. It’s why companies have employees in the first place and aren’t just one-man operations.

Before you quit your day job you need to reach those time constraints. Scaling is what makes an operation successful. If you’ve yet to hit that point where you feel like you don’t have enough time, you’re not ready to quit the day job.

And when I’m talking about time constraints, I’m talking about real work not checking your email. When you can’t fit in all the productive tasks you have no matter what you do, then it’s time to start thinking about going full time.

If you really want to play it safe you might want to do things like hiring a virtual assistant first. After all, they can handle many of the menial tasks that could free up hours of your day.

You Have to Make the Decision

These tips are designed to make you stop and think. Too many entrepreneurs move too fast out of impatience and wild optimism only to find themselves staring down the barrel of bankruptcy.

Nothing is ever guaranteed. You could have consistent clients, an ability to scale, and plenty of savings yet still fail.

This is just designed to maximise your chances of not falling flat on your face.

When did you know you had to go full time with your business?