Entrepreneurs – 10 Things to Consider Before You Quit Your Job

Let’s be clear from the start, some people will never make it as an entrepreneur. Some people don’t have the temperament, patience or the personal resources to start a business. A client wanted to open a bed and breakfast because she wanted to write off her house on her taxes. Great idea but she hated people, not a good trait in the hospitality business. Some people are risk-aversive, doubt their abilities or like to follow others. The variables are endless.

There are many considerations; some are skills you can learn, some that need to be part of your psyche. Here are a few to consider.

1. Do You Hate Your Job?
I must tell you I’ve never really hated a job I’ve had but I despised a boss or two; not that I have had that many. To be stuck in a job that is going nowhere, that is full of endless aggravation from a micro-manager or having a boss who is an idiot can drive some people to drink. I can’t imagine working to retirement under a boss like that – but many do.

2. How are You and Time Management?
A client determined at the beginning of her home-based business that she would not accept calls from friends or family during her business day. She would not watch television or do housework to avoid compromising her business. She had a set work-day, a home office complete with dedicated phone line and a lockable door. She had the perfect setup to avoid interruptions. Most of us have problems defining our time for work. I’ve had retired friends call me for a lunch at the pub, or a client suggest a golf day because he wants to get out of the office. It’s tough to be dedicated to time management.

3. Do You Need Capital & Where Will You Get It?
Many entrepreneurs forget about a startup budget, inventory to match demand, whiteboards, office supplies when deciding to begin our businesses. Open the doors and they will come – marketing costs money. What resources do you actually have available in credit lines versus loans, can you borrow from family and friends? Know your limits and your available resources.

4. Be Prepared
Create a business plan, at least with that in place you can plan for unforeseen circumstances, determine changes in trends and allow for price increases from your suppliers. It’s not really a Plan B but it is putting some thought put into a contingency plan so you’re not caught with your pants down.

5. You Must Be the Jack of All Trades in the Beginning
I’ve talked about Michael Gerber’s, EMyth enough for people to know that we all start off as a technician in our business. In the beginning, most of you won’t have the money to pay others to work for you, so you must have an understanding of accounting, your business, marketing and sales. Basic knowledge will get you through to the next step but knowing when to bring in pros or employees is imperative.

6. A SWOT Analysis
This is a very important step in any business plan and a personal favorite analysis of mine to perform for people considering whether they want to take that plunge into entrepreneurship. SWOT is an acronym for S (Your Strengths), W (Your Weaknesses), O (Opportunities in the market place) and T (Threats that will bring your business crashing down). It’s important to know how to mitigate the ones that you are weak in.

7. Know Your Customers & Your Competitors
Unless you know who your customers are you shouldn’t be in business – it’s called demographics. A guy I shared an office with years ago gave me his business plan to read. He was selling computerized services to artists. He stated in his business plan that there are 6 billion people in the world and 4 billion had computers so they were his target customers, lol. His business plan went even further downhill from there. Almost as important to knowing your customer is knowing your competition, analyzing what they are doing to acquire customers and how this process could be improved. Sun Tzu, author of the “Art of War”, said ‘Know your friends and keep your enemies closer’.

8. Are Your Friends & Family on Board?
If your beer drinking buddies and your family aren’t with you on this it will be an uphill battle. Friends love to distract you from your new business; some of it may even be jealousy – they don’t want to change status quo. If you have to go home to a nagging partner that will be detrimental to your business too. Ahghg, keeping everyone happy is a chore.

9. How Much Time Are You going to Give It?
Let’s be realistic, if you have a finite amount of money you have to know how long you can survive before you make money from your business. Unless you have a wonderful working wife who will pay the bills, be prepared to decide how long your resources can support the business or have an alternative resource for funding.

10. Keeping Your Options Open
It’s so nice to be able to go back to your old job if the business fails after months so don’t leave in a bad state of mind or beat that terrible boss over the head with his laptop. Sometimes it is an option to go back to your old job because let’s face it some people just can’t make it as an entrepreneur.

Remember starting a business is a milestone in your life and use any tools at your disposal to determine if all your ducks are in a row before leaving that comfy day job.

Gary is CEO of Syphon Quantum Energy Inc., Bizzo Management Group Inc., and Bizzo Integrated Marketing Corp. in Vancouver. London-based Richtopia placed Bizzo on the Top 100 Global Influencers in the World for 2018. He is an Adjunct Professor of Integrated Marketing & Communications, as well as, Consumer Behavior at the New York Institute of Technology, MBA School of Management (Vancouver Campus). Gary can be reached at ceo@garybizzo.com