Do you want to start a business but you are afraid?
Many doubts arise when you want to start a business and they arise more when you have a permanent job, a fixed income and "fixed" obligations.
So, when is the best time to start a business?
Answer: There will never, ever be a better time to leave your job and start a business, it is a "leap into the void that you will have to take." Unless you are a super manager with a super salary (and super savings and investments) and one day you decide to retire "to start a business."
Since one day you will want to take the leap into the void, I want to share with you some tips that may be useful and prepare you for that moment:
"He who fails to plan, plans to fail." It is very important that you undertake something that you are truly PASSIONATE ABOUT AND THAT IS PROFITABLE. If you are not passionate about that idea, do not undertake it! If you do it only because you think it will make money, you will probably fail in the attempt. So while you are employed, I suggest you take advantage of the opportunity to:
"Well thought-out plans lead to profit! Hasty plans lead to failure!"
"Don't give in to sleep, or you'll be poor; stay awake and you'll have enough to eat."
If you quit your current job and you haven't planned all this, you'll have a high probability of failing, giving up and finding a job again, since starting a business isn't easy because people don't know you even if you have the best product and/or service, and making yourself known takes time, and while that time passes you won't have a salary or income, obligations will keep knocking on your door and all of that will contribute to stress you out, discourage you and put you in doubt about your step.
3. Define a date:
"Plans without a date are just dreams."
Define a date when that start (or quit your job) will be a reality and work towards that date. If you don't have a date there will be no reason to do the things mentioned above. The date may be near or far, the important thing is that you have the time to organize what is mentioned in point No. 2.
4. Take the Leap: The creator of LinkedIn (Reid Horffman) says that starting a business is like jumping without a parachute and building an airplane while you are falling. Finally, the day will come when you will have to make that decision to quit and dedicate yourself to starting a business. Maybe you will never be prepared for it, but I try to make that step easier with point No. 2. Keep in mind:
"The bad thing about failing is never having tried"
In my case, my greatest support has been my wife and GOD, and that has been enough in the midst of situations where I have been on the verge of giving up. Because after having a high position, two cars, a high salary and additional things in the multinational where I worked, I came up with this crazy idea, but I do not regret building a future for my family and myself! I encourage you to dream and make those dreams come true!
"Work as if everything depended on you, but remember that everything depends on God"
Julian Esteban Jimenez
07.08.2024
Many doubts arise when you want to start a business and they arise more when you have a permanent job, a fixed income and "fixed" obligations.
So, when is the best time to start a business?
Answer: There will never, ever be a better time to leave your job and start a business, it is a "leap into the void that you will have to take." Unless you are a super manager with a super salary (and super savings and investments) and one day you decide to retire "to start a business."
Since one day you will want to take the leap into the void, I want to share with you some tips that may be useful and prepare you for that moment:
- Find your "BOOM" moment: That moment in your life when something or someone really makes you react. On other occasions you may have thought about starting a business, but on this occasion what really happens produces something in your life to do, to make you decide, and that moment is key because it TRIGGERS the step to action (here I want to clarify that being an employee is not bad at all). It is not a thought, it is a strong inner reason that will push you to take the risk of starting a business and leaving your comfort zone. In my case, it was the moment when after being in the hospital for 20 days (a time in which I was constantly aware of my work responsibilities answering emails and making calls) I was surprised to find that they deducted more than half my salary! That day I "hung up my shirt" (believe me, I had it on well) and planned my exit for two years. Have you already experienced that BOOM moment? If so, you are on the right track!
- A Transition Begins: Well, you don't have to go headlong into the world. You have to plan how it will be done and when.
"He who fails to plan, plans to fail." It is very important that you undertake something that you are truly PASSIONATE ABOUT AND THAT IS PROFITABLE. If you are not passionate about that idea, do not undertake it! If you do it only because you think it will make money, you will probably fail in the attempt. So while you are employed, I suggest you take advantage of the opportunity to:
- Talk to your family (especially your closest ones, such as your wife and children). Plan it with them, involve them in the dream and make them part of what is coming (inform them of the expenses that will begin to be reduced). If you have a wife and he or she supports you, it is a good start; if he or she does not support you, it will be more complicated in times of scarcity (because they will come).
- Making a transition, working in parallel on the project, maturing it, planning and anticipating.
"Well thought-out plans lead to profit! Hasty plans lead to failure!"
- Control and reduce your current expenses. Believe me, you can always save money. Check where you are spending money unnecessarily; where you can generate savings or extra income, what services you pay for and don't use...etc. Once you have this under control, you will know how much is the minimum amount of money you need to live and based on this you will be able to calculate the following point:
- Make an economic forecast (I suggest for a year and a half), I'm talking about savings.
- Get out of debt as much as possible. Reorganize or consolidate portfolios.
- Make a shopping trip "for the end of the world": Every month when you go shopping while you are working, buy extra food or non-perishable products (rice, oil, toiletries, etc.). Over time, you will accumulate this without feeling the expense and when you start your business, it will be less of a burden for a long time. (I did shopping for 8 months, I did it for a year and it helped me a lot).
- Be clear about what you are going to do and how you are going to do it, create your website and improve your product or service, study or take courses related to your project. I recommend learning about sales; every entrepreneur should know about this topic.
- Visit the Chamber of Commerce in your city. With them you can get involved in supporting entrepreneurs (it's free). This will help you organize your ideas, bring them to life, and focus on what you want to do. Be careful that many people invest money, but that is no guarantee that the business will work. My suggestion is that you first get advice from the Chamber of Commerce, and that you start with the specifics to get to the general, because then you will find yourself in debt, and that is not the idea. Unless it is the best idea and you have a super angel investor who does not need his money soon, the risk is high; because it is possible that it will take a year or more for your first sale.
- Manage your emotions. You may want to quit your job, but if you don't have anything organized, it's a very high risk and the blow can be very hard. Hold on, but work towards your dream.
"Don't give in to sleep, or you'll be poor; stay awake and you'll have enough to eat."
If you quit your current job and you haven't planned all this, you'll have a high probability of failing, giving up and finding a job again, since starting a business isn't easy because people don't know you even if you have the best product and/or service, and making yourself known takes time, and while that time passes you won't have a salary or income, obligations will keep knocking on your door and all of that will contribute to stress you out, discourage you and put you in doubt about your step.
3. Define a date:
"Plans without a date are just dreams."
Define a date when that start (or quit your job) will be a reality and work towards that date. If you don't have a date there will be no reason to do the things mentioned above. The date may be near or far, the important thing is that you have the time to organize what is mentioned in point No. 2.
4. Take the Leap: The creator of LinkedIn (Reid Horffman) says that starting a business is like jumping without a parachute and building an airplane while you are falling. Finally, the day will come when you will have to make that decision to quit and dedicate yourself to starting a business. Maybe you will never be prepared for it, but I try to make that step easier with point No. 2. Keep in mind:
- You're going to be very scared and have doubts.
- Family and friends will try to make you "think again"
- Remember that the worst that can happen is that you will have to get reemployed!
- Now you're going to work harder than before, but only for what's yours.
- Never forget to GIVE, the Law of Giving, when you give, you receive, so starting out you will have to give, of your time, of your product or of your service, that is how they will get to know you.
- Starting a business is not easy at all, and you will only really understand this when you experience it. If you are clear about your MOTIVATIONS, you have DISCIPLINE, you are DILIGENT, you PERSEVERE and you DO NOT GIVE UP, you will succeed! If you are missing any of these, the time will come when you will tell yourself that this is not working and you will go back to a job (which I repeat is not bad).
- Your economic "stability" could come within two years of having started (I wish for you that it is sooner) and if you are not very active it could take longer, if you do not know how to sell you will fail without having started; therefore if you give up before (watch out for point 2) you will have lost time and money, and the opportunity to know that you were going to achieve it. You cannot start a business with a popcorn effect, it requires patience, strength, tenacity, courage (as we say in Colombia), lowering your standard of living, selling your car if necessary; sacrificing EVERYTHING (except family) whatever you consider necessary to reach your goal (that is why the passion).
"The bad thing about failing is never having tried"
In my case, my greatest support has been my wife and GOD, and that has been enough in the midst of situations where I have been on the verge of giving up. Because after having a high position, two cars, a high salary and additional things in the multinational where I worked, I came up with this crazy idea, but I do not regret building a future for my family and myself! I encourage you to dream and make those dreams come true!
"Work as if everything depended on you, but remember that everything depends on God"
Julian Esteban Jimenez
07.08.2024