Why you need to quit your job

Let me start this by saying, when I post this on Twitter or Reddit, I usually get so much flack. People say it’s irresponsible and wrong, I shouldn’t give such horrible advice to people. Blah blah blah.

This is not an idea I pulled out of my ass, this is what I have done. I haven’t worked a 9-5 with a normal paycheck since I worked at Sears in college. I’ve run businesses and made them work for over a decade now.

Read this entirely and listen to what I say, I think you will see that I’m not wrong and it’s actually the right thing to do.

*This is not for everyone*

Before I get into the details, let me say, this is not for everyone.

To be honest, being a full-time solopreneur is not for everyone. Some people may only want a side hustle to make a few extra bucks while they always work a 9-5 and that is fine.

Also, you CAN make solo businesses work with a 9-5 but it’s a lot harder and I believe your chances for success are greatly reduced doing it this way.

This article is for the people who have the goal to make their business their livelihood.

Rule 1: Don’t quit your job right now with no plan

Most people who blindly argue against my points are thinking I mean to stop reading this, get up, run to your boss’s office, and tell them that you quit right this second.

No.

This is more about quitting sooner rather than later, don’t wait until you can replace your 9-5 income, etc.

To start, you need a plan. You need a business to build or run, it doesn’t have to be started necessarily, but you need to be able to act on it tomorrow, or better, today.

You should have some money saved, 3 to 6 months of expenses is ideal, more is always better but you could do it with nothing if you really want.

If you don’t have anything saved, make this a priority, save every penny, and plan a quit date.

Once you have these steps together, it’s time to quit.

By working a 9-5, you waste 90% of your good energy

24 hours in a day.

8 hours of work, maybe 9 because of a lunch break.

1-2 hours getting ready and commuting, maybe more for some people.

You sleep 8 hours.

That leaves you with 6-7 hours for everything else and that is being generous.

Have a family? You probably want to spend time with them. Have errands that need to be taken care of? A house to tend to? Other miscellaneous things… you have 6-7 hours each day plus the weekend.

Now, your job just took your prime energy. When you get home, you’re tired. You’re unmotivated.

If you quit now, instead of 6-7 hours with inferior energy, you have 9-11 hours.

You’ll wake up, work 9-11 hours on your business, and then have 6-7 hours to do those other tasks or spend time with your family.

So it’s both more hours per day on your business plus better energy for that time.

The hours are ideal for a business

If you work on your business on nights and weekends, that’s not when other businesses are operating.

If your business is B2B (business to business), you’re already at such a disadvantage. Why battle uphill?

Even if you’re direct to consumer, it may still be hard to reach your customers on the night and weeks because they’re relaxing or spending time with their family.

This is another reason why the time element alone puts you at a huge advantage when you quit your job.

There is no better motivator than no safety net

A problem people have when they build on the side is they have no real motivation. Sure, they say they want it but they don’t need to make it work. It’s just a side gig and if it fails, they still have their job.

When you quit your job, it’s all gone. You have to make it work, if you don’t, you’re out of money.

I’ve been there, when you don’t know how you’re going to pay the bills, you’re a lot more motivated and you work a lot harder.

Instead of saying “eh, I’m tired, I’ll work on it tomorrow” you say “I can not afford to not work.”

Quitting your 9-5 doesn’t mean no job

What does that mean? Pick up a part time gig. Flip your energy. Instead of spending your prime energy on a 9-5 and what’s left on your business, focus your prime energy on your business and use what’s left on a side job.

Remember, you should have some money saved so you don’t need a full time income, just a small income to supplement the difference.

A great side income you can do is drive Uber, DoorDash, or any delivery service. Extremely flexible and decent pay. Work more if you have some bills coming up or less if you need to focus on your business.

Most people are lazy

The truth sucks but it’s the truth, most people are just lazy. They come up with every excuse on why they can’t do it instead of reasons why.

It’s not 1984 anymore. You can build a website, throw a Paypal or Stripe checkout button on it, and start collecting money from someone across the world in less than 2 hours.

After the site is set up, you can literally send an email to all of your friends and family that might be interested. You can ask them to share it with their friends and circle.

You can go all over social media and meet people and talk to them about your service. Tell them you just started, ask for feedback and what they think, and ask them if they would know anyone who would be interested.

You can create 1 video every day and share it to Tiktok, Instagram, and Youtube with no extra work and you’ll start building an audience and educating them on your product.

Is this easy? Actually, yes. Is it fun? Depends, you might enjoy it a lot. Does it take a lot of work and time? Yes.

If you really want it, you will do it.

People don’t want to sacrifice their lifestyle

This is a big one people don’t want to admit. They keep their job so they don’t have to make sacrifices for their lifestyle.

They don’t want to cut subscriptions, or not go out to dinner or for drinks on Friday night. They don’t want to cut all entertainment so they can put it towards their business.

They don’t want to downsize their apartment or home.

They want to keep the cushy life until the business takes over, and that might never happen.

Is quitting your 9-5 job right for you?

As I said, it’s not for everyone but if your goal is to have your business be your main source of income and what you do every day, the sooner you quit, the better.

It’s not about waking up tomorrow and saying “I quit!”, it’s about creating a plan to quit sooner rather than later. Don’t wait for years before your business maybe works out.