6 Signs You're Ready To Take Your Side-Hustle Full-Time
You’ve been working away on nights and weekends to grow your side hustle into a fledgling business, and are now wondering what it would be like to pursue it full time. We’ve been there. Here are six signs you’re ready to quit your day job to make your business dreams a reality.
1. You have enough savings.
No matter how successful your side business is, cash flow problems and dry spells are inevitable. Pursuing your business without sufficient savings will force you to cut corners where you shouldn’t be, and it will likely push you to manage your business in a reactive way. However tempting it may be to take the leap, ensure that you have enough savings – we recommend at least a year’s worth of income to brace the Year One Storm – so you can start your fledgling business off on the right foot.
2. You have a business plan.
No matter how passionate you are about your business, you are setting yourself up for failure if you don’t have a long-term plan. Your business plan can be as granular as you like, but it should cover the basics like your core principles, target demographic, fixed costs and a breakeven analysis. It doesn’t have to be a pitch-ready presentation, especially if you’re a solopreneur – treat it more like a bible that you can refer back to to remind yourself why you started in the first place (and trust us – you will need it!).
3. You stand out from the crowd.
In order to have a sustainable business, you can’t just be good at something – you have to offer a unique way of solving your target audience’s pain points. Pursuing a side business is a great way to incubate your “uniqueness” in a low-risk environment. Make sure that you have taken full advantage of this incubating period before going full-time, where you will likely have less time, resources, and mental capacity to cultivate the traits that make you or your business unique.
4. You understand how you react to uncertainty.
Though we often hear about the perks and freedoms of entrepreneurship, it also comes with less mentioned downfalls like years-long financial instability, loneliness and a vague sense of uncertainty that follows you around for a long time. Before you quit your day job, have an honest talk with yourself about how you’ve reacted to uncertain situations in the past. What were you feeling? If that feeling persisted for over a year, would you be able to overcome it?
5. You are moving forward.
Because we often only hear about the upsides of entrepreneurship, many people confuse it as an escape from their current job situation. Fact of the matter is, while some of us thrive as entrepreneurs, others go much further working as part of a team. Have an honest talk with yourself about why you want to take the leap. Is it because you want to run away from your current situation, or because you truly believe that this will propel you forward?
6. You can’t imagine doing anything else.
For the gainfully employed, entrepreneurship doesn’t make a lot of sense – you are denying a guaranteed salary and certain standard of living to pursue an idea that will likely lead to years of financial instability and perpetual uncertainty before you finally get to reap the benefits of financial independence and freedom. In order for this to work, you have to be obsessed with what you are doing – so much so that you can’t imagine doing anything else.
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