7 Questions to Consider before Quitting your Job to Start a Business Online

The thought of quitting your job to start a business can be very exciting and empowering.

Many professionals have done it. And sometimes, listening to their stories alone is all the reassurance you need that if they can actually do it, you can do the same.

Unfortunately, sometimes quitting your job to start a business is not always roses and sunshine.

Just like there are a lot of success stories out there, there are also a lot of misses, near success and out right failed attempts to start up a business.

In fact, according to a recent stat by US Bureau of Labor, only 3 out of 10 businesses make it to the first 10 years. In developing countries like Nigeria, just 2 out f 10 survive their first five years.

With such an alarming statistics, you can see it’s not all smooth and straight. So, there’s much to be concerned about, before you take that leap to start your own business.

Personally, every time I see aspiring online entrepreneurs set up their business website and then close down the websites after a year, I feel very concerned.

So, i usually tell prospective entrepreneurs, you don’t just want to have the thought of leaving your job to start a business online, there are pertinent questions you need to ask yourself before you embark on this journey.

Today, i’ll be listing out some of these questions that have actually worked other entrepreneurs like you, in the following paragraphs.

Below, i’ll also show you how you can to go about answering this question so you can find out the way forward for your prospective business.

Do I have a Viable Idea?

You can’t afford to quit your job to start a business online or offline without evaluating the viability of your idea.

Before you think of running with your idea, you need to find out; is there really an actual need for this? Are there other entrepreneurs making it with this kind of idea?

Like, find out if there are other successful businesses like that or something close. To bring it even further home, find out, are there actual people in need of solutions like the one your business will get to offer.

Truth be told, your skill, idea, hobby, or passion might not have actual capacity to pay your bills the day you get started, the day after or even five years down the line.

The fact you have a great idea does not mean there are people looking to pay for it.

That’s why, one of the best ways to know if your business idea can be viable is to find out if other people actually in need of such products or services you intend to offer and also if there are other businesses doing successfully well in that area.

Let me give you a practical example…

Take for instance you love water skiing. It gives you joy. And the business behind this passion is being a water ski instructor. Unfortunately, there are no important rivers, oceans or lakes in your current location.

In such situation, it’s natural you practically have very low possibility of making money with that passion if you want to target people in that location.

In that case it’s easy to deduct that such passion can’t get you a good business that can support you. Hence you’d want to ignore it and try something else or leave the location you are and move elsewhere to start the business if possible.

This is how it works with other ideas, passion and skills. Based on certain factors, all ideas do not have the same market value.

So, before quitting your job to start a business with your passion, research the market, find out other successful people in that skills, decide the market value and then think about the possible outcomes for your business, based on your findings.

What is my Financial Capacity?

Do I have the money to build and sustain a business out of my passion? This is the next question you need to ask yourself, before you quit your job to start a business.

It’s true you can start a business with almost zero cents. But, you can’t build the next Google or Snapchat without a decent start up capital.

Forget about most of the things you read online. Starting a business online or offline needs money. No matter how little it is.

Besides the money you need to build the business up front, you’ll also need money to survive until the business makes profit.

These are part of the things you should consider before quitting your job to start a business.

It’s possible you can always get people to invest in your business. To have this work though you, may need to show that your business has gotten some traction before getting investors to take it to the next level.

So either ways you’ll need back up funds. And the best way to get this in place, is to save up before leaving your job to start your business.

Save up some money, including the one you”ll need to survive on for a period of say 1-2 years before the business makes a good profit.

You’ll also need money to run some basic needs of the business outside set up. Like running Facebook ads for instance, getting data to run the business and buying some business tools that will help you get started.

While money may not be the number one thing to consider before quitting your job to start your online business, it is very important to the overall success and stability of your business.

So, you want to check out your financial capacity before leaving that job.

Do I have the Needed Skills?

Before you think of quitting your job to start a business, you need to consider, do I have the skills to sell my passion If not, how long would I learn it?

Besides having the passion, you must also have the skills to sell what you’re passionate about, if you want to be successful in the business.

Take for instance you’re passionate about speaking in public but right now you can only handle audiences like your colleagues in school or working place.

Truth be told. This is not the exact audience that will pay you the money that can sustain you after you quit your job.

So to get to evolve a more influential and higher paying brand like the Tony Robbins, Lisa Nichols, Eric Thomas, etc. of this world you’ll want to be really skillful at selling this thing you’re passionate about.

Knowing whether you have the skills to sell your passion or not will get you ready to know if you should work on these skills and how long it would take you to work on it.

These are strong deciding factors that will help you understand your readiness to quit your job.

What Unique Value Can I offer?

Good, you just find out your idea is viable. Now the next thing to consider before quitting your job to start a business is the unique value you can offer.

If your passion lies in a business niche that’s already saturated with people, it is not enough that you have skills that are sellable; you’ll also want to bring a very unique value that will stand you out from the market.

This is what we call carving a niche for yourself.

So after you become aware that your skills can really help others, you have to find a way to offer the help in a very unique way that no one else is doing.

This is how businesses evolve to become exceptional brands. This is why businesses like Apple, Facebook, swept away their competitions.

You can’t compete with top existing brands from their unique position. They already have an advantage there. Create your own space. Make your solution better.

Take up the current skills in the market and make it better than it is. Add your unique angle to it and continue to evolve.

Am I really Ready for this?

Truth be told, quitting your job to start a business can be really inspiring especially talking about a flexible business like an online business which can literally free up your time to do other things.

But before you think about this, there’s also this question a lot of entrepreneurs run away from answering; Am I ready for this right now?

Being tired of your work or feeling that it’s time to get on to something that’s more flexible for you is not just enough reason to get started.

You have to be really prepared for the rigors of starting a business. Because whether you’re starting your business online or offline, starting a new business will place certain demands on you.

For instance, you may have to do away with some habits, learn new skills or start out with some uncomfortable routines.

All these are things you should be mentally and physically prepared for. At least, to a reasonable extent, if you don’t plan to stop somewhere.

Do I have a Passion for this?

It’s true, your passion is not necessarily what you should start a business with but at the same time, your passion can give you the sustaining power you need for a new business, until your business gains traction.

Of course, I may not entirely be of the opinion that you should start a business with your passion alone. But making a personal audit about your life and getting to know about an start a business you’re passionate about can give you the sense of fulfillment you need with your business.

There is nothing as beautiful as making money and being happy and fulfilled because you’re adding real value to others.

In fact this is the essence of living, being able to know that you actually lived.

These are strong deciding factors that will help you understand your readiness to quit your job.

Do I have a Plan?

Another question you want to ask yourself before quitting your job to start a business is, do I have a sustainable business plan that can show possible projections for my business?

Of course starting a business is a risk.

But quitting your job to start a business is a bigger risk. So it’s got to be a risk worth taking.

It is not enough to know that there’s a market need for your business idea, you have to see some real data backed projections for your business.

You have to be able to see how you can get from point A to B, what it will cost you. What will happen if you can’t get there? And what you can do to get you from one point to another in your business.

Even when you don’t need a completely detailed plan of action. You need something substantial to build your idea and expand on it.

This vision map or action plan will shape your decision in the future as your business grows.

Do not focus on building businesses out of your head. Focus on building ideas that can thrive beyond the grindings of the business world.

Conclusion

Asking yourself these questions will help you understand your preparedness or readiness to quit your job and start a business.

If you can’t answer these questions correctly, then you don’t have enough answers to understand the next step you should take. And in that case it’s better to stay where you are until you have some idea about your next step.

Don’t go about quitting your job to start an online business because of the bling bling you see on the social media.

Forget about the hype about being a business owner. There’s a lot of grits and effort you’ll need to put in to build a thriving business. And you should only get started when you know you’re truly ready to take that leap.

So, there you have it. Need to know more about your readiness before you start your next business? Talk to us here.

Now, it’s over to you. What’s your biggest challenges when it comes to leaving your job to start a new business? Let’s hear your comments.