Fred has worked for an accounting firm
for over seven years and thinks he won’t ever be made a partner. He is
very unhappy and desperately wants out. He thinks he should quit and set
up his own. Wale, has been in banking for about a decade and believes
his experience and connection earned over the years is enough for him to
quit and start his own.
Tinu on the other hand, just gave birth
to her third child and is in her fourth month of maternity. She has
discussed with her husband about her fear of returning to her grueling
sales job and they have both pondered whether this is now the time for
them to try something new. She has always had a passion for planning
events.
Stories like these all point to one
common question; should I quit my job and be self-employed? It’s a
question that resonates in the minds of nearly every employee seeking to
go solo. Whilst it’s not a bad thing to be self-employed, there are a
few things one actually needs to take into consideration. Here are my
thoughts.
Continue reading after the cut.....
Bills, bills, bills
The moment you decide to quit your job
to start yours, you no longer rely on a steady stream of income to take
care of the bills. Most businesses don’t make money immediately and even
when they do, you need to reinvest it for it to grow. As such, you want
to make sure you have some money set aside in an emergency fund to take
care of bills for at least six months to one year. If you are married
and have kids, you may also want to consider if your other half can at
least take care of the basic bills. Don’t quit if you don’t have an
answer to ‘who pays the bills?’
Passion
Most successful entrepreneurs will tell
you passion is an important factor to being successful. You hear them
say, getting paid for what you love doing is one of the best feelings
you can ever have. I like to put such thoughts into context. If you are
passionate about what you currently do then it doesn’t really matter
whether you are self-employed or not. The only thing that should matter
is whether you get paid very well for it. You only have to change your
mindset and think of yourself more as a contractor than an employee.
There is no point leaving a job that you love just so that you can start
yours even when the economics don’t look right. After all some employee
earn more than private business owners.
Courage
Forget luck, money, contacts and even
passion. To be a successful entrepreneur you must have the courage and
tenacity for survival. Being tenacious and courageous doesn’t come easy.
It takes a lot of courage to decide you want to quit your job to be on
your own, let alone have the courage to remain there when the chips are
down. Taking hard decisions such as firing employees, outsmarting
competitors, owed debts and standing up to creditors and shareholders
does require a unique kind of courage and tenacity that is not thought
in any school. Don’t bother quitting your job if you lack courage. If
you are not sure you do, better ask someone who can tell you the truth.
Problem
I mentioned passion as one of those
things we can count on in deciding whether to quit a job or not.
However, whatever it is you are passionate about must be able to solve a
problem as well generate money. There is no point leaving your job
because you want to start a business no one will be interested in
patronising let alone paying for. Every business solves a problem for
its customers and you get paid depending on how important the problem is
and how well you market your solution.
Plan
If you tick the boxes above and still
believe you should quit your job then consider writing a business plan
first before you sign that resignation letter. Most people start
businesses without a business plan believing that all they want to do is
in their head. Sorry, not in this time and age. A business plan will be
required by your investor (even if it’s your husband or wife), lenders,
venture capitalist etc. There are several tools online that can help
you with writing a business plan or get someone to write it for you.
Most people change their mind after seeing their business plan. The
startup cost all of a sudden, is now N5m and not N500, 000. Competition
is rife and the idea is not new like you thought it.
Funding
Every business needs funds to survive so
this is a no brainer. As a new business, you can either bootstrap the
business yourself or get people to provide the funding. Without doing a
proper business plan and feasibility study, it is nearly impossible to
know how much is required to fund it. Don’t bother resigning if you
haven’t figured out how to go about this.
Finally, you need not feel bad if your
plan to go solo is not working. It’s perhaps not the right time to do it
or maybe you have to plan better. Maybe you even need a change of job
and not to quit paid job completely.
- Ugodre Obi-Chukwu
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