“I want to quit my job and start my own business; I want to be my own boss” Sounds familiar, right. Well, hold off on walking into your boss’s office with a resignation letter for a while and think about a few things. Maybe your business idea sounds excellent when you pitch it to yourself every morning in the mirror.
But, if you decide to be impulsive and quit the job immediately, it might cost you a whole lot of frustrations. Consider sitting down and writing down your post-resignation plan first, but before you do so, here are a few things you should not ignore while planning for the switch.
The Idea
First, you need to have a basic idea of what you would like to venture into, whether you wish to tackle a problem in your area or the world at large, or you’re just interested in reselling products you like. Have at least a rough idea of what the business idea is, then proceed to the next step. Remember to have it written down somewhere, maybe in a diary or a journal but document this idea in a safe place.
Research
The business idea is born, and you’d like to quit your job so you can raise this child.’ Take a moment and hear this; getting a business off the ground just like raising a child requires stability. You need to keep this job as you work on your business’s planning stages, meaning you should not quit at this point. Instead, conduct background research of the business idea, putting into consideration the following items;
- Understanding your product or service to the smallest detail
- Understanding who the product is targeted towards
- Informing yourself on potential competitors in the field
- Team selection; take your time and gather a team of individuals to assist in developing your product.
- Understanding the marketing and sales techniques that will bring the most substantial profit
Business Planning
Now that you have satisfied the business research process, it is now time to plan for the business. The best and most effective way to do this is by formulating a business plan based on the research conducted in the previous step.
You should document the business plan on a piece of paper, book, diary, journal, or device. The key to writing an effective business plan is ensuring that you document each detail of the business since it is the reference point in cases where you wish to pitch your idea to investors.
The plan may contain a wide variety of information. Still, it is crucial to have an overview of the business, an executive summary, a business description, a marketing plan, a finance plan, and an operational plan.
Business Funding
Please do ensure that you have enough money to sustain both yourself and your business before you quit your career–this is because the first few days of operation will be fully funded by, guess who… yes, you! Ensure you plan effectively for how you will source for finances, with the available options being
- Your savings
- Financial bootstrapping
- One or more investors
Whichever option you choose, proper planning is essential as a lack of capital will stagnate your business’s progress.
Structuring Your Business
Before you decide to leave, please ensure that your business has a structure, which entails determining what type of business entity you are running. Some good examples would be a sole proprietorship, a corporation, a limited liability company, or a partnership.
Some considerations in determining this include; how complex the business operations are, the liability, tax payment, legal documents(licenses, regulations, and permits), and the amount of control you exercise over the business.
Leveraging Available Resources
Leveraging resources will require you to have a clear understanding of how much you can save in terms of cost and assistance. Assuming you are to open a car bodywork shop and buying mold parts from https://rydtooling.com/ will cost you less than buying from some other supplier, it is always wiser to go with the cheaper option. In all aspects, you ought to try to reduce as much cost as possible without compromising the quality of your product, service, or business plan in general.This way, you will be able to save on costs while still guaranteeing quality.
The Exit Plan
At this point, quitting your job will not hurt your business, but will it hurt your current workplace? Leaving the workplace will require you to prepare them for your exit–this entails training your replacement, completing all pending assignments, and most importantly, issuing a notice before the time you plan to leave the job.
Take care of your current workplace as if you are not leaving because you might need the company to assist you in the future.
Post-Exit Planning
Ensure you maintain a proper balance between the bigger picture and the smaller business details, to ensure that all targets and goals are actualized–and that you stay you in business. Find an office space if you can afford it, but if you can work off your home garage or just your apartment does it, remember you need to use the resources you have sparingly to stay alive.
Create a portfolio of your work, including clients, jobs done, client feedback, etc. Build on to this portfolio and ensure each client has good things to say about you and the business.
Conclusion
Starting a business can be exciting and scary simultaneously. Still, if you carefully follow along with the above guide, it will ease your switch from career to business, reducing the frustrations in between. Be creative, be smart, and be better each time.
