I’ve always wanted to start my own business and I have been toying around with the structure of my own company, revenue streams, overhead costs etc. for several years. Tentatively I was looking at making the transition over in the next five years but my current full time work has been steadily adding more and more stuff onto the “I hate my job” side of the scales. Most notable of those was several years ago when the organization adopted job classifications that would offer advancement opportunities for those who went back and got a master degree. I went back and got my MS, despite getting splitting with my gf of 10 years my first semester \[her boss proposed to her\], covid in the second year single parenting two kids distance learning, doing school, and working full time still, and then once i get my degree I’m told that we can’t just automatically move up a rank like we were told as the “slots” have to be allocated to each team.
I got my MS certification as a BCBA just under a year ago now and despite loudly pointing out the fact that I’m overqualified for my position now and the promised advancement opportunity hasn’t arisen at every meeting I can shoehorn it in I’m just told “we’re working on it”. The salt in the wound is that we just switched over to new “working titles” and even though my credentials qualify me for a title that acknowledges my MS I cant use it because its locked behind the job classification they wont give me – I recognize that’s probably petty on my part but it still pisses me off and it takes more energy than i would like to not say “fuck you, I quit”.
I probably would have left a while ago but I work for the govt, I’m union, have better than average wages, amazing sick/pto accruals, family health insurance for me and the kids is super cheap, have a home office, my schedule is super flexible so I’m able to roll with the eb and flow of being a single parent (i have 50/50 week to week), and my direct supervisor (who has been advocating for my advancement) is awesome and lets me spend time on passion projects (presenting at various conferences) that work pays for.
The con’s I’m dealing with, other than what I already mentioned, are that trying to influence any kind of meaningful change in a govt system is like moving a glacier with your bare hands. I’m action oriented and if i see a problem i often come up with a solution to the problem, implementing that at any meaningful level though requires 4 committees, 17 revisions, and 6 months to put into action – if any action is even taken. More and more I find myself just generally angry and pissed off while working based on the stupidity of the systems I keep running into.
So for those who have gone off to do their own thing, how did you know when it was time to finally take the leap, especially when the position you’re jumping from is objectively pretty good?
3 comments
I knew it was time to quit when my side business was earning as much as my 9-5. And my 9-5 was preventing me from earning more money.
Wanting to do your own thing and not wanting to work for “The Man” is not enough to jump ship. You simply gotta have a product or service that you can sell and making a living off of. You’re ranting about your job and list a few entrepreneurial qualities but have 0 business plan. There are no business owner gatekeepers that’ll grant you a business based on your disdain for your 9-5 and problem solving initiative. Apply those problem solving skills and find a business opportunity that’ll solve a problem for potential clients. The idea doesn’t have to be “The Next Uber, Facebook, Tesla” it can be something as simple as a store or restaurant.
I had the same sentiment as you and was a Wantrepreneur for many years. I HATED working for other people. I’d try to start The Next Big thing, have 100 ideas, but never followed through on execution. Getting a business off the ground is HARD and you have to be passionate about that idea enough to do ALL the work yourself. Creating the product, sales, website, and all the admin stuff all in my freetime on weekends and nights after work. If you hate your job and dont have any solid business plans, just find a new job.
Almost everyone I know who has started their own business has failed and lost their entire savings, so never.
That goes double for starting a new business at the likely beginning of a recession.
The only small businesses I’ve seen that succeeded were the ones that started entirely on the basis of the customers – i.e., with a vocal, unmet demand – and succeeded by forming an airtight plan to meet it. The ones who started a business because they wanted to be business owners were just hammers looking for nails, and rarely found them.
The trick is to not quit, but to get fired so that you can use unemployment income as additional runway for your business