In Season One, Episode 1 of my podcast (Aug/2019), "The Aliah Henry Show," I was interviewed by my friend Jessica Dunn (Vice President of Community Engagement and Development at LiftFund) about my journey as an entrepreneur. As we conversed, she asked me a great question: for someone who may be thinking about starting their own business, what are the first three things they should consider to make sure this is the right move for them?
3 Things You Must Consider Before Quitting Your Job to Start Your Own Business
#1: Don't make decisions on emotion about what you want to do. Becoming an entrepreneur is not something you should haphazardly jump into because of how you may feel right now. Take time and plan exactly what you want to do in business. Write down clear goals that paint a picture of what success will look like for you. You should also create a timeline for yourself in meeting your goals. As opposed to emotional decision making, proper planning will enable you to soberly see what you're thinking about doing as an entrepreneur long before you start to give serious thought to resigning from your current position.
#2: Reach out to other more experienced people for shadowing opportunities or advice. If you have an idea, reach out to someone who's doing what you want to do and inquire about an opportunity to shadow them. When I wanted to host a radio show, I started shadowing radio hosts. And before quitting my job, I reached out to seven consultants who were LinkedIn connections that did not personally know me to ask for advice. I shared with them my interest in consulting and asked for about 15 minutes of their time. All seven agreed to speak with me! And it was great because I got to ask them candid questions about consultant life BEFORE plunging into the business myself.
#3: Plan your exit. The key to experiencing a successful transition is to properly plan for your exit. It's much easier to exit a place when you know where you are going. So, strive to get some of your business infrastructure set-up ahead of time. It may also be wise for you to cut back on the luxuries you enjoy now to save more of your current income to meet future living expenses. Be sure to also look into various certifications you may want to obtain either immediately or eventually.
Hopefully, these few tips have given you some specifics to ponder as you prepare to transition from being employed by someone else to employing yourself. I do not regret my decision to pursue this dream of running my own company; and with the right preparation, I believe you won't either. If you feel that my experience could be of help to you in navigating your entrepreneurial journey, then feel free to contact me on my website (www.thehenrygroupcon.com) about available slots for one-on-one coaching services to prepare you to quit with confidence.
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