Nothing can fully prepare you for starting your own business—but you can learn from others who’ve been there. We asked eight founders and Advisors in The Oracles what they wish they’d known when they were starting out. Here’s what they said.

1. Realize entrepreneurship is a marathon.

The Nasdaq crashed one year after we started Bluemercury. For a year and a half, there was no way to raise venture capital and we had to figure out how to build our business with revenue and cash flow. Now the company has been through two recessions.

Many entrepreneurs focus on how they can exit their business in a few years. But things are always changing, and life rarely works out like you plan. Instead, focus on building a great company for the long term. Remember, entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint. —Marla Beck, co-founder and CEO of Bluemercury, which was acquired by Macy’s for $210 million; creator of M-61 Skincare and Lune+Astercosmetics

2. Ensure there is a demand for your product or service.

Entrepreneurship requires working harder and learning more about yourself than you can imagine. It has lucrative rewards — but no guarantees. When things get intense, you’re running out of cash, and you want to quit, remember that sales may not cure all issues, but you can’t cure the issues without sales.

Companies that thrive focus on being consistently profitable so they can withstand unforeseen events like economic downturns. Before you start a business, do your research, know your numbers, and be certain there’s a market and demand for your product or service. Every sale should be profitable, ideally by 50 percent. Then you’ll have money to hire A-list players so you can focus on the work you want to do. Document everything and build systems as you go, so anyone could do your job tomorrow. But first, learn how to sell! —Matt Mead, founder and CEO of Mead Technology Group, EpekData, and BrandLync

3. Know you won’t get it right the first time.

Don’t dwell in information-gathering mode. The only way to progress is to actually do it — take action immediately. Then you must be quick on your feet, analyze the results, and make changes if needed. You’re probably not going to get it right the first time — or even the second or third. But if you’re nimble, you can pivot.

Avoid heavy overhead. Look for ways to make cash quickly and get paid upfront. The more cash you have, the more you’re able to take calculated risks — which you need to do. You can’t have an upside without a downside. Invest in yourself and have confidence that you will deliver. When you “fail,” consider it feedback. Each time you test a theory in the real world, you’ll get feedback that shows you how to improve. The only way you’ll actually fail is if you give up. —Joshua Harris, founder of Agency

4. Be patient and make sure you have adequate funding.

Anyone starting a new business should fully understand the timeline and funding needed to survive the startup phase. I wish I had understood how long it would take to get to a revenue level that would allow my business to thrive and grow.

Nearly half of all small businesses that fail didn’t have adequate funding. Plan on it taking longer than expected to generate a profit, and make sure you have a backup funding source. Every startup’s timeline to profitability is different, and failure is always a possibility. But if you have adequate funding, you dramatically reduce the chances of failure. —Guy Sheetrit, CEO of Over The Top SEO, who provides customized SEO marketing solutions for e-commerce, local, and Fortune 500 companies

5. Forget about what you want to sell.

Many entrepreneurs focus so much on marketing and selling that they neglect to deeply understand exactly what their clients want to achieve or solve. Profitable companies know their customers better than they know themselves. They sell the value, impact, and results their customers want to buy.

Become a student of the game. Don’t wing it or assume you already know the answers. Plan a listening campaign to understand your target audience’s problems and dreams. It’s never too late to pivot, expand, or adjust what you sell to exactly what your clients desire and demand. When you do that, you become that rare company whose products don’t need to be sold — they’re just bought. —David Newman, best-selling author of “Do It! Marketing” and creator of the Speaker Profit Formula; host of the iTunes Top 50 business podcast “The Speaking Show”; connect with David on Facebook

8 Things You Need to Know Before Starting a Business [Entrepreneur]

It was back in 2008 (11 years ago) that I was facing redundancy in a job I absolutely loved as a Training Manager and educator in the ‘welfare to work’ sector in the UK.

Working between designing and teaching various training and education programs in an all-male prison, single-parenting programs, drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs and back-to-work training for the long term unemployed; I was in my element and knew that I had found what I was crafted into human form to do.  Teach.

I got the honour of entering into people’s lives, learning all about them and helping people who had completely given up on themselves to see that *actually* they were absolutely overflowing with the most unique life experiences, lessons, skills and resiliencies that most people could never know in their lifetimes – unless somebody was to teach them – unless THEY were to teach what they had learned in the ‘school of hard knocks’.

TEACHING COMES IN MANY FORMS

I helped prisoners pass their life lessons onto their children by re-framing them into fictional children’s stories;

I helped mothers who blamed their unhappy circumstances on ‘not having had a role model in their lives’, to discover their skills, lift their confidence and step into being the super-parent example (and inadvertently teach) that which they wished they’d had from their own parents;

I helped those who had had their dreams, voices and potential bashed out of them from abuse and neglect, to discover their gift, speak up, stand up and use their pain, scars and lessons as a way to correct that which they deemed so wrong in the world.

What I ultimately did, was helped people better their own lives, by teaching them how to teach what their lives had taught them.

THE BEST LEARNERS ARE THE BEST TEACHERS

Paradoxically, we experience the highest form of transformational LEARNING, when we are TEACHING.

In fact, Edgar Dale’s 1969 ‘Cone of Learning’ theory (as backed up by endless studies since), that if we only sit and ‘observe’ ‘lessons’, we will only benefit from 5% of its potential value.

However, if we stand up, speak up and TEACH that which we are trying to learn ourselves, we experience AND retain over 90% of its potential value.

Teaching IS learning, and learning is teaching.

And the best bit?

ANYONE CAN DO IT.

It’s simply a skill that you can learn; just like you did with walking, talking, reading, writing, making a sandwich.

You don’t have to be a professor to share your knowledge, expertise, life lessons and information with the world – you just have to care about something, or want to help somebody get through something that you’ve experienced; or stop anybody from having to go through what you did at all; or help somebody to achieve something that you have achieved; or share something that you found helpful to learn about yourself…. That’s it.

We’ve all got one of those.

[AND SO IT CAME TO BE – THAT I BECAME AN EDUPRENEUR

After being the first female in my Gypsy family to buck a centuries-old tradition by getting my ass to school; I successfully completed my Degree in Education, my Postgraduate Degree in Education, a specialised Diploma in Adult Education, and, added my first 5 years experience as an education sector leader to my resume; there I was.  Now with the perfect combination of academic expertise and practical experience and a healthy dashing of confidence – facing my redundancy.

My heart sank.  I cried. I drank an excessive amount of red wine which exasperated a severe health condition I’d been suffering and wondered how I’d ever be happy again if I had to go back to my cleaning job.

Then I realised something.

I didn’t need to have a boss, or a job, to keep doing what I was doing!

I didn’t need to drive to an office and ‘clock in’, to teach.

I cleared a corner of the kitchen table, pulled open my notebook and started handwriting letters to the local council offices, job centres, rehab centres, businesses and corporates across my region.

Within a couple of months I had a 6 figure education company, had hired my university lecturer as my first employee, and somehow experienced a miraculous turn of fate by getting a promotion at work instead of a redundancy, all at the same time.

I took my business to Malta, where I quickly gained contracts as the primary training provider to a national bank, 5-star international hotel chains and even the European Local Governments.

At this point, I now had an ‘international’ company and I was just 23 years old.

A few years later I fell in love with my childhood classmate, we got married within a couple of months of our first kiss and eloped to Western Australia where my world changed again.

I started my education company up in Australia with nothing more than some lessons from what I’d learned so far and a bag of passion.

Within 18 months of registering the company name, I had built the business to 7 figures and had 23 employees, each teaching their subjects of expertise on Government-funded programs across Perth and remote WA.

I was qualifying flying instructors with their nationally accredited training qualifications, I was writing curriculum for the Saudi Arabian Military, I was designing the workforce development and training plans for the largest oil, gas and mining projects in Australia, providing professional development training to ASX listed companies and personally brokered and managed over $8million worth of Government-funded workforce development projects that upskilled Australian employees with vocational qualifications.

The phone was off the hook, I couldn’t keep up with my recruitment needs, the projects were pouring in.

Wasn’t I a clever little duck?

Things were going GREAT.

I actually had no idea how great though.  I was working so hard, that I didn’t stop to acknowledge just how great I had it.

Until one day in 2014 when the GFC finally grasped it’s hands around the WA economy, put a halt to the major GDP-generating projects in Western Australia and cataclysmically obliterated thousands of jobs and businesses across Australia in one fell swoop.

As the training budgets at the big corporates got slashed, our training and curriculum development contracts began dissipating one by one.

I had to start letting staff go.

And on one fateful Tuesday morning, I received a single phone call that lost me $2.7 million in 11 minutes.

Everything was gone.  Everything.

One by one, I had to tell my staff – my work FAMILY – that I could no longer employ them.

I was crippled with guilt, regret, anger, fear, sorrow, self-pity, and not to mention a multi-million dollar debt for redundancy payouts,  contract payouts, superannuation bills, PAYG, BAS, GST, income tax and another year’s worth of office rent and operating costs that were all locked in.

I had gone from a millionairess to a million dollars in debt in a day, and I had no idea how to deal with it.

OUR MISTAKES ARE OURS TO OWN JUST LIKE OUR SUCCESSES

Every accountant I spoke to told me the same.

“Sarah, nobody can get out of something like this, your only option is to fold the company.  Choose voluntary administration, it’s your only hope”.

But I knew that wasn’t an option at all.  (I don’t think anyone who hasn’t faced this has any idea what the life-long consequences of administration actually are).

I knew that it was me and me alone who had got my business into this situation, and thus, I was responsible for getting it out.

I had to own this mess, and I had to clean it up, not sweep it under the carpet.

And more than that, I had learned some serious lessons from this experience- the only way I would be able to pass them on, would be if I survived.

THE QUESTION THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

So, if you cannot depend on your local economy any longer, there are no jobs available, there is no funding left and all hope appears to be evaporated, what do you do??

You ask yourself: “HOW ELSE CAN I DO THIS?”

If your situation and circumstances change, they do not take your skills and experiences away from you.

They simply demand that you apply them in an alternative way.

How could I teach without a classroom?

How could I write training and help people find their talents to educate others, without any students in front of me?

How could I consult training managers about their people development without any corporate contracts?

And then it came to me…..

AND SO IT CAME TO BE – THAT I BECAME AN EDUPRENEUR

The biggest retail stores such as Amazon, don’t have any shops,

The biggest taxi firms such as Uber, don’t have any cars,

The biggest education companies, such as Udemy, don’t have any courses or teachers….

That’s it!

I didn’t NEED my offices and classrooms and clients IN PERTH – I didn’t NEED to drive to their offices, or shake hands with their CEOs – I just needed to find ANYONE who needed professional development training, teacher training curriculum development services, ANYWHERE.

FROM FACE TO FACE SERVICES TO AN AUTOMATED ONLINE EMPIRE

I turned on my computer, switched on the webcam, and started reciting every single consultation I had ever given with the ‘record’ button on red.

I pulled out all of my classroom materials and filmed every single workshop and course my company had developed into videos.

I even broke down the staff training I gave to my curriculum developers (a service we provided to customers) to create curriculum development training videos – teaching other people to do what we did.

And then, I pressed PUBLISH.

BOOM.

In one swift (38 hours) of uploading some videos (cheers Australian internet); I went from having a local market, to having a GLOBAL market.

By turning what was in my head, in my company desktop files, filing cabinets, bookshelves and resources cupboards into ONLINE COURSES instead of coaching, consulting, workshops, presentations and services, I suddenly had 6 billion potential customers at my fingertips.

I paid a few dollars for some automation software and within 1 year I had grown my business revenue by 60%, reduced my overheads by 90% and was teaching tens of thousands of people from around the world at the same time, without employing a SINGLE trainer or even leaving my house.

It was an absolute revelation.

I wished I’d been hit by the GFC sooner!

Fast forward 4 more years and I have now educated over 20,000 people in 146 countries via my online courses alone.

I paid off every single cent of my debts from that life-changing event, recovered my company and changed thousands of lives – because I didn’t let my circumstances defeat me.

I succeeded because I chose to TEACH the lessons that I had learned to others.

I won multiple awards, published 7 books, hosted a TV show, got invited to speak at conferences around the world – and went on to become the youngest university Director in Australia’s HISTORY as the most senior leader of one of the most remote university campuses in the WORLD.

I never knew that pressing one button on my computer would result in such humongous outcomes.

The world indeed is, our oyster – IF we just get out of our protective little shells and show off the pearly wisdom we each have beneath.

BUT SUCCESS DOESN’T COME WITHOUT NEW CHALLENGES

When you appear to ‘have it all’, many people look on enviously and believe that they are entitled to take what you’ve put on your table.

I’ve had ex-employees and students take all of the company and course IP and set up shop as my competition, I’ve had people pretend to be me to make money from my name (seriously, one psychopath even bought a web domain name in my actual name!!);

I’ve battled brutal trolling, death threats and online harassment from the mentally unhinged and fought to keep a 24-hour business serviced whilst breast-feeding a newborn with post-natal depression.

We all have problems, responsibilities and challenges, but these are the VERY things that make us even more valuable as educators.  They give us more to teach, more to share, more colourful and relatable experiences from which to draw upon and serve others with.

It is precisely our darkest memories, most suffocating experiences and heart-breaking mistakes that provide us with the source of service to others.

Nothing that is great, comes easy, and that’s why success is reserved only for those who are willing to put the time into:

1. Believing that they can, and
2. Doing something about it

YES IT IS SCARY – BUT IT’S WORTH IT

Yes, putting yourself out there can feel ‘weird’, your limiting beliefs will come pouring down on top of you and your monkey mind will try to convince you that ‘you are not worthy to teach’.  Tell it to shut up.

And yes again, as soon as you put yourself out there, you *potentially* open yourself up to criticism, ridicule, crazy customers and mangey online trolls; you also *risk* your IP being stolen by those who are desperate and lacking in creative substance – trust me, I’ve experienced it all big time!

But with a TINY bit of that, comes  LOT of immeasurable rewards.

Surely changing just ONE person’s life is worth risking somebody calling you a poo-poo head, right?

What is WORSE than being called a shitty name, or having your precious worksheet copied by an actual poo-poo head, is withholding your expertise from the world and taking it all to the grave with you.

AND THIS IS HOW I CAN HELP YOU MAKE YOUR OWN MIRACLES

You know stuff.

You know stuff that other people would pay to know too.

With over 6 billion people on the planet, there are plenty of people who will pay you to change their lives by sharing with them the experiences, lessons, expertise, knowledge, skills and competencies that you have honed or been forced to hone, since the day that you were born.

This is what I do:

1. I help you: Discover what that profitable knowledge and experience is that you could turn into an online course; AND a profitable business
2. Unpack it all out of your brain
3. Organise it all into logical, informative, interesting and exciting educational content
4. Set up your online course platform and tech stuff so that you can press PUBLISH and sell your expertise to the WORLD
5. Help you turn your course into other income-generating products and services such as books, keynotes, workshops and high-ticket transformation programs.

How do I help you do this?

1. I have packed my academic and practical experience of creating and selling hundreds of online courses, into a single online course called “How To Create Your Own Profitable Online Course”.  Take this online course at your own pace, and have all of the skills you need to create and sell your own online courses by the time you have completed it.
2. Let me help you create your online course and set up your online school for you in my ‘Course Creators One Day Set-Up’ service.
3. Or if you prefer the group learning, immersion experience, come along to one of my ‘Course Creation Bootcamps’ where you will not only learn how to create courses – but will walk away with your online course COMPLETED, filmed, your online school built and LIVE for sales before you leave.  (There is ONE last Bootcamp left for 2019 before I go on maternity leave for at least 12 months – so NOW is the time to make it happen!)

Comment below if you’d like the link to the info on any of the course creation options above, or would like me to add you to my email list.

The journey to success is a wibbly, wobbly, uppy, downy, crazy pile of ridiculousness – but every single step gives us more that we can teach.

Start today.

Change a life tomorrow.

Change the world in your legacy.

Let me know if you want to know where to start.

Peace out xx

People are not born entrepreneurs. They normally become one after a problem is presented to them. Some are trying to solve a common issue we face, while some are trying to change the world. Throughout my entrepreneurial journey, one of the most common catalysts I have found for entrepreneurship has been associated with job loss.

Many people seem to get a kick-start to become an entrepreneur when they lose their job. This is exactly what happened to me. I was only a part-time self-professed content marketer when I lost my job. I had to make a decision at that time to either re-enter the workforce or take the plunge into the world of entrepreneurship. Almost four years later, I operate a growing marketing firm and write for publications such as Entrepreneur.

Alex Charfen, co-founder and CEO of Charfen, attributes this kick-start to new-found freedom. “The reason so many people start businesses after losing their job is that it’s often the first time they get a taste of freedom,” says Charfen, who is the author of Entrepreneurial Personality Type: Your guide to the most important and misunderstood people among us. “They’re finally away from the constraints of a job, from someone managing their outcomes every day — and immediately, it’s hard to go back. When we feel the freedom of leaving the constraints of a job, it’s very hard for our personality type to go back. So, oftentimes, losing a job is when entrepreneurs finally wake up.”

From looking for work to helping others find work.

Downsizing is never a fun experience and for Sanjay Sathe it was no different. “Opportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat,” says Sathe, reciting a quote from Napoleon Hill. It was Sathe’s “temporary defeat” that led him into the world of entrepreneurship.

Related: 15 Steps I Took to Successfully Reinvent Myself After Losing Everything

The word came in 2006, when Sathe was vice president of Enterprise Data Management for a division of Sabre Holdings, that the unit was being taken private and downsizing was part of the reorganization.

“I was given the services of a traditional outplacement company,” says Sathe. “It took me a couple of weeks to get an appointment, then I drove 45 miles and sat in the lobby for a while before someone took me into a conference room and gave me a big spiel about my life. They gave me a binder and told me to come for a class the next day. When I got out the first thing that came to mind is that these folks are living in the stone age. The world has changed, the way we look at job search has changed.”

Sathe saw that the industry was ripe for disruption. He found that trying to find a job online was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. “It was a full-time job in itself,” he adds. “I had to go through a multitude of websites and there was no intelligence on the sites. I had to do the same thing again and again each day.” It was then he got the idea to create what he describes as an “eHarmony in the job space.”

Sathe founded RiseSmart in 2006 as a way to connect job seekers with employers. He led the company into being one of the fastest growing outplacement companies in the world. In late 2015, it was acquired by Dutch human resource consulting firm, Randstad Holding NV, for $100 million. Not a bad result for getting laid off.

Being an entrepreneur is not easy. Sathe likens his experience with being on a rollercoaster. He says there were many “ah-ha” moments, but it wasn’t until the company received its first round of Series A funding that he felt he was on his way with a successful venture. Prior to its sale last year, RiseSmart raised a total of $27 million in venture capital.

As far as advice goes for people thinking of stepping into entrepreneurship, Sathe passes along a quote from Wayne Gretzky, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” Sathe adds, “I would say you don’t get these chances often, to come out of your comfort zone and get challenged. A lot depends if you want to go on the offense and take up the challenge or not. Also appetite for risk and personal circumstance, of course, is there but I would highly recommend people to get a taste of entrepreneurship.”

Related: You Are Your Biggest Obstacle in Becoming an Entrepreneur

From the NFL to at-home senior-care.

“I never gave it a second thought,” says Tafa Jefferson, referring to his decision to enter the world of entrepreneurship. After playing football in college and then professionally for the Chicago Bears, Jefferson was able to pursue his dream thanks to an injury he sustained with the Bears. “I always knew that I’d eventually be an entrepreneur, whether I played one or 10 years in the NFL. Getting injured when I did just expedited the inevitable.”

Jefferson sustained an injury that would not allow him to return to the NFL. With football no longer an option, he faced a decision that many of us have faced — try to go back into the workforce or pursue entrepreneurship. The current franchisor chose the latter.

Jefferson went into healthcare, a profession that was already close to his family. His mom worked as a caregiver, and upon his return from the NFL, he found that many nurses were being let go by a local company. He combined his knowledge of the business along with his father’s entrepreneurial spirit to start what eventually became known as Amada Senior Care, a senior home healthcare service.

“It was a natural fit for what I knew and what opportunity was there,” says Jefferson. “Between learning how to be an entrepreneur from my dad and learning to love seniors from my mom, I guess I was kind of raised to do this.”

Jefferson has enjoyed success with the business. It has grown to 60 franchise locations in 25 states with plans to open a total of 200 by 2018. However, Jefferson does not measure his success by numbers.

“I think success is defined differently by different people,” says Jefferson. “I’d say I felt success the first time I met with my first client and matched them up with a really good nurse and they were both ecstatic about having each other. I knew at that time that I’d found something that I could feel really good about doing for the rest of my life.”

“Be grateful.” This is the best piece of advice Jefferson gives to people facing the same situation of job loss. “My business partner Chad Fotheringham lost his job after a successful 10 year career with Pfizer and he always talks about how it was the greatest blessing of his life.”

He also adds that most people in the corporate world already have the skills to be entrepreneurs. “Most people who work in corporate jobs don’t realize how well their skills and training translate in the entrepreneurial world. They have been trained to think that the corporation is the reason for the success. However, in reality the only reason those corporations are successful is because they have a lot of very talented employees that could take those skills and work ethics and be very successful in their own businesses.”

Overall, the decision to enter entrepreneurship worked out great for Jefferson. In the end, he says hard work will eventually pay off. “If you are hardworking and willing to take a little more risk, you can build your own brand.”

Finding your career path.

If you lose your job and think about starting a business, you are definitely at a crossroads. You can choose to re-enter the job market or venture out on your own. There are many risks associated with both but your new found freedom could be the key to your entrepreneurial success. While not guaranteed, you don’t have the pressure of your current job to hold you back from pursuing your dreams.

On a final note, running your own business is not for everyone. I have run several, not all of which were successful, but I will say that there is no other path I would choose.

Lost Your Job? Consider it a Wake-Up Call to Become an Entrepreneur. [Entreprenuer]

Whether you’re working 9-5 (and trying hard to make a living), an overnight shift, or part-time somewhere, think about how satisfied you are with your job.  Do you have other passions you give more attention to outside of work? Do you ever think about pursuing those passions and turning them into a career one day? It can often be hard to focus on the job you have if you’d rather be doing something else or working in an entirely different field. 

Unfortunately, this is a path many future entrepreneurs and dreamers have to take before launching their own business, product, or idea. Eventually, you may be able to finally cut the cord from your day job and fully commit to your passions. 

When that time comes, it’s important to quit your job the right way. Yes, there is a way to leave your day job without burning bridges. By doing so, you’ll keep relationships that can help you in the future, and you may have more opportunities to help your new business to grow. Your current day job can help you to reach your dreams more than you might expect. 

So, how can you quit your job to pursue your passions, and when should you do it?

Why It’s Important to Leave on a Good Note

Whether you’ve been happy in your job for years and just need to pursue something new or you’ve been unhappy in your career for a while, you should always strive to quit on a positive note. That doesn’t mean you should feel guilty about quitting and being your own boss. It means you should make sure all loose ends are tied up before you leave and remain positive throughout the process. 

Why is it so important? There are a few reasons: 

First, if you’re leaving your current job to go into a similar line of work on your own, you might need some help and advice. If you leave your current employer on a high note, they’ll likely be more willing to give you some direction when you need it. They may even believe in your dream so much that they’ll offer you some resources. 

Networking is also hugely important. No matter what industry you’re going into, you never know who you might be doing business with in the future. If you quit your job suddenly and burn a few bridges, those people likely aren’t going to want to work with you on future endeavors. Furthermore, if you worked for a large company, it can be easy for them to spread the word that working with you is a bad idea. Networking can be very political, but it’s often necessary in order for a new business to get its feet off the ground and be successful. It will help you to develop lasting relationships within the working world. 

Turning Your Side Hustle Into Your Dream Job

Starting a side business while working a full-time job isn’t easy. You can’t let a side gig distract you from your day job. But you can’t let your day job take away your drive for your dream job. How do you make it work? 

It’s all about prioritizing. You have to prioritize your job, your passion, and your downtime. You might think you need to keep your nose against the grindstone 24 hours a day in order to get things done, but it’s very important to make sure you have time for yourself to relax and recharge. Spend time with family and friends, do things you love, and get enough rest. When you take care of yourself, your physical, mental, and emotional health will be in a better place. 

You should also set up some kind of structure to your passion. If you work at it from home, it can be tempting to just focus on it whenever you get a chance. Instead of doing that, try to operate it like a “real” job. Set specific hours each day or a few times a week and dedicate that time solely to your side gig. If possible, set aside a separate space in your home for that business. It’s important to separate your personal life and your side hustle. This will help motivate you to eventually turn it into your full-time gig. 

Use your downtime now to ease the transition for when you eventually make the switch. Devoting some time to doing market research — discovering your unique selling proposition, identifying your marketer profile, and reaching out to potential business partners — will keep you informed about your prospective company’s outlook. This groundwork will prove invaluable when it comes to making wise business decisions and attracting potential investors.

Of course, you can’t ignore your day job. Start small when it comes to your side hustle, and be sure to plan ahead. If your work starts to suffer at your main job, people will notice. Without even realizing it, your lack of motivation and dedication at work could burn bridges and make it difficult for you to keep your job — something you’ll need to do until you’re sure you want to launch your own business full time. 

When Is It Time to Quit? 

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when leaving a job to pursue your passion is doing it too early. It’s easy to be excited about your dreams, but don’t jump the gun before you’re ready. Ask yourself this: How important is it for you to quit? Is your job getting in the way of your passion? Are there people there who are toxic to your mental or emotional health? Are you not able to pursue what you really want to do because of the workload you’re carrying? Weighing the pros and cons of quitting your job will make it easier to determine the right time. 

There are risks to leaving at any juncture, of course. If you’re quitting to start a new business, you run the risk of your passion not working out the way you thought it would. That’s why it’s so important to remain on good terms with the people you work with. 

When you do decide to quit, give them plenty of notice. Explain your reasoning and share your passions with them. Most business owners can appreciate the innovative minds of people who want to branch out on their own. But don’t leave your boss scrambling to find someone to replace you. 

If you’re honest about your career desires, plan ahead to make the transition easy, and maintain positive relationships with the people you worked with, you can successfully leave a job without contention to pursue your dreams and jump into an entirely new career.