Are you considering quitting your job to work in your business full time?
You might not have to burn the boats or go beyond the point of no return just yet.
Ajit Nawalkha is the author Live Big: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Passion, Practicality and Purpose.
From Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, he's also the CEO and cofounder of online education platform Mindvalley.
As a business coach, Nawalkha helps new entrepreneurs turn their fledgeling business idea into something they can work on full time.
His advice for new entrepreneurs with their letter of resignation in hand?
Don't Quit Your Day Job
At least not yet.
"There's a 30% more likelihood of you being successful in your startup if you didn't quit your job when you started the company," said Nawalkha.
"[Not quitting] shows that you are actually not a brainless ...You are a risk manager. And business owners are risk managers."
As an example, a new entrepreneur could build their side-hustle before or after work in the mornings, evenings or weekends.
He or she could spend this time learning basic business skills like marketing or accounting without worrying about paying the bills or supporting their family.
Although this requires working extra hours for two to three years, the new entrepreneur can reclaim their free time after validating and launching their business idea.
"In the first two, three years, build a product, do whatever you gotta do, and build enough income that you get to the same point," Nawalkha said.
Calculate What You Need To Live
Becoming an entrepreneur doesn't mean giving up on the gym, meals out and holidays.
Instead, a new entrepreneur should calculate how much they need to earn to pay the bills and whatever else supports their quality of life.
Much like an archer taking aim, this figure plus company expenses represents a minimum monthly revenue target for the side-hustler.
"You don't wanna just have the bare minimum where it's food and rent, but you want food, rent, the gym, the occasional holiday, whatever that is," Nawalkha said.
"You need a little bit of fun money in there as well. If you don't have that, you're not gonna be able to refuel yourself as an entrepreneur."
Consider Your Total Net Worth
Some cautious entrepreneurs worry about not having enough savings in the bank. They put off working in their business full-time until they've saved a certain figure.
"Unless you have a family, if you're in your 20s, 30s, honestly, it doesn't matter if you don't have a lot of savings," said Nawalkha.
So a younger entrepreneur without family commitments can afford risk, whereas an entrepreneur with family commitments should set aside several months of earnings.
"The savings will happen in time, but I'm not such a big proponent of saying, ‘Oh, you need to save a million bucks in the bank before you can start a company.’"
Your venture is also an asset that's probably worth more than what's in any bank account.
Nawalkha said,
Remember, as an entrepreneur, if you're starting a company, your real wealth is your business. Your real wealth is not necessarily the amount of money in your bank account. If … the money in your bank account is greater than the value of the business, then you need to invest more in your business.
Scale Your Business
Once an entrepreneur is ready to work at their business full time, they can claim their time back by investing in employees or freelancers. Ideally, their business should generate enough revenue each month to support these decisions.
"The grind ... is only when you're starting the company," said Nawalkha.
Coming up with a business idea, testing and launching it and then transitioning from a day job to your business full time takes patience.
"What matters is that you're starting to build toward the life that you really love," Nawalkha said.
